TCU
Colorado State
Carter Leads Lady Frogs Past CSU
1/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2009
FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Sophomore guard Emily Carter scored a career-high 24 points and TCU posted its largest rebounding advantage of the season Wednesday, as the Lady Frogs opened their Mountain West Conference schedule with a 74-53 road victory over Colorado State at the Rams' Moby Arena.
The win, which snapped TCU's first three-game losing streak in more than two seasons, moved the Frogs to 9-5 overall and 1-0 in MWC play. CSU dropped to 5-9 and 0-1, respectively.
Carter and the Frogs put together one of their best long-distance shooting performances of the season, making a season-best 12 shots from 3-point range on 26 attempts. Carter alone made 6-of-7 attempts on her way to her game-high point total. She added a career-high nine rebounds while helping lead TCU to a second-half rout after holding only a two-point advantage at the half.
The Frogs also stepped up on defense, holding the Rams scoreless down the stretch over the game's final 7:40.
Junior guard TK LaFleur recorded her first career double-double while totaling 13 points and a career-high 13 boards. Five of LaFleur's rebounds came on the offensive end, as she led TCU to a season-best plus-10 advantage over the Rams. Prior to Wednesday, the Frogs had only outrebounded one opponent on the season (Sam Houston State-Nov. 23).
Also scoring in double figures for TCU was sophomore forward Rachel Rentschler, who had 10 points. Junior guard Eboni Mangum scored eight points with the help of two treys, marking her highest scoring total since the Nov. 25 home win over Houston. Sophomore guard Helena Sverrisdottir scored seven points while pulling down nine rebounds to help the Frog rebounding surge.
Guards Kandy Beemer and Kim Mestagh led Colorado State with 12 and 11 points, respectively. The two Rams combined for seven of CSU's nine 3-pointers.
After clinging to a two-point lead at the half, TCU quickly built a double-digit advantage on the heels of sharp outside shooting and strong work on the offensive boards. Carter and LaFleur each nailed treys after Carter opened the period with a pair of free throws. Both 3-pointers came after Frogs grabbed offensive rebounds.
The Rams climbed to within seven points with 8:42 to play, but Carter responded with her fifth bucket from outside the arc to push TCU back to a lead of double digits.
TCU eventually put the game away with a 13-0 run that pushed the score to 74-53 just inside the four-minute mark. Neither team scored in the last 3:54, although the CSU drought extended to 7:40.
CSU moved out to an early nine-point lead, 16-7, just over eight minutes into the contest on the strength of two treys by Beemer and six points from forward Juanise Cornell. The Rams put together a 9-0 run and held the Frogs without a basket for more than three-and-a-half minutes until Carter drilled her second trey for her eighth point. TCU shot only 3-of-18 from the field prior to Carter's shot.
After a pair of Ram free throws, the Frogs came right back to tie the game on the strength of an 8-0 run. Mangum started it up with her first 3 since the Dec. 4 contest at Fresno State, and Sverrisdottir later gave the Frogs their first lead at 21-20 with her first field goal, another TCU trey.
TCU took a 40-38 advantage into intermission after scoring seven of the final 10 points of the half. Mangum accounted for the final five to boost the Frogs, although Beemer finished off the half with her fourth 3-pointer just before the buzzer after TCU had taken its largest lead to that point at five.
The Lady Frogs look to move to 2-0 in conference play Saturday when they take on UNLV in Las Vegas, Nev., at the Rebels' Cox Pavillion.
Players Mentioned
