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Preview: North Texas - TCU Athletics
FORT WORTH – The final chapter of the 2023-24 season begins on Thursday for the Horned Frogs.
GoFrogs: North Texas at TCU WBIT Preview
FORT WORTH – The final chapter of the 2023-24 season begins on Thursday for the Horned Frogs.
TCU hosts North Texas at 6:30 p.m. in Schollmaier Arena in the first round of the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament (WBIT).
The WBIT is an NCAA-funded championship akin to the National Invitation Tournament and is considered the second-best postseason event in college women's basketball.
TCU (20-11) garnered a No. 3 seed in the 32-team field. The Horned Frogs advance to face either No. 2 seed Mississippi State or seventh-seeded Georgia Tech on Sunday with a victory against the Mean Green.
North Texas shared the American Athletic Conference regular season championship with Tulsa, whom TCU defeated 82-50 on Dec. 1, after finishing 23-8 overall and 13-5 in league play.
The Game
Teams: TCU (20-11, 6-12 Big 12) vs. North Texas (23-8, 13-5 AAC)
Date: 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 21
Location: Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas
Coverage
Television: ESPN+
- Ron Thulin play-by-play
- Jada Curtis, analyst
- Chris Blake, play-by-play
- TCU is playing its first postseason game in five years and 35th all-time.
- TCU is 2-0 vs. the American Athletic Conference this season. The Horned Frogs defeated AAC tournament champion Rice and co-regular season champion Tulsa at home during nonconference play.
- TCU and North Texas are meeting for the first time in 21 years.
- The Horned Frogs have won four consecutive opening round games in postseason play, dating back to the 2015 WNIT.
- TCU will notch its 16th home victory - the second-most in a season in school history - with a win over the Mean Green.
- TCU was seeded 10th overall and third in its region in the inaugural 32-team WBIT field.
- TCU's 12-game year-over-year win improvement is the largest of any Power Six conference team.
- TCU has held 25 of 31 teams under their season scoring average.
- The Horned Frogs have kept 17 of 19 teams below 70 points inside Schollmaier Arena. Opposing teams are averaging just 56 points per game when visiting Fort Worth.
- TCU has kept 18 teams and five of their last seven opponents below 40 percent shooting.
- TCU has had two-or-more players finish with a double-double in eight games. They are 8-0 when multiple players produce a double-double.
- The Horned Frogs are 9-1 when four players score in double figures.
- TCU is 15-4 when knocking down at least nine 3-pointers.
- The Horned Frogs are 18-3 when scoring at least 64 points. TCU was averaging 80.5 points per game leading into its tilt at Baylor on Jan. 3 before its rash of midseason injuries began.
- The Horned Frogs are one of only two teams in the country ranking in the top-10 in 3-pointers per game (8th, 9.5), 3-pointers (9th, 293) and 3-point percentage differential (10th, .081).
- Madison Conner and Sedona Prince both received All-Big 12 recognition, with Conner a second team selection and Prince earning honorable mention accolades. They are the first Frogs to garner postseason all-conference recognition since 2021.
- Prince is the only player in the nation averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks per game.
- Prince has produced 12 double-doubles across 20 outings, a mark that ranks second in the Big 12. She has finished with 20 points in nine of her double-doubles.
- Prince is second among all Big 12 players and fourth nationally in blocks per game.
- Conner is TCU's school record-holder for most 3-pointers in a season at 93. She has drained four-or-more in 12 contests. TCU is 10-2 when Conner connects at least four times from distance.
- Conner ranks second only to Caitlin Clark in 3-pointers per game, averaging 3.8 per night.
- Conner is one of only 15 guards in the country averaging at least 19 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per outing.
- Conner and Prince combined to make TCU the only team in the country with two 20-point-per-game scorers prior to the Big 12 Championship.
- Sydney Harris and Conner are fifth and sixth in the country in 3-pointers per 40 minutes, respectively averaging 4.6 and 4.5 makes from downtown.
- Harris is shooting 40 percent from behind the arc, a clip that leads the Big 12 and ranks 14th nationally among all players 6-1-or-taller.
- Una Jovanovic is second in the Big 12 and 29th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.33). She has dished out 32 dimes - 11 of which came at the Big 12 Championship - against 13 giveaways over her last eight games.
- Head coach Mark Campbell has increased his teams year-over win total by a combined 34 games in three seasons as a head coach.
- TCU is 10-6 all-time and 4-1 at home in first round games.
- TCU is 8-2 in its last 10 postseason tilts dating back to its run to consecutive WNIT semifinals from 2018-19.
- The Horned Frogs have won nine straight home postseason games, a streak that began on March 19, 2015 with an 85-80 defeat of Stephen F. Austin in the first round of the WNIT.
- TCU is 11-2 as the higher-seeded team in postseason bouts.
- The Horned Frogs have won four consecutive opening round games in postseason action, all of which have been at home and fallen under the WNIT umbrella.
- Five members of TCU's roster have earned a combined 41 NCAA Tournament caps; Agnes Emma-Nnopu (13), Madison Conner (10), Jaden Owens (8), Tara Manumaleuga (6) and Sedona Prince (4). The five players hold a combined 30-11 postseason record and have all advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament at least once.
- Emma-Nnopu, Conner and Manumaleuga all competed in the 2021 NCAA Championship, with Emma-Nnopu earning a ring in Stanford's title game triumph over Arizona.
- Prince averaged 13.3 points, six rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game over four NCAA Tournament outings at Oregon.
- Mark Campbell has reached the postseason in nine of his 14 years coaching college women's basketball.
- Campbell is 19-8 all-time in postseason play.
- Campbell's teams are 13-1 in first round tilts.
- Campbell has now guided six of his last seven squads to the postseason, excluding the 2019-20 season.
- Campbell joined Raegan Pebley as one of two head coaches in program history to guide TCU to the postseason in their first season at the helm.
- Thursday's ballgame vs. North Texas marks the first time TCU has faced an active member of the American Athletic Conference in a postseason affair.
- TCU fell to eventual WNIT champions Indiana and Arizona, respectively, in their 2018 and 2019 semifinal defeats.
- TCU reached the third round or better in four of its seven WNIT appearances.
- All nine of TCU's NCAA Tournament berths came in the Jeff Mittie era as did the program's first WNIT appearance in 2008.
Meeting: 24th
All-Time Series: University of North Texas leads, 14-9
Since joining Big 12: 0-0
Date Series Began: Feb. 9, 1978
Last Game Played: Dec. 31, 2003
Last Meeting: TCU won, 91-53
Current Win Streak: TCU, W1
TCU at Home: 5-6
TCU on the Road: 3-8
TCU on a Neutral Court: 1-0
Largest Margin of Victory by TCU: 38, (Dec. 31, 2003)
Largest Margin of Victory by University of North Texas: 16, (Dec. 10, 1985)
Longest Winning Streak by TCU: 2, Nov. 26, 1996-Nov. 25, 1997)
Longest Winning Streak by University of North Texas: 4, (Dec. 10, 1985-Nov. 29, 1988)
Series Notes: North Texas
- University of North Texas associate head coach Britney Brown served as an assistant under former TCU head coach Raegan Pebley from 2016-23 as did Mean Green assistant coach Dr. Leah Foster for five seasons.
- Both TCU and University of North Texas are under the leadership of their program's winningest first-year head coaches.
- The Horned Frogs and Mean Green each enjoyed the longest winning streaks in their respective histories during the 2023-24 regular season, with TCU starting the season 14-0 and University of North Texas rattling off eight straight victories in nonconference play.
- TCU and University of North Texas competed annually on the hardwood from 1983-92 during the Horned Frogs' final seasons in the Southwest Conference.
