The Lady Frogs overcame a poor shooting performance early in the first half with great defense in the second to beat the Fresno State Bulldogs 63-52 in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum on Wednesday night.

The Lady Frogs shot a 21.1 field goal percentage in the first 12 minutes of the game. The team was down 21-8 with 9:55 to go in the half thanks to excellent Bulldog shooting. Fresno State shot 54.5 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from behind the arc in the first half.

“We had two very easy games and we didn’t respond very well to this game in the first ten minutes,” said Lady Frogs head coach Jeff Mittie.

The Lady Frogs went on a 13-2 run to tie the game with 4:21 left in the first half. Fresno State pulled out to a 33-27 lead with 50 seconds remaining. Junior guard Rachel Rentschler hit a three with 30 seconds remaining to trim the deficit to three at half for the Lady Frogs.

The team took the lead for good with 13:14 remaining in the game off a Rentschler jumper to give the Lady Frogs a 38-37 lead. The Lady Frogs never looked backed from that point on.

TCU held the Bulldogs to a 16.7 percent from the field in the second half, and Fresno State made only five field goals in the second half.

“Second half defensively we looked much better on the glass, and we were much stronger down there,” Mittie said.

Junior guard Helena Sverrisdottir led the Lady Frogs with 15 points and seven assists. Freshman forward Starr Crawford had a season-high 17 rebounds and added six points.

Gross was the second leading scorer for the Lady Frogs with 14 points. TCU senior guard TK Lafleur scored 13 points in the win.

“He (Mittie) kept telling us to attack them offensively, so we kept going to the glass,” said freshman forward Delisa Gross.

Game Notes

The Lady Frogs out scored the Bulldogs in the paint 24-18. TCU’s bench also out scored Fresno State’s 13-3. TCU beat Fresno State in second chance points 11-7.