|
“I
knew defensively, we had to be the best team we could be. That’s
what we focused on. And the team bought into what we were telling
them.” |
New
conference, same result for Frogs FORT WORTH — TCU coach Jeff Mittie had to temper his expectations and change his game plan after one of his two returning starters was lost for the season on the first day of practice. When team MVP Tricia Payne tore knee ligaments, the Lady Frogs were left with just one other player who had ever started a game for them, senior forward Kati Safaritova. The rest of the roster included six newcomers and five other returning players.
“We felt like we had a talented group,” Mittie said. “Then when we lost Tricia, one of the things I was looking at is a team being so young and new to each other.” Mittie knew that his team was going to have to excel defensively to have a chance to repeat the success of 2000-01, when TCU had its first 20-win regular season and went to the NCAA tournament for the first time and upset Penn State in the opening round. “I knew defensively, we had to be the best team we could be,” he said. “That’s what we focused on. And the team bought into what we were telling them.” Four months later, the No. 25 Lady Frogs (22-5) head into the Conference USA tournament with their second straight 20-win season, second straight conference title — even after switching leagues — and first Top 25 ranking. They’ve succeeded with one of the nation’s best defenses. The Lady Frogs are allowing just 57.7 points a game (15th in NCAA) and opponents are shooting just 35 percent (sixth in NCAA). “They say defense wins games,’’ sophomore Ebony Shaw said. “At first, when we hadn’t gelled as a team, we were struggling offensively and defense won us the game.” TCU has a first-round bye, and will play Marquette or Saint Louis on Saturday in Chicago. The Lady Frogs are seemingly assured another NCAA tournament bid, no matter what happens this weekend. This season has been a rewarding one for Mittie, who when tempering his expectations early also had to change his approach. “I have no problems with high expectations, but I want them to be realistic in a realistic time frame,” he said. “I didn’t want young players feeling like they had failed when they hadn’t achieved growth. I had to back up and be more realistic, back up and keep things simple. “The goals we set before Tricia got hurt, they were attainable, but the timeline had to change,” he said. TCU was 2-2 after a 76-60 loss at No. 5 Oklahoma on Nov. 27, but then won five straight games. The Frogs have lost just three more times, all of the losses after winning at least four games in a row. “We knew we had a bunch of great players, but we wondered how good this team was or how good we’d be together,” Shaw said. “When we lost a couple of games at the beginning of the season, we were still trying to work with each other and get a feel. As we progressed toward the conference, we started gelling together.” They were ready for the new league. Getting an early boost with wins over preseason-favorites Louisville and Cincinnati, the Lady Frogs went on to a 12-2 C-USA mark and won the regular-season title. “We had to prepare for 13 different teams. That is a difficult task and I didn’t know if this young team could do it,” said Mittie, who has 63 wins in his three seasons at TCU. “They did a great job preparing for new teams. We just kind of grinded it out and found ways to win.” TCU has won four straight games and eight of its last nine. Safaritova is the team’s leading scorer at 13.4 point per game, but four other players score at least 8.5 a game. |
|||
|
TCU Daily Skiff © 2002 |
||||
