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Preview: vs. No. 3 South Carolina - TCU Athletics
FORT WORTH – No. 9 TCU gets the ultimate test on Sunday, a primetime battle with defending national champion South Carolina at 6 p.m. inside Dickies Arena.
GoFrogs: No. 3 South Carolina vs. No. 9 TCU WBB Preview
FORT WORTH – No. 9 TCU gets the ultimate test on Sunday, a primetime battle with defending national champion South Carolina at 6 p.m. inside Dickies Arena.
The tussle between the Horned Frogs and third-ranked Gamecocks represents the first AP Top 10 matchup in program history.
South Carolina and TCU rank first and fourth, respectively, in the latest NCAA NET rankings and are two of three teams in the country with two victories over preseason top 10 teams.
The Horned Frogs are one of the best stories in college basketball, boasting the highest AP Top 25 ranking in TCU basketball history just 20 months into second-year head coach Mark Campbell's tenure. Campbell has led TCU to consecutive wins over ranked teams for the first time since 2018 ahead of Sunday's ballgame.
South Carolina has been the gold standard for the sport, having claimed two of the last three NCAA Championships and accumulated a combined 118-4 overall record since 2021-22.
The game is a part of the USLBM Coast to Coast Challenge and will air on ESPN2.
The Game
Teams: No. 9 TCU (9-0) vs. No. 3 South Carolina (8-1)
Date: 6 p.m. CT on Sunday, Dec. 8
Location: Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas
Game Coverage
Television
ESPN2
- Beth Mowins, Play-by-Play
- Stephanie White, Analyst
88.7 KTCU FM
- Chris Blake, Play-by-Play
- Ian Napetian, Analyst
- Sunday's game is the first top-10 matchup in program history.
- TCU is battling the reigning NCAA champion for the first time ever in nonconference play.
- The matchup marks the eighth time the Horned Frogs will battle the defending national champion.
- A win over South Carolina would give TCU three victories over AP Top 15 teams in a season for just the second time ever and first since the 2004-05 campaign.
- TCU has never beaten the preseason national No. 1.
- The Horned Frogs and Gamecocks are two of only three teams in the country with two triumphs over preseason AP Top 10 foes.
- TCU and South Carolina have never met on the hardwood.
- The Horned Frogs' No. 9 ranking in The Associated Press poll is the highest in program history and leads the Big 12. TCU had never previously cracked the AP Top 10 prior to Monday's announcement.
- TCU is the highest-ranked Big 12 team for the first time in 13 years of conference membership.
- The No. 9 ranking marks just the second time TCU has been featured in the AP Top 15 and first in 19 years. TCU's previous all-time best Associated Press poll placement was No. 13 on Feb. 23, 2004.
- TCU's No. 4 NCAA NET ranking leads the Big 12 and is the highest in program history.
- TCU's 76-68 upset of then-No. 3 Notre Dame was tied for the highest-ranked win in program history. The victory gave TCU its fourth all-time AP Top Five win and first since 2008.
- Combined with the Frogs' takedown of then-No. 13 NC State on Nov. 17, TCU has notched consecutive victories against ranked teams for the fifth time in its 48-season existence and strung together back-to-back wins vs. top 15 squads for the first time since Jan. 10-13, 2018.
- TCU is one of only two teams ranking in the top five nationally alongside UConn in assist-to-turnover ratio (2nd, 2.06) and assists per game (4th, 21.6).
- The Frogs dished out 24 assists against five turnovers in Wednesday's win over Florida Atlantic, marking the sixth time this season they have recorded 20-plus assists in a game.
- TCU is surrendering just 49.1 points per game, the fourth-fewest in D1. The Frogs' average margin of victory (+35.2) ranks fifth nationally. TCU has won seven games by at least 36 points.
- The Horned Frogs continue to rank second nationally in blocks per game (7.8).
- Hailey Van Lith and Sedona Prince are the nation's highest scoring duo, averaging a combined 38.8 points per game. They have each scored in double figures in all nine of TCU's outings.
- Van Lith and Prince were tabbed Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week on Tuesday. They averaged a combined 40.5 points, 21.5 rebounds, 10.5 assists and six blocks per game in the Frogs' wins over Notre Dame and South Florida in the Cayman Islands Classic.
- Prince (19.4 ppg), Van Lith (19.4 ppg) and Madison Conner (15.1 ppg) make TCU one of just five teams with three players averaging 15 points per game.
- Van Lith is the only D1 player averaging 19 points, six assists and five rebounds per game.
- Van Lith ranks fifth and 10th, respectively, across the national ranks in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.93) and assists per game (6.6).
- Van Lith has led TCU in scoring in five consecutive games and six times total.
- Prince leads the nation in blocks (39) and blocks per game (4.3). She rejected five shots in Wednesday's win, her fifth time recording five-or-more blocks in a game this year.
- Prince continues to be the nation's lone player averaging at least 19 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks per game. She is the top shot blocker and rebounder (10.8 rpg) in the Big 12.
- Prince is the only D1 player ranking in the top-30 nationally in scoring, rebounding and blocking averages.
- Conner ranks second in the nation in 3-pointers (35). She has connected at least three times from distance in eight straight games and on 24 occasions in her TCU tenure.
- Conner's 3-point percentage (.438) is the third-best clip nationally among players with at least 60 attempts from behind the arc.
- Conner has hit five-or-more 3-pointers in a game on 10 occasions since 2023, the second-most of any D1 player in that span.
- TCU women's basketball is among the most visible teams in all D1 sports, with its roster boasting a combined following of 4.5 million on X, Instagram and TikTok.
- Give TCU its fifth all-time win over the nation's No. 3 team and second this season.
- Tie for the highest-ranked win in program history.
- Mark the first time TCU has ever defeated three preseason AP Top 10 teams in a season.
- Lift TCU to its first victory over a defending NCAA champion
- Count as the Frogs' seventh all-time triumph over a top 10 team.
- Be the first time TCU has ever won three consecutive games against ranked opposition.
- Go down as TCU's second win over a ranked SEC foe and first since defeating No. 18 Texas A&M, 87-75, on Dec. 12, 2021, in the Maggie Dixon Classic.
- Make TCU the only team in the country with wins over two reigning Final Four participants.
- Send TCU to its 60th all-time victory as a ranked team.
- Extend TCU's nonconference winning streak to 25 games.
- Spike Mark Campbell-led TCU teams to 6-1 in neutral site affairs.
- Four members of the Horned Frogs' roster have faced South Carolina during their college careers; Donovyn Hunter, Sedona Prince Maddie Scherr and Hailey Van Lith.
- Van Lith averaged 13 points, 5.7 rebounds and three assists per game in a trio of bouts vs. the Gamecocks during separate stints at Louisville and LSU. She scored 14 a in the Tigers' 2024 SEC Tournament Championship game loss to South Carolina.
- Hunter finished with 10 points, five assists and three rebounds as Oregon State's starting point guard in a 70-58 Elite Eight defeat to South Carolina on March 31.
- Prince and Scherr started for Oregon opposite South Carolina in the Battle for Atlantis final on Nov. 21, 2021.
- TCU holds a 31-167 all-time record vs. active SEC members. Of the 198 games, 161 have come against former Big 12 and/or Southwest Conference foes Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M.
- TCU has claimed four of its last seven contests against SEC foes dating back to the 2017-18 campaign, with its most recent victory arriving in the form of an 87-75 upset of No. 18 Texas A&M on Dec. 12, 2021.
- The Horned Frogs' 64-63 triumph over No. 3 Georgia on Nov. 27, 2004, was TCU's first AP Top Five win and remains tied for the highest-ranked victory in program history. It also stands as one of two ranked wins over an SEC opponent.
