TCU Women's Basketball: St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic Recap

The Horned Frogs showed signs of a scoring clinic, but finished 1-1 at the classic, 2-3 overall.

@TCU Women's Basketball- Photo of Tavy Diggs

TCU Women’s Basketball team finished up 1-1 at the Saint Mary’s Thanksgiving Classic, making the Horned Frogs record now 2-3 on the season. On Black Friday, The Horned Frogs won 72-68 against Saint Mary’s (CA). Super seniors Michelle Berry and Lauren Heard both scored 16 points each to guide the TCU Horned Frogs to a 72-68 win over the St. Mary’s Gaels. Berry set a new career-high as a Horned Frog, surpassing her previous career-best of 15 points, which she had tallied on four different occasions at TCU. Heard bounced back from a single-point scoring effort this past Sunday to score 15+ points for the 46th time in her career. The Horned Frogs were really starting to come into their own as they were playing together as team.

The Horned Frogs didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal as they led throughout the entire first half, but gave up its first lead to the Gaels with just a little over eight minutes to play in the third quarter. St. Mary’s would led for just a combined 2:11 in the third quarter, but TCU took back the lead with a pair of free throws from Heard at the 2:14 mark of the frame and never looked back.

Berry drained her team-best third three-pointer with just a little more than a minute and a half to go in the third quarter and that proved to be the lead TCU needed to get through the final quarter. TCU’s 11-point lead eventually dwindled down to just three points very late in the frame, as St. Mary’s had to force fouls in order to get back into the game. TCU took advantage of the charity stripe and closed the game with a four-point victory.

Lauren Heard could do no wrong on that court. Heard led the team with five assists.  She now has 425 career assists, just 21 shy from moving up to No. 4 all-time and surpassing Jill Sutton’s total of 445 assists. Heard also led the team with eight rebounds. She currently ranks No. 9 all-time with 664 boards, 12 back of Tiffany Evans’ total of 676 rebounds.

The following game the Horned Frogs tried to spark a comeback, but it wasn’t enough. Four different Horned Frogs scored in double-figures, but it wasn't enough as TCU fell to the Cal Baptist Lancers, 91-77.  Heard led the way with 26 points, and Yummy Morris pitched in with a season-high 18 points. Okako Adika and Tavy Diggs both finished with 13 points each. The Horned Frogs were down by just six points at the break, but the Lancers started the third quarter with a 16-2 run and that proved to be the difference. CBU led by as many as 20 points, and TCU managed to cut the deficit to seven points late in the frame, but the Lancers knocked down 16 three-pointers putting a end to TCU climb back. TCU Starters vs. St. Mary’s: Lauren Heard, Michelle Berry, Okako Adika, Aahliyah Jackson and Patricia Morris. This starting line-up is 2-2 on the season. Coach Pebley is going to get these Girls right as they continue to get better.

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