TCU Rides One-Two Punch of Suarez, Miles into Elite Eight

Saturday, March 28

Sacramento, Calif.

6:30 PM

TCU

32-5,15-3Big 12

Virginia

22-12,11-7ACC

Virginia

TCU

TCU Rides One-Two Punch of Suarez, Miles into Elite Eight

3/29/2026 12:27:00 AM | Women's Basketball

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Duo combines for 61 points in Horned Frogs’ 79-69 Sweet 16 victory over Virginia

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Commonly defined as the "dynamic duo," the Batman and Robin partnership typically plays out across a projection screen in superhero filmography.

On Saturday in Sacramento, the dynamic unfolded on the hardwood, and it carried No. 3 seed TCU to a second consecutive NCAA Elite Eight.

Marta Suarez and Olivia Miles combined for 61 points and led the Horned Frogs to a 79-69 victory over 10^th-seeded Virginia in a Sweet 16 clash inside the Golden 1 Center.

Suarez scored a baker's dozen in the third quarter, helping TCU (32-5) transform a 36-35 halftime deficit into a 59-47 lead entering the final frame. Miles tacked on 12 points in the fourth to put away the Cavaliers (22-12), the lowest-seeded team since 2022 to reach the second weekend of the Big Dance.

Both players finished with double-doubles for the second time in three games across the Horned Frogs' run to the quarterfinals. Suarez paired a career-high 33 points with 10 rebounds while knocking down 4-7 attempts from distance. Miles nearly notched her second triple-double of March Madness, finishing with 28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

Notably, the two players scored or assisted on all 79 of TCU's points. The joint effort marked the second time this season the tandem has teamed up to score 60-plus.

With the win, the Big 12 champion Horned Frogs are 40 minutes away from their first Final Four and the league's first appearance since 2019. To get there, TCU will have to take out No. 1 seed South Carolina (34-3) in a game that will air at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN.

It'll be a measure of how much the Frogs have grown in the last year-plus. South Carolina, the 2022 and 2024 NCAA Champions and the 2025 runner-up, handed TCU its largest margin of defeat in the last three seasons in an 85-52 loss on Dec. 8, 2024 at Dickies Arena. Since that moment, the Horned Frogs have competed to a 67-8 overall record, won three conference titles and are one of only five teams to reach the Elite Eight in 2024-25 and 2025-26.

TCU buried the Cavaliers upon exiting the locker room. The Horned Frogs rattled off 11 unanswered points to start the second half. The scoring surge stretched into a 17-4 run that put the Frogs up 52-40 with 3:14 remaining in the period.

A key part in TCU's second half takeover was the reemergence of 6-7 center Clara Silva. After being held scoreless in the first half, Silva racked up eight points, six rebounds and two blocks over the final 20 minutes.

Bigby ignited the Frogs' decisive run with a 3-pointer on their first trip down the court before Silva flushed consecutive layups with her left hand. Suarez took over from there, tallying 13 of TCU's last 17 points in the third.

Suarez had 31 points – one shy of her previous career high – through three quarters.

TCU led by as many as 15 points at 70-55 at the 2:50 marker in the final frame. Turnovers – the Horned Frogs committed six in the fourth quarter – allowed the Cavaliers to whittle the deficit down to six points with 28 seconds to go. Miles calmly knocked down a pair of free throws with Virginia forced to foul before Bigby put the win on ice with a steal and score.

Virginia had control of the game in the early going. The Cavaliers ripped off a 13-2 run buoyed by a 4-5 clip from behind the arc midway through the first and led 21-14 late in the opening frame. Kymora Johnson and Paris Clark scored 10 points apiece in the first half.

Suarez and Miles scored 30 of TCU's 35 points in the first half, with the former tallying 18. Suarez twice restored the Horned Frogs lead, first via a 3-pointer to make the score 28-27 in TCU's favor and later off a putback layup that gave the designated home team a 34-33 edge.

Ultimately, Virginia could not slow down the Frogs' dynamic duo and was forced to surrender the paint. TCU scored 28 points down low to the Cavaliers' six in the second half and enjoyed a 23-13 edge on the glass.

The Horned Frogs held Virginia to a 34 percent clip from the field (10-29) out of the intermission and allowed just six field goals inside the arc.

TCU limited Johnson, who entered averaging 28 points per game in the Big Dance, to 18 points on 7-22 shooting.

Clark led the Cavaliers with 20 points.

Bigby and Silva finished with eight points apiece on a night TCU knocked down 52 percent of its looks (31-60).

Silva padded her final stat line with eight rebounds and a game-high three blocks.

TCU enjoyed a 38-29 advantage on the glass and doubled up the Cavaliers 46-28 in the paint.

Team Notes

TCU joined Baylor as one of only two Big 12 teams to win 32 games or more in consecutive seasons.
TCU is the first Big 12 team since Baylor in 2021 to reach the Elite Eight in consecutive seasons.
TCU has now won 11 of its last 12 ballgames, a streak that began with its 83-67 win at then-No. 12 Baylor on Feb. 12. Paralleling with Saturday's result, Miles and Suarez scored a combined 67 points in the victory.
TCU is now four three-pointers away from knocking down 1,000 over the last three seasons. Only seven programs in the history of the sport have connected from downtown 1,000 times over a three-season span.
TCU is now 7-1 when trailing at the half and 5-2 when behind on the scoreboard after the first quarter.
TCU has now found itself down at the intermission in four of its last five games and 7-of-11 dating back to Feb. 15. The Horned Frogs have gone on to win all but once.
The Horned Frogs improved to 15-1 under head coach Mark Campbell in games played following a break of at least six days.
Suarez and Miles' efforts made TCU 5-0 this season and 13-0 in the Campbell era when at least two Frogs finish with a double-double.
TCU has now benefitted from multiple double-doubles twice in three games in the Big Dance.
The Horned Frogs are now 12-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, with Campbell's teams accounting for half of the program's wins.

Individual Notes

Miles and Suarez have now scored at least 20 points apiece in eight games, more than any other teammate duo in the country.
Miles notched her 900^th career assist with her final dime of the night, becoming only the 19^th player in the history of the sport to achieve the milestone.
Miles is averaging a triple-double – 26 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists – in the NCAA Tournament thus far.
Miles notched her 55^th career game with at least 15 points and five assists.
Miles now has 246 assists to her name in 2025-26, breaking her previous single-season record of 244, which she set during her freshman campaign at Notre Dame in 2021-22.
Suarez broke TCU's NCAA Tournament single-game records for points (33) and field goals (12).
Suarez knocked down her 80^th three-pointer of the season in the first half. She is one of only four players in program history to connect at least 80 times from distance in a season and the lone Horned Frog standing at least 6-3 to do so.
Suarez's 33 points were the seventh-most by any player in an NCAA Tournament game thus far.
Suarez finished as TCU's leading scorer for the eighth time in her last 11 outings.
Silva recorded her 100^th career block in the second half of the victory.
Bigby knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and is shooting 52 percent from downtown (12-23) thus far in the Big Dance.
Miles, Suarez and Donovyn Hunter played every minute of the ballgame.