Hailey Van Lith and the TCU women’s basketball team made history Sunday, securing the Horned Frogs’ first-ever Big 12 regular-season championship with a 51-48 win over No. 17 Baylor. The 10th-ranked Horned Frogs, led by second-year head coach Mark Campbell, completed an impressive turnaround season, finishing 28-3 overall and 16-2 in conference play.
Following the win, Van Lith emphasized the difficulty of sustaining success throughout the conference schedule.
“It feels awesome, not a lot of people understand how hard it is to win a regular season championship,” Van Lith said, as reported by Steven Johnson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “That means you have to dominate consistently over the course of a league season. That just says a lot about us and the level we’ve been able to play at. It’s been a battle, to win in a game like this where we had to grit it out and be tough and mentally overcome things I think that’s the perfect way.”
TCU’s defense was instrumental in the win, holding Baylor to just two points in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. The Horned Frogs capitalized when Taylor Bigby and Agnes Emma-Nnopu hit back-to-back three-pointers, extending TCU’s lead to 44-36.
“Those kids stepped up big, Bigby’s 3 was a dagger,” Campbell said. “Agnes in the fourth quarter also hit a monster one. We can shoot the ball and that makes us hard to defend.”
Mark Campbell turns fortunes around for TCU women’s basketball
Sedona Prince led TCU with 16 points and 19 rebounds, while Van Lith added 14 points, including crucial free throws down the stretch. She made two from the line with 1:49 remaining to give the Horned Frogs their largest lead at 49-39, then added another with nine seconds left to help seal the victory.
Campbell, who took over a team that had gone 1-17 in conference play before his arrival, called the moment surreal.
“There’s been so many times postgame when I get to come in here and it’s the first time we’ve done this or the first team to do that,” he said. “Well, this tops all of them. To win a league title and to bring that trophy home, it’s a little surreal to be honest.”
Baylor, which had won nine straight games, struggled offensively, shooting just 27.7% from the field. Yaya Fielder and Aaronette Vonleh each scored 17 points, but the Bears’ late comeback attempt fell short after a missed three-pointer in the final seconds.
With the regular season over, both teams now prepare for the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, where they have earned double-byes into Friday’s quarterfinals.
Reporting by Stephen Hawkins of the Associated Press contributed to this article.
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