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TCU Concludes Season in Second Round of WBIT - TCU Athletics
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Like they did countless times, the Horned Frogs went down fighting in their final game in 2023-24.
GoFrogs: TCU Concludes Season in Second Round of WBIT
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Like they did countless times, the Horned Frogs went down fighting in their final game in 2023-24.
TCU erased an 11-point third quarter deficit at Mississippi State before bowing out in the second round of the WBIT, 68-61, on Sunday inside Humphrey Coliseum.
Tara Manumaleuga lifted TCU to a 56-54 lead with 4:56 remaining in the ballgame off a three from the left baseline. The Bulldogs (23-11) burned a full timeout and held the Horned Frogs without a field goal over the next four minutes to regain a 64-58 edge. Una Jovanovic knocked down a triple – TCU's 12th of the afternoon – from the top of the key with 52 seconds to play. Mississippi State converted its last three looks and put the game away with a score and a stop on the ensuing pair of possessions.
TCU overcame a midseason rash of injuries that sidelined 70 percent of its offensive production and forced open tryouts to finish 23-12 and return to the postseason for the first time in five years. Under head coach Mark Campbell, the Horned Frogs enjoyed the largest year-over-year win improvement of any power conference program at 13 games. TCU broke numerous school records along the way, including total threes (312) and season assist average (16.8).
Madison Conner capped the greatest shooting season TCU has seen with a game-high 17 points.
Conner connected on three consecutive possessions midway through the first quarter to even the game at 13-13. Her third 3-pointer increased her season tally to 100. She became the fifth Big 12 player and one of just 26 in the history of college women's basketball to knock down 100 threes in a season.
Sedona Prince delivered her 13th double-double of the year, finishing with 13 points, 10 boards five assists and two blocks.
Manumaleuga, who played the final game of her college career, gave TCU three double-digit scorers with 10 points.
Aaliyah Roberson chipped in eight rebounds. She was one of five Frogs to play 35-plus minutes.
Despite entering just six players, TCU slowed down an up-tempo Mississippi State offense that entered averaging 75 points per game. The Horned Frogs held the Bulldogs to 40 percent shooting (24-58) and a season-low two 3-pointers, both of which came in the first half.
Prince scored seven straight points and sparked a 12-0 run that gave TCU its first lead at 43-42 at the 2:42 mark of the third quarter. Manumaleuga got the Frogs within a possession off a transition three before Conner capped the run via a take to the paint.
Mississippi State again attempted to separate, regaining a 52-46 advantage with 7:30 to play. TCU again refused to go away, using a 10-2 surge to regain the lead one final time. Jovanovic ignited the spurt with a three from the left baseline. Conner followed with four straight to set up Manumaleuga's go-ahead bucket.
The Bulldogs went 8-8 at the foul line in the final frame. Mississippi State finished 18-20 at the stripe compared to a 5-9 clip for TCU.
The Horned Frogs found themselves on their heels early on, trailing 27-17 near the five-minute mark of the second period. TCU committed 10 turnovers in the contest's 13 minutes. The Horned Frogs cut the figure down to two in the third quarter, settling into the tempo of the game and beginning the charge back.
Mississippi State finished with 11 steals and enjoyed a 19-12 discrepancy in points off turnovers.
More than 10 of TCU's roster members have eligibility remaining as the Horned Frogs now break for the offseason.
Team Notes
- TCU finished 12-29 from deep, marking the 15th time the Horned Frogs reached double digits in threes in 2023-24.
- TCU drained at least seven 3-pointers 29 times this season.
- The Horned Frogs held 27 of 33 opponents below their season scoring average with Sunday's showing in Starkville.
- Prince's double-double boosted TCU's final season tally to 24.
- TCU finished the year with 551 assists, the second most in a year in 47 seasons of existence.
- The Horned Frogs' end-of-year 3-point percentage of .366 is the seventh-best mark in a season in program history.
- TCU produced the largest increase in year-over-year winning percentage differential in 2023-24 among teams with a first-year head coach at .399.
- The 2023-24 squad became the 14th TCU team to win 20 games in a season.
- The Horned Frogs finished the season 19-5 when holding teams under 70 points with Sunday's result.
- TCU played its 36th all-time postseason game on Sunday.
- Prince's end-of-season rebounding average of 9.7 ranks third on TCU's individual single-season records list.
- Prince (19.7 ppg) and Conner (19.2 ppg) rank fifth and sixth in scoring average in single-season history.
- Prince scored in double figures in all 21 of her appearances in 2023-24.
- Conner scored the 10th most points in a season in program history with 518, tying Helena Sverisdottir (2010-11) on the program record book.
- Conner drained at least three 3-pointers in 18 of 26 appearances.
- Conner will finish second only to Caitlin Clark in 2023-24 in 3-pointers per game at 3.7.
- Conner led TCU in scoring for a team-leading 13th occasion.
- Jovanovic dished out her 100th assist of the year on Sunday, signifying the first time in her three-year college career she has accomplished the feat.
- Emma-Nnopu capped her first year in Fort Worth as TCU's leading rebounder with 238 total boards.
- Manumaleuga concludes her career having totaled 392 points, 158 rebounds, 149 assists, 79 threes and 69 steals.
