PROVO — "Senior Night" momentum kept the BYU women's basketball team close throughout Saturday night's game against TCU, but in the end the Horned Frogs spoiled the moment with a 72-61 victory.
In fact, the Cougars (13-15, 7-9) trailed by 11 points midway through the second half and fought their way back to within four with three minutes remaining but were unable to make plays when they needed them most.
"We fought, but TCU is a good team," said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. "They are experienced, and I think you saw it tonight. When they had to make a play, they executed better than we did and they got the ball to the right people."
The Horned Frogs led 32-30 at the half before quickly boosting their lead after the break. Most of their points came from easy baskets in the lane and camping out at the free-throw line, where they hit 26 of 33 on the night.
But 13 of forward Shawnee Slade's game-high 20 points came in the second half to help spark BYU's comeback.
"(Slade) played like we always feel she can play," said Judkins. "She was aggressive offensively and she looked for her shot more than she has in the past. I think she made a lot of athletic plays and loose ball plays and she has that ability."
Down the stretch, TCU's ability to penetrate was too much for the Cougars. Guard Adrianne Ross finished with 16 points, and teammate Helen Roden had 12 for the Frogs.
It was the final game played in the Marriott Center for Mallary Carling, Ashley Cheesman and Lauren Varley. Carling finished with 17 points by hitting shots from all over the court, as she has done so many times throughout her career at BYU. Saturday marked her 66th double-digit scoring performance as a Cougar.
"It was kind of surreal going out there," said Carling. "Just to think that it is your last game on that court. I have no idea how many hours, minutes or days I have spent on that court. To think that there is not going to be a next year is definitely surreal."
The three seniors will now have at least one more game in a BYU uniform, as the Cougars are officially the fifth seed in next week's Mountain West Conference Women's Basketball Championships. They will play New Mexico on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in Las Vegas.
The Cougars were picked to finish third, but have struggled at times throughout the season, and Judkins felt that his team should have done better than they have this year.
"I think we underachieved," he said. "When the season started, I thought our team was in the top three. We had a tough preseason and this team didn't need that. This team needed to get some confidence. So instead of winning some early and coming in to conference at about 9-3 or 10-2, we came in 6-6 and it was an uphill battle."
While it was a frustrating end to a tough year, the seniors on this team hope that they can end their careers on a high point.
"We just want to go out and make a good run," said Carling. "We believe that we are good enough to knock off some good teams and go far in the tournament, so we just have to go out and play like it.
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