KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lauren Heard scored 26 points, Tavy Diggs added a career-high 20 and TCU survived a furious Kansas rally in the fourth quarter to win 75-72 in the opener of Big 12 Tournament on Thursday.
Yummy Morris added 15 points for TCU (10-14), the eighth seed, which plays top seed and No. 6-ranked Baylor in a quarterfinal on Friday.
TCU hit its first five shots in the final quarter in an 11-0 run to lead by 16, 68-52. But the Horned Frogs then made only one of their next nine while Kansas was hitting 7 of 8 to close within 73-72 going into the final minute. TCU added two free throws and Kansas missed its final two shots, including Chatzileonti’s short jumper with two seconds remaining.
Heard put TCU in the lead for good with a 3-pointer early in the third quarter as the Horned Frogs went up by five with Kansas enduring a 1-of-14 shooting stretch.
Holly Kersgieter scored 22 points with nine rebounds and Ioanna Chatzileonti added a career-high 18 points plus 13 rebounds for her third double-double this season for the Jayhawks (7-18) who lost their ninth straight game.
Kansas, the ninth seed, outscored TCU by nine in the first quarter and the Horned Frogs then outscored the Jayhawks by the same amount to go into the break in a 36-all tie.
The teams split their regular-season series.
__
More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
