TCU Women's Basketball Season Ends in Heartbreak in Birmingham

The No. 2 seed Horned Frogs lost their first-ever Elite Eight matchup 58-47 to No. 1 seed Texas

Mar 31, 2025; Birmingham, AL, USA; TCU Horned Frogs center Sedona Prince (13) reacts near the end of a loss to the Texas Longhorns during the second half of an Elite 8 NCAA Tournament game at Legacy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images / Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Final. 47. 466. TCU WBB vs UT. 58. 467

It was an incredible journey. It didn't end with a trip to the Final Four, but it did end in the Elite Eight, a destination no TCU team (women's or men's) had ever reached.

It was a defensive struggle that ended with the No. 1 Texas Longhorns defeating the No. 2 TCU Horned Frogs 58-47 in the Regional Final on Monday night in Birmingham.

"They're the greatest team in TCU women's basketball history," said head coach Mark Campbell. "The legacy they left. They inspired a massive group of young girls in that community that you could chase your dreams at the highest level at TCU."

It was a game in which TCU never led. Neither team scored for the first 1:38 of the game. Texas scored first and never looked back. Donovyn Hunter got a free throw to make it 2-1, but TCU's first bucket came with 4:27 left in the 1st Quarter - a 3-pointer by Agnes Emma-Nnopu.

Buckets were hard to come by for both teams all night. TCU was as low as 14.3% early in the 1st and got as high as 31% at one point in the 2nd. The Frogs ended the night shooting 27% from the field (12-45), 20% from the 3-point line (4-20), and 90% (19-21) from the free-throw line.

Texas didn't have it much better. The Longhorns finished at 39% (24-61), 67% from the 3-point line (2-3), and 73% (8-11) from the free-throw line.

Turnovers were the story of the game, specifically inbounding the ball underneath the Texas goal. TCU finished with 21 turnovers. Texas capitalized on those, scoring 17 points off of TCU turnovers. TCU found themselves with multiple 5-second violations on inbounding, giving the ball right back to Texas underneath their own goal.

TCU was down by as many as nine points in the 2nd Quarter but clawed their way back to only be down by two points at the half, 23-21. Texas shot 46.7% in the 3rd Quarter to never fully give TCU a chance.

Even as time was running out, TCU found themselves still just six points behind, 53-47, with 2:42 remaining. Guard Hailey Van Lith called it a dogfight.

"We're some dogs for fighting for that," said Van Lith postgame. "When nobody expects you to do something, it's hard to find the grit to go out and do it. I wouldn't have had that game -- a dogfight is the way to go out, and I thought we put up a fight. Texas played really well; congrats to them. I wouldn't have gone out any other way."

A lot will be said about this team. They went from 1-17 in conference play two seasons ago to the Underfrogs calling for open tryouts last year to an Elite Eight appearance while breaking program records left and right on the journey.

Campbell has frequently said this week that it's been an incredible ride to have made it this far with this team.

"It has been so fun to be on this ride with this team," said Campbell postgame. "Everyone loves a Cinderella story in March, and we became just that. We have one of the best programs in the nation, and we are going to continue to build on this. This group has left a legacy. This is just the beginning for our program of what we are going to create. Basketball is a vehicle that we get to use to impact lives."

TCU returns to Fort Worth on Tuesday. Texas advances to the Final Four and will face South Carolina on Friday at 8:30 p.m. CT in Tampa.

Follow TCU On SI on X as our team continues to tell the stories of this year's women's basketball team and where they go from here.

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