Building a legacy that has left an impact on others takes hard work, determination and time, along with a deep passion for the work at hand.

During the past five years, Adrianne Ross has been the point guard for the Lady Frogs’ basketball team. She has rewritten record books and competed in the NCAA Tournament four years in a row. With six games left in her final regular season, Ross is hoping to add to her legacy and lead the Lady Frogs to her fifth straight NCAA Tournament invitation with the team.

Ross, a 5-foot-8-inch senior from Hobbs, N.M., has led this year’s Lady Frogs to an overall record of 15-9 with an 8-4 record in conference play.

Currently, she is leading the team in scoring with 13.4 points per game, and leads the team in assists and in steals. Ross also leads the Lady Frogs in field goals, 3-pointers and free throws made.

“She does a lot for us,” said head coach Jeff Mittie. “She can steal the ball on defense and has great scoring ability on offense because she can to take it to the rim or shoot the three.”

Ross is no stranger to being the team leader in offensive and defensive categories. In fact, she ranks in the top five for seven different categories on the Lady Frogs’ all-time record list.

She is No. 1 in steals with 307, a record she set this season. She is ranked No. 2 all-time in points, field goals attempted and field goals.

Ross began her career at TCU as a true freshman during the 2003-2004 season. Ross played in all 32 of the Lady Frogs’ games that season and started in 10.

After having a strong freshman campaign, Ross was ready to become a leader on the team. Her season was cut short Nov. 27 when the Lady Frogs were playing against Georgia during the 2004 Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu. Ross tore a ligament in her left knee ending her season.

She was allowed to receive a medical red-shirt because the injury happened early enough in the season. The day before her injury, Ross played against the California Golden Bears, even though she had the flu, and scored 23 points and had six steals against California.

This was not the first time that Ross played with the odds stacked against her.

While growing up, she competed against her older brother and played in co-ed basketball leagues.

“My brother was the biggest influence on my game,” Ross said. “We would compete against each other and sometimes even played on the same team in the co-ed leagues.”

Ross’s brother, Ronald Ross was an All-American at Texas Tech University and played under former head coach Bobby Knight.

Ross said that playing against stronger and bigger players helped her game mature faster.

“Playing against guys when I was younger helped me develop my skills and made me a stronger, more physical player,” she said. “Once I started playing with and competing against just girls, I realized my skills were very good and that I was better than most of the other girls.”

Ross had her best year in the 2006-2007 season. She led the team with 17.3 points per game and 93 steals and finished second in assists with 79. The Associated Press named Ross Honorable Mention All-America Team. She was also awarded the title of Conference Co-Player of the Year in the Mountain West and First Team All-Mountain West Conference.

Coming out of high school, Ross was recruited to McDonald’s All-American Team and was back-to-back winner of New Mexico’s Player of the Year.

Her play on the court has had obvious impact, but so have her actions off the court.

“She was one of the top recruits coming out of high school, and to continue our success of going to the tournament shows how hard she has worked,” Mittie said. “She is a great ambassador to the game and to the school; she is great with the younger kids and is a great player and person for the program.”

As her college career nears its end, Ross has been thinking about what she will do after college. Continuing to play basketball at the professional level is one option she is considering.

“I want to play basketball and compete as long as my good health will let me,” Ross said. She is not just considering playing in the WNBA, she added.

“I would definitely play overseas. The women’s game goes through the summer, so you can play in the WNBA and also compete in the overseas leagues.”

Ross, a communications major with an emphasis in human relations, also hopes to become a sports sideline reporter someday.

Whatever she decides to do, Ross will leave TCU as a significant part of Lady Frog history.