A second half scoring surge pushed No. 7 Texas past TCU 65-43 on Saturday at Schollmaier Arena.
The Horned Frogs trailed by three points at halftime but gave up a 13-0 scoring run which allowed the Longhorns to take a 15-point lead with less than two minutes left in the third quarter.
"Proud of our team for competing and fighting," TCU head coach Mark Campbell said. "Especially in the first half, we were able to junk it up a little bit, keep it close, and kept the tempo in our favor. Credit Texas for coming out in the third quarter and really flexing their muscles."
TCU guard Agnes Emma-Nnopu and forward Aaliyah Roberson scored 11 points each, and guard Una Jovanovic added 10. Emma-Nnopu also had nine rebounds. Texas guard Shay Holle led all scorers with 14 points and dished out four assists. Forward Madison Booker tacked on 13 points and three assists.
TCU and Texas struggled scoring early in the first quarter as both teams shot under 20%. The Longhorns took a 4-3 lead about midway through the quarter and had an 11-6 advantage entering the second quarter.
The lead ballooned to 23-11 before the Horned Frogs ripped off a 9-0 run. Emma-Nnopu hit a pair of threes, and Jovanovic converted a 3-point play that made it a 23-20 game at halftime.
The Longhorns flipped a switch offensively during the third quarter, making 10-of-12 field goals. Holle scored seven points while Booker and forward Aaliyah Moore had seven and eight points, respectively. Texas ended up shooting 47% (27-of-58) from the field over four quarters.
TCU's scoring woes extended into the second half, making four shots in the third quarter.
"Their athletic ability, their pressure sped us up," Campbell said.
The Horned Frogs shot under 30% from the field for the game (14-of-48), including 8-of-29 (27.6%) from three-point range, and did not make a shot in the final 3-plus minutes.
Turnovers also proved costly as TCU gave the ball up 19 times, which became 20 Texas points.
"We've got to do a better job of taking care of the ball," Campbell said. "The last two games, we've struggled to hit shots, but that's the hand we're dealt. We've got to shoot a lot of threes; we've got to make threes to stay in these ball games."
TCU is now on a four-game losing skid while their top two scorers are out with injuries. Despite all the adversity over the past few weeks, the Horned Frogs have kept a positive attitude while leaning on each other.
"All of us are doing a good job of having a good mindset, and no one has their head down," Jovanovic said. "That's very important."
The Horned Frogs will continue conference play on Tuesday against West Virginia. The game is TCU's annual "Play4Kay" game, which helps raise breast cancer awareness.
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