KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Marta Suarez had 17 points and eight rebounds, Taylor Bigby scored 11 of her 13 points in the first quarter and No. 10 TCU began its defense of its women’s Big 12 Tournament title with a 63-46 quarterfinal win over BYU on Friday.
Olivia Miles had 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the top-seeded Horned Frogs (28-4), which will play No. 12 seed Kansas State in Saturday’s semifinals.
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Delaney Gibb scored 17 points to lead the ninth-seeded Cougars (22-11) to a three-game winning streak to end the regular season, then beat Houston and Utah in the first two rounds of the conference round to give them NCAA tournament hopes.
The Horned Frogs certainly look like a team coming off a six-game playoff win streak. They held BYU to just one field goal in the first 5 1/2 minutes, leading 24-8 at the end of the first quarter and an 18-point lead in the second quarter.
TCU did it all without much effort from Myers either. The Big 12 Player of the Year went 0 for 3 from the field and committed three turnovers in a scoreless first half, and her foul in the final seconds allowed BYU to hit a free throw to make it 32-19 at halftime.
Myers eventually hit two free throws early in the third quarter, though, and her first shot late in the quarter came at the perfect time. It stopped the Cougars from going on a 9-0 run and cut the deficit in half.
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TCU extended its lead to 46-30 early in the fourth quarter and held a comfortable lead the rest of the way.
Next
BYU nervously waits to find out if its late-season surge will be enough to reach the NCAA Tournament.
On December 20, TCU defeated the Wildcats 77-55 in their only game of the season.
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