Sunday was bustling in the Fort. In addition to the typically congested traffic from thousands of psychopaths who not only love to run but pay handsomely to do so during the Cowtown Marathon, College Gameday stopped by Schollmaier Arena to feature a battle of Big 12 women’s-hoops heavyweights, TCU and Baylor. The TCU women’s team is working to expand upon last year’s historic Elite Eight appearance with an even deeper tournament run this season. So far, all is going according to plan as they’ve accumulated 27 wins against only four losses and capped their conference schedule with a home win against Baylor and their second consecutive Big 12 regular-season title.
Admittedly, the first part of the Frogs’ schedule was on the soft side, so it’s advisable to approach this season’s reboot with the cautious optimism of watching a smash-hit indie movie’s sequel. The star power of last year’s squad — point guard Haley Van Lith and center Sedona Prince, who were both graduate transfers last season — have moved on. Van Lith was drafted to the WNBA, and Prince is playing professionally in Greece. Staggeringly, their direct replacements could be even better.
Former Notre Dame point guard Olivia Miles was the most coveted transfer player this last cycle, and she forewent the draft in hopes of a more stable collective bargaining agreement in the pros. She is currently considered — and was also last year — a Top 3 pick for the professional league. Add the versatile play and shooting of a fellow graduate transfer, forward Marta Suarez from Cal, and they have the chance to outperform their predecessors and leave an equal or bigger mark on Funkytown.
Head Coach Mark Campbell is in only his third season with TCU and has shown he is capable of revamping his roster with ready-to-win talent. Campbell, if nothing else, is clearly a coach whom top-tier talent wants to play for. One need only look at the Frogs’ home record to be impressed: 42 consecutive wins on the Schollmaier floor, their last loss in Fort Worth coming just after Valentine’s Day in 2024 — the longest active streak in Division I. Their four road losses are by a combined 15 points — 10 of which were against Utah, a game settled in a flat overtime period — and both ranked losses, against Ohio State and Texas Tech (who are both ranked in the Top 20), were by two points each.
Miles herself is a gasp wrapped in a highlight reel. Those accustomed to Van Lith’s gritty determination and nose for tactical-court finds have to concede that the raw grace with athleticism of Miles leaves fans and opponents alike nodding their heads in begrudging concession or admiration. Miles is the current NCAA leader in triple-doubles (10 or more points, rebounds, assists, or steals in one game) with 11, and five have come with the Frogs this year, tying the Big 12 single-season record. She’s also the Division I leader with 33 career double-doubles. Miles almost single-handedly dismantled Baylor when the squads met back in February with a season best 40 points.
Suarez is posting impressive stats on her own. The forward drained 32 points in February against Cincinnati and has seven double-doubles this season. Miles and Suarez were the first teammate pair in D-I women’s hoops history to record double-doubles in the same game, as they combined for 63 points in a ludicrous rout of Arkansas-Pine Bluff 109-54 back in December.
Next on the docket for TCU is a trip back to Kansas City for the conference tournament this week, though their top seed means they won’t play until the quarterfinals on Friday at 1:30pm against Houston, BYU, or Utah. The Frogs’ next round would be Saturday afternoon, likely against the winner of Texas Tech and Oklahoma State with the finals slated for Sunday afternoon. The final conference tournament game last season was a five-point victory over second-seed Baylor, with Van Lith named most valuable tournament player, a distinction likely to be repeated by Miles.
Despite the repeat in overall success, this squad is lagging slightly behind their predecessors with one more conference loss and slightly lower overall placing at the conclusion of the season with a 10th-place national ranking (compared to sixth). Still, the NCAA tournament is likely to run back through Schollmaier again this year as TCU are a projected third seed, offering an expectedly smooth road back to the Sweet 16.
If I’m being critical — which I typically only am of Horned Frog football — I wish we knew a little more about the team at this point in the season. Despite several examples of the TCU women coming through late in games to defend their home court, last year’s group was more battle-hardened, with more marquee wins, especially early in the season. Wins last year against North Carolina State and Notre Dame (both then ranked in the Top 10) are what put Campbell’s roster on the national radar other than Van Lith’s name recognition. This squad doesn’t have as many heavyweight wins, despite their incredible consistency at home and competitiveness during their few losses. This isn’t necessarily their fault. The conference at large is not as stout as some years past as the Baylor women, who have been a perennial power, are below the program’s extremely high standards, and Iowa State, who were majorly hyped to begin the year, hit a gnarly five-game skid in January. Kansas State is also underperforming compared to last season, and the early-season rematch with NC State was another win for TCU, but the Wolfpack are currently unranked despite still being a tournament-bound team.
In the conference, West Virginia, Baylor, and Texas Tech are all Top 20-ranked but in a small grouping. TCU swept the Mountaineers and Bears and split home-and-home with the Raiders. The Frogs’ best nonconference opponent was a close loss against the Buckeyes (a projected fourth seed) in Columbus.
The other concern for this specific roster is the same one I’ve had with the men’s roster for years: paint presence. A talented big player is a unicorn in basketball. Coaches are typically compromising between a center who is an extremely long or large player who is a defensive presence but not a corresponding offensive factor or a smaller forward who can threaten the field-goal area but will not wall off the paint by themselves. That is where Prince was especially effective, an equally punishing player both offensively and defensively with skill and size. Prince and Miles might have been an unbeatable one-two smash. Suarez changes the gameplan, and while that’s not bad by any means, she tends to be less reliable against high-level teams when outside shooting goes cold or she becomes rattled because of relentless defensive pressure.
It’s difficult to project this talented group going further than last year’s squad when the two are completely different in strengths and makeup, but the scoring potential for Miles and Suarez is certainly higher. Fans won’t be able to gauge how far the team can go until the time is upon them, and that’s likely to be during the Sweet 16. The previous assertion is a wild testament to how fast Campbell has rocketed this program into a contender: that we’re likely waiting until the third round of the NCAA tourney to decide how good they really are.
