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Conner's Return Sparks TCU to 79-72 Win at Cincinnati - TCU Athletics
CINCINNATI, Ohio – Madison Conner returned from the disabled list, and so too did TCU's winning ways.
GoFrogs: Conner's Return Sparks TCU to 79-72 Win at Cincinnati
CINCINNATI, Ohio – Madison Conner returned from the disabled list, and so too did TCU's winning ways.
Conner torched Cincinnati for 31 points to lift TCU to a 79-72 victory over the Bearcats on Saturday at Fifth Third Arena.
The Big 12's active leading scorer, Conner missed the Horned Frogs last six games due to injury. TCU (16-9, 3-11 Big 12) went 1-5 in the absence of its 21.5-point-per-game scorer.
Sydney Harris created a two-headed offensive monster, as the 6-2 guard tallied 27 points – 22 of which came in the second half. TCU matched its season-high for 3-pointers, draining 14-35 attempts behind the arc. The Horned Frogs went 10-12 at the foul line over the final 1:48 to salt away the result.
TCU earned its first Big 12 road win in three seasons and halted a 25-game road losing streak. The victory also guaranteed TCU a winning overall record for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign.
Along the way, Mark Campbell became the first first-year head coach in program history to double the Horned Frogs' win tally from the previous season. Campbell has now generated a combined 30-game year-over-year win improvement in his three seasons as a head coach.
Conner went 7-15 from downtown. She collected 16 of her points in the ballgame's first 12 minutes. Conner entered the locker room with 22 points to stake TCU to a 39-31 halftime lead.
TCU led for more than 38 minutes of the contest. Conner and Harris combined for 15 first quarter points.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Conner to start the second quarter sparked a 12-2 run that widened TCU's advantage to 29-18 with 6:37 to go in the first half.
Cincinnati (12-13, 4-10 Big 12) scored six unanswered to trim the deficit to 30-26 four minutes later. Victoria Flores and Conner promptly put TCU back in front by double digits with back-to-back triples.
TCU finished 8-17 from long range in the first half. Conner produced a 6-9 clip on 3-pointers.
Harris scorched Cincinnati for 14 third quarter points and gave TCU a 61-47 lead – its largest of the afternoon – entering the final frame. She single-handedly ignited an 11-0 run that restored TCU's double-digit lead at 54-40 at the 4:06 mark of the period.
Cincinnati crawled within seven points of the Horned Frogs twice to begin the fourth quarter, but Conner and Harris countered with a 3-pointer each time. Harris' long ball – her fifth of the game – made the score 69-59 in favor of the Frogs.
The Bearcats never got any closer than five points of TCU the rest of the way. Conner was 6-6 at the foul line in the fourth quarter.
Agnes Emma-Nnopu pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds while Aaliyah Roberson pitched in two blocks.
Victoria Flores led all players with four assists.
TCU held Cincinnati to 36 percent shooting (21-58).
The Horned Frogs committed a season-low six turnovers.
Up Next
TCU caps a two-game road trip with a jaunt west to face BYU at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday in Provo. It will be the second meeting between the teams. The Horned Frogs downed the Cougars 81-67 in its conference-opener on Dec. 30. Following the tussle in the mountains, TCU returns home to battle Houston and Texas Tech on Feb. 24 and Feb. 28, respectively.
Team Notes
- TCU won its first conference road game since March 4, 2021, an 83-79 defeat of Oklahoma. The Horned Frogs arrived in the Ohio Valley as losers of 23 consecutive Big 12 road affairs.
- TCU's 14 three-pointers came at the expense of a Cincinnati squad that entered holding teams to 26 percent shooting from downtown.
- The Horned Frogs have drained 14 three-pointers three times this season.
- TCU has made 243 three-pointers and is 11 shy of breaking the program's single season record.
- The Horned Frogs' 243 three-pointers rank third on TCU's single-season program record book.
- TCU has hit double figures in 3-pointers in 13 of its 25 games.
- The Horned Frogs 79 points were their most in 12 games.
- TCU improved to 6-1 all-time vs. the Bearcats and has won five straight in the all-time series between the schools.
- TCU doubled its overall win total from the previous year for the seventh time in its 47-season existence.
- Conner notched her Big 12-leading third 30-point game of the season.
- Conner became the second player to produce three 30-point games in the same season, joining Lauren Heard (2020-21).
- Conner is now tied for second in program history for most career 30-point games, trailing only four from Heard for a spot atop the record book.
- Conner's 22 first half points were the most by any TCU player this season.
- Conner has now drained at least seven three-pointers in four games.
- Conner's season 3-pointers counter stands at 80, tied for the third-most in a season in program history.
- Conner needs eight three-pointers to break Zahna Medley's 2015-16 program record for most 3-pointers in a single season.
- Conner has scored in double figures in 18 consecutive games.
- Harris' 27 points were a TCU career-high and marked the second time in purple and white she has eclipsed the 20-point threshold.
- Harris drained three consecutive 3-pointers in the third quarter to ignite her stretch of 11 unanswered points.
- Harris is averaging 14.5 points per game over her last eight outings.
- Harris has drained five 3-pointers twice this season.
- Harris improved her 3-pointers per 40 minutes average to 5.9. She continues to rank second nationally and trails only Caitlin Clark in the category.
- Harris' 27 points were four shy of her career-high and her most in a game in regulation. She scored 31 in a double-overtime game at Northern Illinois on Feb. 25, 2023, during her freshman season at Central Michigan.
- Roberson and Emma-Nnopu fouled out within a 41-second span of one another in the fourth quarter. Emma-Nnopu picked up her fifth with three minutes to go, rendering TCU to just six available scholarship players.
- Una Jovanovic gave TCU three double-digit scorers, finishing with 10 points.
- Jovanovic has reached double figures in scoring in four of her last seven games.
- Campbell is three victories away from becoming TCU's winningest first-year head coach.
