It’s not often a team trailing by seven entering the fourth quarter manages to win by eight.
The TCU women’s basketball team did just that Wednesday, defeating Texas Tech 78-70 to snap a three-game conference losing streak.
The Horned Frogs fell behind 7-6 with 5:47 left in the first quarter and did not regain the lead until a layup by Adeola Akomolafe with 4:07 left in the contest put them up 64-63.
Akomolafe’s layup was part of a 13-0 TCU run in the middle of the fourth quarter that ultimately led to their eight-point victory.
The team outscored the Lady Raiders 31-16 in the final period.
Eight of their 31 points came from offensive rebounds, second chance points that highlighted their energy and determination down the stretch.
“We wanted it really bad, we needed this win a lot,” said junior Kianna Ray. “Just continuing to instill that effort into each other and that energy. When we have energy, we’re going to do some damage.”
Texas Tech pushed their lead to eight in the second quarter and ten in the third, but they were unable to put away the resilient TCU team.
“You have to be that [resilient] in this league no matter who your playing against,” said head coach Raegan Pebley. “Tonight’s scores are a great indicator of that.”
The team was led by Ray and senior Amy Okonkwo, who combined for 30 second-half points.
“I love that Amy and Kianna just stayed confident in their scoring,” Pebley said.
Ray finished with a career-high 24 points and five steals, including 11 points in the fourth quarter.
The Austin, Texas, native started the game with just one make on her first five attempts but didn’t stop shooting, a testament to her resiliency and confidence as a scorer.
“My teammates tell me to keep shooting and they keep finding me but I know I have to just keep shooting,” she said. “I’m not going to make any shots if I don’t shoot at all.”
Okonkwo finished with 16 points, pushing her over 1000 for her career at TCU.
She becomes the 19th player in program history to reach that mark and joins fellow senior Jordan Moore, who reached the milestone in November.
Along with the offense of Ray and Okonkwo, the team’s aggressive defense style paved the way for the fourth quarter comeback.
They forced the Lady Raiders into eight fourth-quarter turnovers while only committing two themselves, a recipe for erasing any deficit.
The team also limited the potent ability of Texas Tech’s perimeter players, holding them to a 7-for-26 mark from beyond the arc.
“I think one of the things we did tonight is we forced Tech away from what they normally do and that is so much of their perimeter play,” Pebley said.
The team will look to build upon the win and their fourth quarter showing when they travel to Austin to play Texas this Saturday. Tip off is set for 1 p.m.
