The men’s and women’s basketball teams finished out preseason play with two exhibition games at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.The Lady Frogs hosted the WNBA Lake Truck All-Stars on Sunday and took the victory 76-70 after regaining their composure following a slow first half.
“We were trying too hard in the first half,” said Jeff Mittie, women’s head coach.
The second half brought new life to the Lady Frogs as they quickly erased their 34-32 halftime deficit and took control of the game, in part due to junior Adrianne Ross’ leadership on court.
Ross had been feeling ill during the first half, but she managed to up the intensity level during the second half and put 13 second-half points on the board.
“The first half caught me off guard,” Ross said. “My teammates picked me up at halftime.”
Ross wasn’t the only Frog to experience a second-half resurgence as the whole team stepped up its game after halftime.
“We had better ball movement,” Mittie said. “There was more of a unit-looking scoring in the second half.”
While the game was an exhibition, it did give a preview for how the season may progress, Mittie said.
“It’s important to play against somebody whom you don’t know how to react,” Mittie said. “There is still a lot of areas we need to improve.”
The men also found success at home during their 103-64 win over the Lithuania Academy.
The Frogs forced 40 turnovers, which led to the easy scoring opportunities TCU hoped for going into the game, said sophomore power forward Kevin Langford.
“I liked our pressure we put on them,” Langford said. “It wasn’t perfect, but we forced them to make turnovers, and we got many of the shots we were looking for.”
Head coach Neil P. Dougherty said he was pleased with the teamwork displayed by the Frogs during the exhibition match-up.
“Overall, I liked our effort and our unselfishness,” Dougherty said. “There were a couple of times that Brent (Hackett) and Ryan (Wall) particularly turned down shots that I do not mind them taking, to make an extra play for someone else.”
The play of freshman guards Keion Mitchem and Tiese Morones, along with the inside game displayed by the Frogs created success, Dougherty said. He believes that inside play will be very important to a successful outcome this season.
“It’s going to be huge because if we are going to be small on the outside, then we really have to be good on the inside,” Dougherty said.
The victory was a result of simply having fun, junior guard Brent Hackett said.
“Everybody had fun,” Hackett said. “Last year, we were way too serious, and I do not think we were having any fun. Everyone came out positive and ready to start off on a good note.”
Dougherty, Langford and Hackett agree a lot to work still needs to be done.
“We have to get in better shape, and our execution needs to get better also,” Dougherty said.
Hackett said the Frogs still need to work on their motion on the floor.
“At times, we were kind of stagnant,” Hackett said.
