TCU women’s basketball won their season opener Saturday, defeating the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 72-58.
The Horned Frogs’ win was headlined by their dominant second quarter and a career game for junior center Jordan Moore.
TCU outscored Oral Roberts 30 to 15 in the second quarter, going 10 for 13 from the field including four three-pointers and 10 points in the paint.
“We were able to establish that inside presence and be solid in executing that part of our game plan,” TCU head coach Raegan Pebley said of the team’s second quarter spark down low.
The team finished the first half with a 14 point lead and showed their growing maturity in the third quarter when they pushed back against a 8-0 Oral Roberts run in the third quarter, scoring the final five points of the quarter.
“We showed growth in our toughness and maturation in handling another team’s run and slowing that down,” Pebley said.
Moore was consistently dominant throughout the game, scoring a career-high 21 points along with 7 blocks, also a career-high.
She now has 106 career-blocks, becoming only the fourth player in TCU history to record 100 blocks or more.
“Jordan has been working really hard.” Pebley said. “She is showing the ability to be tougher and really embrace what her leadership role is for this team, which is performing. She builds our team’s confidence when she is coming to play.”
The team finished with 40 of their 72 points in the paint, generating an interior presence that Pebley wanted to establish against an experienced Oral Roberts team.
“Beating a good team doing what you practiced shows the seeds that you planted are coming to fruition,” she said of the team’s ability to follow the paint-focused gameplan.
To go along with Moore’s 21 points, sophomore point guard Amber Ramirez scored 18 and junior forward Amy Okonkwo scored 10 in just 16 minutes off the bench.
The team had 18 total assists, surpassing their average of 15 last season and highlighting their improved chemistry.
Moore pointed to the team’s August trip to Australia as a reason for their improved chemistry in the first game of the season.
“Being able to get out on the floor and play against people other than ourselves really helped our chemistry and learning how to play with each other better,” she said.
The team will look to build on their win against Oral Roberts when they travel to Dallas on Tuesday to take on SMU.
