TCU Women Lose To Mississippi State In Second Round of WBIT
TCU fell to Mississippi State, 68-61, in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament on Sunday, ending the Horned Frogs’ season.
The Horned Frogs (21-12) were the only remaining Big 12 team in the inaugural event, which was created this year to correspond with the NCAA’s Postseason Men’s NIT.
BYU lost its opener earlier this week. The Horned Frogs were coming off a 67-58 win over North Texas at Schollmaier Arena. For the second-round matchup the Horned Frogs had to travel to Starkville, Miss., to face the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State (23-11) had a 36-28 lead at halftime, but the Horned Frogs trimmed nearly all of it by outscoring the Bulldogs, 17-10, in the third quarter. TCU was down just a point going into the fourth quarter.
TCU briefly took the lead with 4:58 left on a Tara Manumaleuga jumper. But MSU’s Jessika Carter tied the game on a jumper and MSU regained the lead on a Darrione Rogers jumper with 2:42 left.
TCU guard Madison Conner led the Horned Frogs with 17 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. Center Sedona Prince had a double-double for TCU, as she scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. She also led the team with five assists.
Manumaleuga added 10 points off the bench.
Carter led the Bulldogs with 17 points, who exploited TCU for 18 turnovers in the game.
TCU fought depth issues in Big 12 play, to the point where it had to forfeit two league game as it didn’t have enough players to compete safely.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
