March 4, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Game #29
TCU (18-10; 11-3 MWC) vs. Air Force (10-16; 4-10 MWC)
Fort Worth, Texas -- Daniel-Meyer Coliseum (7,201)
Wednesday, March 5 -- 6:30 p.m. CST
Television: None
Radio: 88.7 KTCU-FM, gofrogs.com
Internet: Live Radio via KTCU; Live Statistics via All-Access; Live Video Stream Here

FORT WORTH--TCU concludes its 2007-08 regular-season home schedule Wednesday, when Air Force visits Daniel-Meyer Coliseum for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off. Five Lady Frogs will be honored for what could be their final career home appearances on Senior Night.

The Frogs, currently in sole possession of second place in the Mountain West Conference season standings, can lock up at least a share of the league's No. 2 spot for the second straight season with a victory over the Falcons. Another home win would also give TCU 14 victories at the DMC this season, which would tie for the second-highest total in program history.

Air Force has gone 3-4 since a Feb. 2 home loss to the Frogs, 67-49, and needs only one more win for its highest league total since prior to the formation of the MWC in 1999-2000.

The all-time series has been dominated by TCU by a 9-1 count. The Frogs have never lost to the Falcons in Fort Worth and have won each of the last nine meetings.

Wednesday's game can be heard live on the radio in the Metroplex on 88.7 KTCU-FM with Jeff Williams calling the action. All games this season, home and away, will be broadcast live on KTCU. A free video stream will be provided via the All-Access section of GoFrogs.com.

TCU's five-player senior class of Lorie Butler-Rayford, Moneka Knight, Jenna Lohse, Helen Roden and Adrianne Ross will be recognized following the game during a special on-court presentation.

Frog Quick Notes
-TCU's next victory will mark the 400th win in program history.

-TCU is shooting 45.2 percent from the field in the second half of its MWC games, compared to only 37.3 percent in the first half.

-The senior class of Lorie Butler-Rayford, Moneka Knight, Jenna Lohse, Adrianne Ross and Helen Roden ranks as the fourth-winningest group in program history (106-50 since 2003-04).

-The group of seniors has combined for 3,754 points, 1,829 rebounds, 1,057 assists and 723 steals during their careers.

-TCU is on pace to record the second-lowest figures in school history for opponent scoring average (59.0 ppg) and turnovers (16.5 pg).

-TCU leads the MWC in scoring (69.6 ppg) and offensive rebounds (14.36 pg) and ranks second in turnover margin (+5.04), steals (10.18 spg) and 3-pointers (5.82 3pg).

-TCU is 15-0 when allowing 59 points or fewer this season.

-The Frog bench has outscored the opponent bench in 23 of 28 games by an average of 8.2 ppg.

-TCU has allowed 42 points or fewer during a school-record four games this season.

-The Frogs have won the turnover battle in 20 of 28 games with five ties. Only Texas A&M, Wyoming and Utah have committed fewer turnovers than the Frogs in a contest this season.

-Adrianne Ross is only 38 field-goal attempts shy of setting the TCU career record (Sandora Irvin--1,503).

-Lorie Butler-Rayford trails No. 2 Janice Dziuk (778) on TCU's career rebounds list by only 28 boards.

-Butler-Rayford needs 62 more points to become only the 10th Frog to reach 1,000 for a career.

-Helena Sverrisdottir (9.4 ppg) is on pace to finish the season as TCU's highest-scoring freshman since Sandora Irvin (10.8 ppg) in 2001-02.

-Sverrisdottir is the only freshman to appear in the MWC statistical rankings for assists (11th), rebounding (T-12th) and scoring (22nd).

-Moneka Knight has set single-season career bests this year for games started, points, rebounds and steals and is on pace for highs in field-goal percentage and free-throw percentage.

Milestones Add Up for Senior Class
TCU's five-player senior class will be honored following Wednesday's game during traditional Senior Day activities. The contest marks the group's final regular-season appearance at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Lorie Butler-Rayford, Moneka Knight, Jenna Lohse, Adrianne Ross and Helen Roden have each helped the Lady Frogs post a 106-50 record (.679) over the past five years, the fourth-winningest period in program history. The group, the largest senior class at TCU since the 2003-04 graduating class, has combined for 3,754 points, 1,829 rebounds, 1,057 assists and 723 steals during their Frog careers.

Scouting Air Force (10-16; 4-10 MWC)
Air Force enters Wednesday's game with a 4-10 MWC record and sits tied with UNLV for seventh place in the league standings. The Falcons have two more chances this season to try and claim a fifth conference win, which would mark their most since prior to the formation of the MWC in 1999-2000.

The team averages 57.4 points per game while allowing 63.9 points per contest overall this season.Air Force ranks in the middle of the MWC pack statistically in several categories, including blocked shots (3.4 pg; 4th), steals (7.27 pg; 5th) and 3-point field-goal percentage (32.8; 5th), and the squad's 71.7 percent free-throw success rate rates second among league teams.

Senior forward Alecia Steele (12.3 ppg) and senior guard Pamela Findlay (10.7) each boast double-figure scoring averages to rank 11th and 17th, respectively, among MWC players. Steele is the conference's No. 2-ranked rebounder with a 7.4-board-per-game average. Freshman guard Raimee Beck leads the team in assists (2.6 pg) in addition to compiling a 9.6-point scoring average, and Kim Kreke paces the Falcons in blocked shots (1.2 pg).

Last Meeting: TCU 67, Air Force 49 (Feb. 2)
TCU survived a close first-half battle before pulling away from Air Force in the second half during a 67-49 win Feb. 2 at the Falcons' Clune Arena. The Frogs led by only four at intermission, but scored 15 of the first 19 points of the second half on their way to a third straight road win.

Adrianne Ross scored a game-high 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting while collecting four steals to lead TCU. Emily Carter came up big behind the arc for the Frogs, as she tied a career high with 14 points while hitting a personal-best four 3-pointers. Moneka Knight dished out a game-high six assists.

The Frogs shot well from the field, especially in the second half. A 55.6 percent rate in the second period helped the squad reach 50.0 percent overall for the first time in six games.

TCU posted huge statistical advantages both for points in the paint (24-16) and points off turnovers (25-12). The Frog bench also out-scored the opponent (25-11) for the 16th time in 21 games.

Defensively, TCU allowed Air Force to shoot only 33.3 percent from the field in the second half while forcing 23 Falcon turnovers.

Second-Half Shooting Surge
TCU's field-goal percentage can be broken down into a tale of two halves since the start of conference play. In its 14 MWC contests, the team is shooting 45.2 percent from the field in the second half compared to only 37.3 percent in the first half. The second-half turnaround has helped the Frogs out-score league opponents by an average of 6.6 points per game after intermission.

RPI Tracker
TCU, which hovered around the mid-100 level in the RPI rankings prior to the start of MWC play, sat in 49th place Monday according to College RPI.com, which attempts to project the NCAA formula used to help assist in picking at-large bids to the NCAA field.

The Frogs are currently only one spot below their season-high position of No. 48 earned prior to its Feb. 20 win over Colorado State. Seven of TCU's opponents this season appear among the ranking's top 50: LSU (9), Texas A&M (10), Utah (14), Cal (21), Oklahoma State (24), Wyoming (31) and Florida (44).

Despite a slow start to the year, TCU still appears to have a shot at its eighth straight NCAA berth. Last season's squad finished 59th in the RPI while earning an at-large bid.