The 60th all-time meeting between the TCU and SMU women’s basketball teams did not disappoint.
Sophomore guard Amber Ramirez’s career-high 24 points pushed the Horned Frogs past the Mustangs in Dallas Tuesday night. The game marked TCU’s fourth consecutive win over SMU under head coach Raegan Pebley.
The TCU women’s basketball team exhibited toughness to grind-out a close 64-58 victory in SMU’s Moody Coliseum.
“Our team had more to give at halftime, and we challenged everybody to give more,” Pebley said. “We needed to show more patience offensively, which would require more movement and more confidence. We challenged our post play. We challenged our guards to defend better, and we weren’t perfect in that second half but I love that we showed some grit.”
Ramirez led the way with 24 points, six three-pointers, five assists and five rebounds for TCU. Junior center Jordan Moore and junior forward Amy Okonkwo recorded 14 and 15 points respectively. Okonkwo also added six rebounds and five assists to her stat line.
TCU assisted on 18 of their 23 made shots on the evening, good for 78 percent. The Frogs were second in the Big 12 Conference last season, recording a 60 percent assist percentage.
The largest lead for each team in the game was eight, held by TCU late in the fourth quarter after Ramirez performed highlight plays on both ends of the court. She turned a block into a transition opportunity, capitalizing on the chance by burying a long-range three-point jumper. The bucket gave the Frogs a 58-50 lead.
As the Mustangs cut the lead down to two, Okonkwo hit a dagger layup to extend the lead. Junior guard Dakota Vann then blocked SMU’s shot on their following possession, sealing the victory for TCU.
The Frogs will return to Schollmaier Arena on Saturday afternoon to host Texas State. Tip off is set for 2 p.m.
