The TCU Horned Frogs, the No. 2 seed in their region, defeated the No. 7 seed Louisville Cardinals, 85-70, on Sunday in Fort Worth, Texas, in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
For the Horned Frogs (33-3), the win continues their historic season. Entering the game, they won their first Big 12 regular-season and tournament title, which was the program’s first conference title of any kind since 2010.
TCU was selected a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, its highest seed ever. Its win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday was their first in the tournament since 2006.
With Sunday’s win, the Horned Frogs will play in the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. TCU will face No. 3 seed Notre Dame next week. The two teams played each other earlier this season in a neutral site tournament, with TCU claiming a victory.
The game pitted TCU guard Hailey Van Lith against her original college team, as she played three seasons for Louisville and led the Cardinals to a Final Four. She had a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists, but other players stole the show.
Agnes Emma-Nnopu led the Horned Frogs with 23 points, making four 3-pointers. Donovyn Hunter dropped in 18 points, but what stuck out was that she didn’t miss a shot. She was 6-for-6 from the field (including a quartet of 3-pointers) and 2-for-2 from the free throw line.
Sedona Prince added 19 points, four rebounds and three blocks for TCU.
Jayda Curry had a career-high 41 points for Louisville, as she set a school record for most points in a tournament game. But it wasn’t enough as the Horned Frogs outscored the Cardinals, 27-9, in the second quarter to take a 47-26 lead at halftime and control of the game.
Earlier on Sunday, Kansas State became the first Big 12 team to make the women’s Sweet 16 in this tournament by defeating the Kentucky Wildcats, 80-79, in overtime. The Baylor Bears fell to the Ole Miss Rebels, 69-63, and they were eliminated from the tournament.
West Virginia is the only Big 12 team playing a second-round game on Monday as they will face North Carolina at 6 p.m. central on ESPN2.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
