TCU Women's Basketball Keeps Rolling At Home

Both Sheffey and Bigby played over 20 minutes as TCU adjusted to a lineup without starting guard Maddie Scherr. Scherr left the game early in the second quarter with an injury. Scherr, who missed last season with a back injury, hit the floor after getting bumped by a screen, held her back while sitting on the floor and was eventually carried off to the locker room. Scherr watched the game’s final minutes from the bench. 

Arizona guard Sumayah Sugapong posted a game-high 17 points, guard Noel Cornfield had 11 points, and forward Achol Magot added 12 points in a season-high 16 minutes. The Wildcats became just the third team this season to shoot 40% or better against TCU (26-of-61, 42.6%).  

“TCU is a great team, well coached,” Arizona first-year head coach Becky Burke said. “We respected them at the highest level coming into this game. But we didn't come in here like we were planning on losing. And I was really proud of our team's effort for that and our fight and the situation that we're in this year.” 

TCU trailed 30-28 at halftime but, as they have done many times this season, pulled away from its opponent in the third quarter. The Horned Frogs outscored the Wildcats 27-18 and shot 57% (8-of-14) from the field. An 11-2 scoring run midway through the third quarter, highlighted by five points from Miles, including a step-back 3-pointer, helped TCU get rolling. 

The fourth quarter became an extension of the third quarter as the Horned Frogs ballooned the lead to 19 points and went on multiple long scoring runs. 

“Today we weren't very proud of our performance in the first half, so we need to do a better job of just having a better start each game, because that's what sets the tone for the whole game,” Sheffey said. “But, in the third quarter, that's another chance to get it right. So, once we regroup in the locker room, come back out and make sure we do it right.”

TCU Head Coach Mark Campbell & Guard Veronica Sheffey

TCU started slow offensively in the first half and trailed by as many as seven points in the second quarter after Arizona went on an 11-2 scoring run. Sheffey then nailed TCU’s only 3-pointer of the quarter at the 1:13 mark, and Bigby added a layup to cut Arizona’s lead to 30-28 at halftime. 

The Horned Frogs did encounter foul trouble during the third quarter, as Silva and Miles picked up their third fouls and center Kennedy Basham fouled out with 1:10 left in the quarter. Arizona matched TCU’s physicality and had two players foul out, Cornfield and forward Bless Adebanojo. Cornfield and Sugapong also picked up technical fouls during the final frame. 

“The physicality, I loved how we responded,” Campbell said. “We got to the [free throw] line 21 times. Up at West Virginia, I think we got to the line six times. And so we're learning, we're growing.”

One holdover from the West Virginia game on Wednesday that Campbell hopes to see continued improvement on is turnovers. The Horned Frogs racked up 11 turnovers in the first half against the Wildcats and finished with 17. It’s the fourth straight game TCU has had at least 16 giveaways. 

The Horned Frogs committed a season-high 24 turnovers at West Virginia, but snuck out with a 51-50 win. 

“Right now some things are getting exposed,” Campbell said. “That's not a bad thing. It's only a bad thing if we don't learn from it and get better.”

Arizona Head Coach Becky Burke & Guard Sumayah Sugapong

Up Next

TCU will play its third game in six days, traveling to Newark, New Jersey, to face No. 14 Ohio State in the Coretta Scott King Classic. The Classic takes place on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and is in its second year. It honors the values and legacy of Scott King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s wife, and the King family, while also celebrating leadership, equality, education, and empowerment through sport. 

“It's an incredible honor that we get to be a part of it,” Campbell said. “I think it's Michigan and Vanderbilt got to be a part of it and us and Ohio State. So this stretch is brutal, but at the end of the day, winning's hard. Trying to win a league title is hard. And it's what we all signed up for. You want to play at the highest level and compete against the best, and we get a chance to do that.”

TCU and Ohio State will tip off at 11 a.m. and the game will be televised on FOX. 

Big 12 Champions Honored

Before the Arizona game, TCU received its Big 12 Championship rings for the 2024-25 season. The Horned Frogs won both the regular season and tournament titles before making an Elite Eight run in the NCAA Tournament - all these milestones were firsts in program history. 

Current players and the coaching staff were honored individually. 

Players in attendance were Donovyn Hunter, Taylor Bigby, Aaliyah Roberson, Natalie Mazurek, Maddie Scherr, Emily Hunter, and former player Ella Hamlin. 

The coaching staff members honored included head coach Mark Campbell, associate head coach Xavier Lopez, assistant coaches Minyon Moore, Nia Jackson, Nolan Wilson, assistant coach/assistant AD for operations Jessie Craig, and director of recruiting operations and student-athlete development Adeola Akomolafe. 

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