Jan. 14, 2005
Final Stats
FORT WORTH, Texas
In an ugly game where both teams turned the ball over 23 times, the TCU Lady Frogs (12-5, 3-0 C-USA) managed to come away with a 67-55 victory over the USF Bulls (12-5, 2-1 C-USA) Friday night in Fort Worth, Texas. The win was TCU's fifth in a row and avenged an 89-84 double overtime loss to USF last year in Tampa, Fla. The Lady Frogs are 3-0 in Conference USA play for the first time since their initial season in the league in 2001-02. TCU began conference play that year with a 4-0 record before suffering its first loss.
TCU never trailed in the game. USF was able to tie the score a couple times in the first five minutes of the ballgame, but that was as close as the Bulls would get. The Lady Frogs led 16-15 with 6:17 to play in the first half before going on a 16-3 spurt to close out the period with a 32-18 lead. Senior Sandora Irvin and junior Vanessa Clementino accounted for 11 of the points during that stretch. The duo was also responsible for half of the Lady Frogs' 32 first-half points.
The Bull quickly chopped TCU's upper hand to nine points, 34-25, with 17:28 to play after Ezria Parsons converted a three-point play. Redshirt freshman JimAnne Baker answered with a three from the left baseline on the next possession to put TCU back up by a dozen. The Purple and White's largest lead was 18 at 49-31 after a couple of free throws by Clementino with just under 10 minutes left in the contest.
USF's full-court press began forcing TCU into turnovers. The Bulls converted those miscues into baskets, taking a 16-8 advantage in points off turnovers in the second half. Anedra Gilmore got USF within five, 60-55, after she knocked down a pair at the free-throw line at the 2:32 mark.
The Bulls, though, did not hit another field goal the remainder of the game and TCU was accurate at the charity stripe. The Lady Frogs went 7-for-8 down the stretch to secure the win.
Irvin led all scorers with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting, and she nailed 6-of-7 at the line. She also blocked two shots to move up into a tie for third place with Rebecca Lobo from Connecticut on the NCAA's all-time career list. She has 396 to her credit and needs 33 more to break the record.
Freshman Lorie Butler-Rayford, Clementino, sophomore Natasha Lacy and senior Niki Newton all had 10 points. It was a career-high for Butler-Rayford. Clementino also hauled in 12 rebounds for her first double-double as a Lady Frog. Lacy added five boards, six assists and tied a career-high with six steals.
Gilmore's 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and five steals led USF. Sharon Cambridge was the only other Bull in double figures with 10. Parsons had a team-high 11 rebounds.
TCU shot 39.0 percent (23-of-59) for the game, while USF was 34.5 percent (19-of-55). The teams combined to go just 6-of-30 (.200) on threes, with TCU making 2-of-12 (.167). The Lady Frogs dominated the rebound battle 48-34 and 20-12 on the offensive glass. TCU also held a 36-12 advantage on points scored in the paint.
The Lady Frogs put their unbeaten C-USA record on the line Sunday afternoon in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum when they host UAB (4-12, 1-2 C-USA) at 2 p.m. CST. The Blazers were dropped 77-59 at Houston tonight.
