TCU women’s basketball to host North Texas in the WBIT opening round

The Horned Frogs will play the Mean Green in the first round of the WBIT Tournament Thursday at home.

By Nick Girimonte, Staff Writer

Published Mar 20, 2024

TCU women’s basketball gathers in a huddle at the Big 12 Tournament. (Photo courtesy of gofrogs.com)

The final chapter for the Horned Frogs women’s basketball team is here. With a record of 20-11, TCU was selected as a No. 3 seed in the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament (WBIT) and will play North Texas on Thursday.

The WBIT is an NCAA-funded tournament, resembling the format of the men’s National Invitation Tournament (NIT).

TCU will face UNT in Schollmaier Arena on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. If the Frogs beat the Mean Green, they will face the winner of No. 2 Mississippi State and No. 7 Georgia Tech on Sunday.

The road to Indy starts here #GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/QUolKlXV3z

— TCU Women’s Basketball (@tcuwbb) March 19, 2024

The opening round will be TCU’s first postseason game in five years. The Frogs have not played against the Mean Green in 21 years, so it will be an unfamiliar opponent.

TCU will emphasize their defense in this one at home, where they have played 19 teams that have averaged just 56 points per game. If Mark Campbell’s crew wins, the defense will most likely play the biggest factor.

The Horned Frogs will look to thrive off their two stars Madison Conner and Sedona Prince. The duo has been the main catalyst for the Frogs’ success all season. TCU has looked like a different team since they have been back healthy. Conner and Prince both received All-Big 12 awards, the first Frogs to do so since 2021.

A historic year for a Frogs’ squad with plenty of fight. pic.twitter.com/iU04RjdwRW

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 9, 2024

Expect Campbell to continue to roll with this starting five entering the tournament:

G Madison Conner
G Una Jovanovic
G Agnes Emma-Nnopu
F Aaliyah Roberson
C Sedona Prince

Key matchups and familiar faces

North Texas is led by senior forward DesiRay Kernal. She leads the Mean Green in points (16.4 per game), rebounds (8.6 per game) and steals (1.5 per game). The Frogs should aim to defend her hard and limit her success.

A familiar face will be on the opposite sideline of the court. North Texas’ associate head coach Britney Brown was an assistant under former TCU head coach Raegan Pebley from 2016-23.

ESPN+ will be airing the game, which will also be available on KTCU 88.7 FM.

Securing a 16th home win would mark a significant milestone for the Frogs, making it the second-most wins in a single season in school history.