Sept. 19, 2003

FORT WORTH, Texas

For the second time in less than a week, the TCU Lady Frog basketball team has cracked another national publication's preseason top-25 poll, landing at No. 21 in Lindy's College Basketball. It marks the first time in school history that TCU has appeared in the magazine's women's basketball preview. The Purple and White was tabbed 22nd earlier in the week by Athlon Sports. In May, Women's College Hoops.com's "Very Early Bird Rankings for 2003-04" placed the Lady Frogs at No. 20.

The excerpt on TCU from the magazine reads as follows:

Will fourth straight NCAA be Sweet?
THE GOOD: Coming off their third consecutive NCAA appearance, the Horned Frogs return four starters, including their three top scorers, and look to improve on last season's 20-14 effort. Leading the returnees is junior Sandora Irvin, who put up a star-making performace against Connecticut in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with 19 points and nine rebounds and was Conference USA's Defensive Player of the Year. TCU does defense well, allowing opponents to shoot just 36.1 percent from the field last season.
THE BAD: Six newcomers (four freshmen and two redshirts) leave the Frogs with plenty of questions off the bench.
PARTING SHOT: The Frogs have failed to advance past the second round of the NCAA Tournament for three years in a row. They are going to have to break through sooner or later.

Irvin led the squad in scoring last season with 12 points per outing. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native fell just short of a double-double average with 9.7 boards each game as well. She was the MVP of the Conference USA Tournament last season, as the Lady Frogs became the first team in tourney history to claim the crown playing on four consecutive days. Irvin also picked up all-league recognition for the second-straight year and became the first player in TCU men's or women's basketball history to record over 200 blocks in a career.

TCU came in ahead of Oklahoma, Rutgers, Ohio State and Washington in the poll. The Lady Frogs are slated to face two squads this season that also appeared in Lindy's College Basketball's preseason poll. The Lady Frogs travel to New Jersey Dec. 14 to face the 23rd-rated Scarlet Knights of Rutgers at 1 p.m. and play host to No. 4 Tennessee Jan. 2 at 7 p.m.

Last season, TCU made a strong showing in the preseason polls, placing 19th in All-Star Girls Report and No. 20 in ESPN/USA Today. After their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2001, the Lady Frogs entered the 2001-02 campaign with preseason kudos from Women's Basketball Magazine and Street & Smith's at 15th and 17th, respectively.

TCU will kick off the upcoming season Nov. 21 at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum with a 7 p.m. match-up with Texas State. A pair of home exhibitions Nov. 7 and 17 will provide the Lady Frogs with a tune-up to the campaign. Both contests are slated for 7 p.m.

Lindy's College Basketball Preseason top-25

1. Connecticut
2. Duke
3. Texas
4. Tennessee
5. Kansas State
6. LSU
7. Purdue
8. Texas Tech
9. Stanford
10. Penn State
11. Minnesota
12. Georgia
13. North Carolina
14. Louisiana Tech
15. Utah
16. UC Santa Barbara
17. Arizona
18. Notre Dame
19. Vanderbilt
20. Virginia

21. TCU