July 13, 2009
FORT WORTH—TCU women’s basketball head coach Jeff Mittie announced the details of his squad’s upcoming 2009-10 non-conference schedule Monday. The Lady Frogs, known for annually lining up one of the nation’s most competitive schedules, will play 13 games against non-conference opponents, as well as one exhibition game, next season.
“This schedule provides us with numerous high quality opponents for next season,” Mittie said. “Our home schedule has better balance than a year ago with a good number of games in both November and December. This will help prepare us for an always-tough Mountain West Conference season.”
TCU returns eight letterwinners and five starters from last season’s team that earned the program’s eighth NCAA Tournament bid in the last nine years. The Frogs posted a 20-11 record and two wins over top-3 ranked teams on their way to reaching postseason play.
The returning experience should bode well for a team with a 2009-10 schedule featuring seven teams that advanced to postseason play a year ago, including five that reached the NCAA Tournament and three that finished the season ranked among the national polls. Overall, nine of TCU’s 13 non-league games will be against squads that concluded the season listed among the top 108 teams in the NCAA’s RPI rankings.
Highlighting the Frogs’ slate is a group of seven home games, in addition to a Nov. 11 exhibition contest against Cameron University. Three of the team’s opening four contests will be at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum: Nov. 15 vs. Houston Baptist, Nov. 18 vs. Fresno State and Nov. 23 vs. Texas Southern. Fresno State won the WAC conference title a year ago on its way to reaching the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The two teams will be meeting for the third consecutive season.
TCU’s showcase home game of 2009-10 will be played on Dec. 12, when Texas A&M visits Fort Worth. The Aggies finished last season ranked No. 7 nationally in both major polls with a 27-8 record. The squad, which placed third in the Big 12 Conference standings, reached the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. The Frogs and Aggies played last year in College Station, Texas, and will be meeting for the third straight season in 2009-10.
Other home contests for TCU include a Dec. 1 matchup with Louisiana-Monroe and a Dec. 20 meeting with Sam Houston State before it finishes off the non-conference slate at home Jan. 2 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
TCU once again lined up a challenging road schedule, highlighted by a Thanksgiving trip to the Bahamas to compete in the Junkanoo Jam. Following a Nov. 27 matchup with Minnesota to open the tournament, TCU will face either Kansas or Xavier the following day. Each of the three possible opponents reached postseason play last spring, including NCAA Tournament trips for Minnesota and Xavier. The Muskateers finished the season ranked 25th in both major national polls.
The Frogs’ road schedule begins Nov. 21 with a matchup with Oklahoma, which reached the NCAA Women’s Final Four a year ago. The Sooners won the Big 12 regular-season championship and finished the year ranked No. 4 in both polls with a 32-5 overall record. TCU and OU have not met since 2005-06 in Norman, Okla.
The Sooners are one of several road challenges the Frogs will face. The team travels to Raleigh, N.C., on Dec. 6 to face perennial ACC challenger NC State before returning to the Metroplex to play cross-town rival SMU Dec. 9 in Dallas. The Mustangs won the 2008-09 Conference USA regular-season championship before concluding their campaign in the Women’s NIT. The series with SMU is TCU’s longest current continuous series, as the two teams have played at least once each season since 1982.
The Frogs’ final road contest on Dec. 31 pits the squad against another longtime rival, Houston. The former conference foes have played at least once in each season since 2002. The Cougars finished runner-up to SMU in the 2008-09 Conference USA standings.
TCU’s Mountain West Conference schedule will be released later this summer, in addition to a list of times for all games and an announcement on the Frogs’ contests selected for television broadcast.
2009-10 TCU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Day Date Opponent Location
Wed. Nov. 11 Cameron Univ. (Exh.) Fort Worth, Texas
Sun. Nov. 15 Houston Baptist Fort Worth, Texas
Wed. Nov. 18 Fresno State Fort Worth, Texas
Sat. Nov. 21 at Oklahoma Norman, Okla.
Mon. Nov. 23 Texas Southern Fort Worth, Texas
at Junkanoo Jam (Freeport, Bahamas)
Fri. Nov. 27 vs. Minnesota Freeport, Bahamas
Sat. Nov. 28 vs. Kansas or Xavier Freeport, Bahamas
Tues. Dec. 1 Louisiana-Monroe Fort Worth, Texas
Sun. Dec. 6 at NC State Raleigh, N.C.
Wed. Dec. 9 at SMU Dallas, Texas
Sat. Dec. 12 Texas A&M Fort Worth, Texas
Sun. Dec. 20 Sam Houston State Fort Worth, Texas
Thurs. Dec. 31 at Houston Houston, Texas
Sat. Jan. 2 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Fort Worth, Texas
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