The Horned Frogs took the lead into halftime, but Texas Tech was too much in the second half as they completed the regular season sweep of TCU with a 64-46 victory Saturday evening.
The Lady Raiders started the second half on a 7-0 run, taking a 30-25 lead from a Casey Morris 3-pointer and jump shot. Morris then fed Kelsi Baker a fast break bounce pass that Baker converted for an old-fashioned three-point play.
That expanded to a 17-2 run, including a bucket by Lady Raider Monique Smalls that resulted from Texas Tech gathering three consecutive offensive rebounds.
All of this happened after TCU opened up an 11 point lead with 7:51 remaining in the first half.
"We didn't hang our heads and get down on ourselves and we kept playing hard," Morris said.
Morris added that it is easier to fight back in a ball game with the five leaders they have on the floor plus the leadership available off the bench.
"It's easy to play with people like that who understand composure and want to just get the win," she said.
TCU (7-15, 0-11 Big 12) did not find much offensive production outside of forward Natalie Ventress, who finished with a game-high 23 points. It is the fifth time in Ventress's career she has scored 20 points or more in the month of February.
TCU's other top scoring leaders, freshmen Zahna Medley and Kamy Cole, finished a combined 4-of-18 from the field. As a team, TCU shot 34.5 percent.
"I think this thing boiled down to toughness," TCU head coach Jeff Mittie said. "It was not a game where either team shot it very well. They just out-toughed us and were more physical than us."
Texas Tech overcame a 26.7 field goal percentage in the first half to finish with four players in double digits. Morris hit four 3-pointers to finish with 18 points and five assists. Baker, Chynna Brown and Christine Hyde finished with 15, 13 and 10, respectively. Hyde recorded the match's only double-double, including a new career-high 16 rebounds.
Both Mittie and Texas Tech head coach Kristy Curry mentioned the TCU men's team upset of No. 5 Kansas earlier in the week. Curry told her squad during a prior practice that Kansas stubbed their toe because a record is not an indicator of how good a team can be.
When asked if his squad took anything away from the Wednesday upset, Mittie chuckled and said, "Apparently not."
"That was a hell of a game Wednesday night. What our team should've drawn from that game was that the guys played really tough and really physical. They gave themselves an opportunity," Mittie said.
TCU has a few days off before welcoming Kansas to Daniel-Meyer Coliseum on Wednesday. The Jayhawks (14-8, 5-6 Big 12) come on the one week anniversary of the men earning their first Big 12 victory and TCU football's first Big 12 conference win was on the road at Kansas.
