Nov. 22, 2002
Box Score
FORT WORTH, Texas - The TCU Lady Frogs upended the Utah Utes 54-51 in a tense regular season opener on Friday evening at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. With the victory, the 19th-rated Frogs are now 1-0 on the season, while the Utes dropped to 0-1.
The first half got off to an extremely slow start. Neither team scored from the 15:05 to the 8:31 mark, as TCU held its 4-3 lead for that entire six-and-a-half minute stretch. The teams were able to knock down a few shots late in the stanza, and the Utes took a 23-22 lead into the locker room.
The Utes went on a 6-0 run to start the second half, and had a 29-22 advantage with 18:25 left. They ultimately held their biggest lead of eight at 38-30 with 12:09 remaining.The Frogs trailed the Utes the entire second half until, with 1:33 left in the contest, Candace Baldwin banked in an off-balance shot in the lane to give TCU a one-point lead at 50-49.
Utah had the ball with 7.9 seconds left, trailing 52-51, but the Utes were unable to score. Shona Thorburn, who had a game-high 27 points, missed a contested three-pointer from the baseline. Sophomore Sandora Irvin cleared the rebound, and junior Ebony Shaw clinched the Frogs' win with a fastbreak layup with 0:01 left in the game.
Overall, each team had 10 turnovers in a low scoring contest that featured just a .333 field goal percentage for the Frogs, and a .313 field goal percentage for the Utes. Irvin led the Lady Frogs with nine points and 11 rebounds, while sophomore Ashley Browning also added nine points. No Lady Frog reached double figures in the contest.
"During the course of a season you have to win games like this," TCU head coach Jeff Mittie said. "We were fortunate to be left standing at the end. We stepped up and made some plays down the stretch."
The Lady Frogs are next in action when the team faces they Lady Razorbacks of Arkansas on Monday, Nov. 25, at the Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.
TCU Notes
* TCU has won each of its last five season openers and six of its last seven season lidlifters.
* TCU now trails in the all-time series 2 games to 1.
* The only TCU player who hit a field goal in the game's first 12:29 was Sandora Irvin. She was 2-for-4 over that time, while the rest of the team was 0-for-15.
* Neither team scored from the15:05 mark of the first half until the 8:31 mark, a span of more than six-and-a-half minutes.
* The Lady Frogs shot just 24.2 percent (8-for-33) from the floor in the first half, while the Utes hit just 30 percent of their attempts (6-for-20).
* The Utes went on a 6-0 run to start the second half (18:25) to take a 29-22 advantage. Utah's biggest lead was eight at 38-30.
* TCU starters went just 13-for-41 (.317) from the field.
* TCU, who went 9-4 in games decided by 10 points or less last year, is now 1-0 this season.
* No Lady Frog player reached double figures in the victory.
* TCU never led in the second half until Candace Baldwin hit a jumper in the paint with 1:30 remaining to make the score 50-49.
