The TCU women's basketball team was on the hunt for their 13th straight victory over the Colorado State Rams on Saturday afternoon at Daniel Meyer Coliseum.
After falling to San Diego State last week, the TCU is 0-1 in conference play after falling while the Colorado State is one of four teams standing at 1-0 in the Mountain West Conference. The Rams have not won in a meeting against the Frogs since 1999.
TCU began the game with possession of the ball after junior forward Delisa Gross' jump. The Rams began the game in a zone defense, battling against quick passes along the perimeter from the Frogs’ offense. TCU rallied with a full-court man-to-man defense, which forced the Colorado State to adjust quickly to get the ball up the court.
Offensively, the Frogs utilized their key point guards by making smart passes around the arch, and effectively rebounded the ball and got the it to an open player. A quick bucket from freshman forward Natalie Ventress, and two 3-pointers from senior guard Antoinette Thompson and junior guard Whitney Williams contributed to TCU's 15-0 run against the Colorado State within the first five minutes of the game.
The Rams would not have an answer until freshman guard LaDeyah Forte pulled scored a basket and began the highest scoring run of her career with 17 points.
Colorado State eventually found its groove. The Rams scored five 3-pointers in the first half, three of the five senior guard Kim Mestdagh scored.
The Frogs completed seven shots from downtown before the close of the half, with Williams leading the pack with three of the seven shots. With one last 3-pointer from sophomore guard Briesha Wynn at the buzzer, the Frogs were up 45-36 at the half.
Wynn began the second half in the same fashion she had ended the first, sinking a 3-pointer in virtually the exact same spot with just under 16 minutes left to play. Ventress and Williams both scored 3-pointers from the perimeter in the second half.
The Rams accurately fed the ball underneath while sophomore center Latricia Lovings played a big role for TCU under the basket. Lovings tied the number of most blocked shots of all time with 7.
Both Ventress and Thompson finished with a team high of 20 points each for the Frogs, while sophomore forward Sam Martin led the Rams with 28 points.
After mazing out the foul penalty, the Rams went to a full-court press and sent both Ventress and Williams to the line to hold off the clock. The Frogs came out on top with the win, defeating the Rams 79-71 for the 13th consecutive time in program history.
