The Lady Frogs erased an early 16-point deficit and took down the San Diego State University Aztecs 65-62 in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum on Wednesday night.
The win gives TCU an overall record of 13-7 with a 5-2 mark in the Mountain West Conference.
“We knew if we played hard and if we fought hard and we did the small things.eventually it would come our way,” said junior guard TK LaFleur.
The Lady Aztecs came out hot, connecting on four shots from beyond the arc to start the game. Turnovers led to many of SDSU’s early points and the Aztecs jumped out to an quick 16-point lead.
But quick scoring outbursts from the Lady Frogs kept the team in the game in the first half as the Aztecs cooled off. SDSU only took a five-point lead into halftime, 34-29.
There was a scary moment early when TCU senior center Micaela Younger and Aztec senior guard LaSandra Dixon collided diving for a loose ball. Dixon suffered a cut to her forehead in the incident and Younger chipped a tooth. Play was halted for several minutes while both players received aid. Each player later returned to the game.
“This way a physical game all the way through it,” TCU head coach Jeff Mittie said. “I thought it was big for (Younger) to come back and I thought she gave us a big lift.”
Sophomore Helena Sverrisdottir, the Lady Frogs’ leading scorer this season, struggled in Wednesday night’s game. The guard missed five of her first six shots and finished the night with seven points.
The Lady Frogs continued their comeback in the second half as the Aztecs’ offense came to a halt.
“We just got more aggressive all around,” said sophomore forward Emily Carter. “We actually got a lot more deflections in the second half than in the first half and that’s what kind of slowed them down.”
Two Emily Carter free throws tied the score up at 44-44 nearly midway through the second half, erasing the 16-point deficit. Carter’s three-pointer a few possessions later gave the Lady Frogs their first lead since scoring the game’s first basket a minute into the game.
The remainder of the game was fast and furious as the teams exchanged the lead on multiple occasions.
Trailing by one point with 22 seconds remaining, SDSU turned the ball over when senior forward Jennifer Layton-Bailes was called for traveling.
Sverrisdottir hit two free throws after an intentional foul, putting TCU up by three points.
SDSU sophomore forward Jerica Williams missed a last-second three-point attempt at the final buzzer and the Lady Frogs walked away with yet another conference victory.
The University of Utah is up next for the Lady Frogs, who will hit the road for the game. Unbeaten Utah is current in first place in the Mountain West Conference.
