Reinforcements have officially arrived for the TCU Horned Frogs.
TCU (17-9, 4-11 Big 12), which has been without Madison Conner and Sedona Prince and other key players for the last several weeks, finally got some relief the past two games when Conner returned.
What’s happened in those last two games? TCU broke their five-game losing streak and has picked up back-to-back Big 12 road wins over Cincinnati and BYU. Oh, and Conner has averaged 19.5 points per game in those two contests.
The Frogs now face off against another conference newcomer, the University of Houston Cougars (13-13, 4-11). Despite a good scoring effort from Conner (20 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the field), TCU lost to the Cougars 77-66 back on Jan. 13 at the Fertitta Center in Houston, Texas.
Abysmal second and third quarters have been a trend for TCU over their losing streaks this season. In their previous loss against Houston, that bug struck especially hard. TCU either tied or was within a point of the Cougars in three out of the four quarters, but in the second Houston outscored the Frogs 20-9.
That trend has alleviated itself over the past two games with the return of Conner, who has added needed depth as well as the most potent scorer in the Big 12. In the wins over Cincinnati and BYU, TCU outscored both their opponents in the second and third quarters.
“Madison’s an energy giver,” TCU Head Coach Mark Campbell said. “She loves the game. She’s the ultimate competitor. Just her presence lifts everybody.”
Conner’s scoring ability will be needed against Houston, who sport one of the top scorers in the Big 12 themselves – Laila Blair.
Blair, a senior guard from Houston, is fifth in the conference in points per game with 16.2. She’s also thirteenth in field goal percentage (38 percent) and ninth in steals (1.7). In the game against TCU back on Jan. 13, Blair put up a season-high 33 points to propel the Cougars to the win. Blair was also the first Cougar to be named to the American Athletic Conference First Team when Houston was in that league last season.
The second-leading scorer for Houston is guard N’Yah Boyd, who averages 10 points per game. If TCU can keep both Cougars’ guards off the scoreboard, it’ll have a good shot at taking home their third straight win.
TCU’s hopes of making the NCAA Tournament hinge on their performance down the stretch run of not just the regular season but also the Big 12 Tournament. The added reinforcement of Conner will surely help with the quest to make a run in the conference tournament, but Campbell said that that might not be the end of it.
“Sedona’s going to join the mix here soon,” he said.
Prince broke her finger against Baylor on Jan. 3 and has been out since. It is still not known whether she will return against Houston on Saturday or throughout the final two games of the regular season next week.
A win against Houston would leapfrog TCU over the Cougars in the Big 12 standings as well as build their case for an NCAA Tournament or NIT berth.
Tip-off is at 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The game will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Will Conerly and Jada Curtis on the call. Chris Blake will broadcast the game on the radio on 88.7 FM KTCU.
