The Numbers Behind TCU Women's Basketball Sweet 16 Run

The Numbers Behind TCU’s Sweet 16 Run

The TCU Women's Basketball program didn't exist in the national conversation three years ago. Now the Horned Frogs are back in the Sweet 16, and the numbers behind their run tell a story that goes well beyond one superstar. This is a team built on systems, depth, and data, and the numbers explain exactly why they keep winning.

The Olivia Miles Effect

Every conversation about TCU starts with Olivia Miles. Miles is averaging 20.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 49% from the field. She has made her mark as the only player in college basketball to record at least 600 points, 200 rebounds, and 200 assists in a single season, and one of just 11 in the history of the sport to post that line.

In the tournament, those numbers haven't shrunk; they've exploded. Miles posted a 12-point, 16-rebound, 14-assist triple-double in TCU's first-round blowout against UC San Diego, joining Sabrina Lonescu and Nicole Powell as the only players in women's tournament history to record multiple NCAA Tournament triple-doubles.

Miles saw her scoring jump by five points per game from her last season at Notre Dame to this season at TCU, while shooting even more efficiently from the field. Mark Campbell saw and unlocked part of Miles's game and used his pick-and-roll-heavy offensive system to show the rest of the nation what a dangerous scorer Miles can be. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of her game is her efficiency as a playmaker. Miles carries a career 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, a mark she maintained across her entire time at Notre Dame and has continued at TCU.

A Starting Five That Ranks Among the Nation's Best

The analytics don't stop with Miles. TCU has constructed one of the most powerful starting lineups in college basketball. Alongside Miles, Marta Suarez, a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection, is averaging career-bests in points (17.1), field goal percentage (.480), and three-point percentage (.390), while adding 7.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

Donovyn Hunter, named to the All-Big 12 Defensive Team, is averaging 11.6 points while contributing 3.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game, shooting a career-best 47 percent from the field. When opponents plan for Miles, they leave Suarez open. When they move towards Suarez, Hunter gets clean looks. The tournament has confirmed what regular-season data showed: this offense can score from anywhere on the floor.

Clara Silva: The Rim Protector

While the guards get the headlines, the analytics reveal how valuable Clara Silva is to TCU's structure. Silva has been a key piece of the TCU offense as an effective roller off ball screens and a solid passer out of the post, plus her defensive presence anchors everything on the other end. In the tournament, she has been underappreciated in both games, recording a double-double against UC San Diego and scoring 16 points in the overtime win over Washington. With 20 seconds remaining and TCU holding onto their two-point lead, Silva came up with a clutch block that nearly sealed the game. It may only show up as an extra number in the box score, but her block defines winning teams in March.

Clara Silva’s footwork is unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/0dtP3XwKAr
— Nick Girimonte (@GirimonteNicky) March 23, 2026

40+ Tournament Games of Experience

Despite featuring 10 new players this season, TCU has eight active players who have played in over 40 combined tournament games, headlined by Taylor Bigby (11), Donovyn Hunter (9), and Olivia Miles (7).

That experience showed up decisively against Washington. TCU trailed for long stretches before overtime, but the Horned Frogs refused to give up. Bigby's tournament has been a revelation, as she set a TCU record in the opener with her three-point shooting, then delivered again when the game was on the line against the Huskies. This resiliency was on display all season. Against Iowa State in February, Miles took over in the fourth quarter, making 6 of 7 shots from the floor to score 17 points and preserve TCU's grip on first place in the Big 12.

What the Sweet 16 Run Means

TCU became the first men's or women's team in school history to reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament last season, and the Horned Frogs have now tallied the fifth-most wins of any program in college basketball heading into this tournament.

TCU will face No. 10 Virginia, which pulled off one of the tournament's biggest upsets, stunning No. 2 Iowa 83-75 in double overtime to become the only double-digit seed to advance to the Sweet 16, and the first team in women's tournament history to go from the First Four all the way to the second weekend. The Horned Frogs go in as the heavy favorite. In March, the numbers only tell part of the story.

The game will be televised on ESPN at 6:30 p.m. CT. Should TCU win, they will play on Monday, March 30, 2026. Be sure to join the conversation over on the KillerFrogs fan forum.