TCU
BYU
Lady Frogs Go Cold Against BYU
1/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2009
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
FORT WORTH—TCU suffered its first loss in Mountain West Conference action this season Tuesday during a 62-46 setback to BYU at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The Cougars were able to hold the Lady Frogs to season lows in several categories, including points, field goals (11) and field-goal percentage (22.4 percent).
The loss dropped TCU to 10-6 on the season, and 2-1 in the league standings. BYU improved to 12-2 and 2-0 in the MWC.
The Frogs had their poorest offensive performance of the season against a solid defensive team in BYU. The Cougars entered Tuesday ranked second in the MWC in scoring defense, field-goal percentage defense and steals. In addition to shooting woes that saw TCU go 11-of-49 from the field, the Frogs also turned the ball over 20 times and were outrebounded by a 43-35 margin.
Sophomore guards Emily Carter and Helena Sverrisdottir shared the TCU scoring lead with 11 points each. Nine of Sverrisdottir's total came from the charity stripe, as she went 9-of-10 on the evening. Junior guard TK LaFleur scored eight points, and sophomore forward Rachel Rentschler pulled down a team-best nine rebounds.
Mindy Nielson provided most of the evening's offense, as the Cougar guard scored a game-high 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Guard Jazmine Foreman had nine points to go with game-high totals of nine boards and six assists.
TCU was able to keep close for much of the game despite its offensive woes. The squad trailed by only one point with just under 14 minutes remaining, 34-33, until the Cougars pulled away during a prolonged Frog scoring slump. BYU registered a 12-0 run while holding TCU scoreless for more than seven-and-a-half minutes until sophomore forward Micah Garoutte hit the back end of a two-attempt trip to the charity stripe with 6:12 to play.
The Frogs recorded nearly a third of their field-goal total during the remainder of the contest, but BYU was able to answer nearly every score while building a lead at one moment as large as 18 points.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half. The Cougars went nearly seven full minutes without a bucket at one point in the period, but the squad never trailed by more than four points. TCU led by two, 12-10, at the 9:02 mark before BYU went on a 10-2 run that extended to over a five-minute period.
BYU held TCU without a field goal for more than 10 minutes during the period overall until LaFleur sank a long jumper at the 3:09 mark. LaFleur then hit two free throws with just over three minutes remaining in the period to bring the Frogs back to a tie game following a six-point deficit.
The Cougars finished the half on an 8-2 run with the help of two 3-pointers by guard Stephanie Buhler to grab a 28-24 advantage.
TCU looks to regroup from its first conference loss Saturday, when it finishes off its two-game homestand against Air Force at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
Players Mentioned
