The Horned Frogs’ cold offense led to a 73-64 loss against No. 17 Oklahoma in the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena Saturday night.
“It was a disappointing loss for our team,” TCU head coach Raegan Pebley said. “I know they really wanted to get this ‘W’ against Oklahoma for our seniors.”
The Frogs stayed neck-and-neck with the Sooners in the first half, finishing just one point behind at halftime, 32-31. TCU began to struggle on both sides of the ball in the second half, after the team’s posts, Amy Okonkwo and Jordan Moore, fouled out of the contest.
“Having two post players foul out, after collectively playing 23 minutes, is not going to be good enough,” said Pebley.
Okonkwo and Moore only contributed six and nine points respectively for the Frogs. Their absence allowed for Oklahoma to get more shots off from the paint during the second half (16), after TCU only allowed 2 points get by from the paint in the second quarter.
“I think one of the consistent factors is that we don’t have our best posts in the game,” Pebley said. “I believe if we had our best players step-up that we could beat anyone in our conference.”
The Frogs have had many close games during conference-play slip away, including the two previous losses leading up to Saturday against Kansas State and West Virginia.
Despite the loss, seniors Jada Butts and Carol Willie came out to play in their final home game as Horned Frogs. Butts led the team with 22 points on the night while Willie made her first start of the season.
Though the home slate on the season is over, the Frogs still have one more regular-season match-up with Texas Tech on Monday before Big 12 Tournament-play begins. Butts is determined to finish her collegiate career right and is focused on the upcoming game against the Red Raiders.
“We have a collective commitment to play defense and guard the paint,” said Butts. “While also knowing where Recee’ [Caldwell] is because she is the one looking to take all of the shots.”
Caldwell, a standout guard for the Red Raiders, was named to the All-Big 12 First Team and scored 14 points against TCU in the teams’ first game earlier this month.
“It’s a close road game and a really great opportunity for us,” Pebley said. “I think offensively it’s going to be important that we really move the ball well and establish great floor spacing against their defense.”
The regular-season finale in Lubbock will tip off at 7 p.m. on Feb. 27.
