Fort Worth, Texas - After a week away from competition the Thunderbird women's basketball team got back on the hardwood Saturday afternoon to take on the TCU Horned Frogs, and fell to their opponent out of the Big 12 Conference 76–47.

The T-Birds and Horned Frogs were tied up at 2–2 very early in the first quarter when TCU went on a 13–0 run to take a 15–2 advantage before Jessica Richardson broke the streak with a basket. TCU used a pair of 7–0 runs to take a 29–9 lead after the first quarter of play.

The Horned Frogs went on another run, this one 9–0, to start the second quarter, before the Thunderbirds found some offensive momentum with a 5–0 run of their own. SUU and TCU played much closer in the second half, with the Horned Frogs only outscoring them 15–10, giving TCU a 44–19 lead at the halftime break.

“When we picked up the tempo a little bit they had a hard time with us and the girls really fought midway through that second quarter to just compete and played really well as a team the latter part of the second quarter and the whole second half,” SUU head coach Chris Boettcher said about the second quarter improvements.

Richardson hit double-digit scoring in the first half, dropping in 11 points in the opening 20 minutes. Neja Hamilton was the top scorer for TCU at the break, scoring 12.

The third quarter was a back-and-forth affair, as both teams found a rhythm offensively putting up more combined points than any other period of the night, leaving the score 66–40 after 30 minutes of hoops. TCU won the quarter 22–21.

The Horned Frogs closed out the contest in the fourth quarter, not allowing SUU to carry over much of their third quarter momentum, winning the contest 76–47.

Richardson finished the game with a near double-double, scoring 23 points and pulling in nine rebounds. Reanu Reid was SUU's second leading scorer, dropping in eight points.

Boettcher said he is excited for Richardson and is impressed with the way she has grown as a player.

“Her confidence is growing and growing, both in her leadership role and in what she brings to the team,” he said. “She's just a competitor, and tonight she went after every rebound. She wanted to prove that we as a team, and she individually, can play at the highest level and her confidence just continues to grow.”

Hamilton finished with 18 for the Horned Frogs, followed by Toree Thompson who had 14. AJ Alix scored 13 for TCU and Jordan Moore had 10. Caitlin Diaz pulled in 10 rebounds on the night.

For the Horned Frogs, this contest was the inaugural women's basketball game at the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena, which just received a renovation.

SUU's next contest will be a home matchup with Bristol. That game will be on Monday December 28 and tipoff is set for 7 p.m. This will be SUU's final contest before entering Big Sky Conference play.