KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hailey Van Lith made five 3-pointers and scored 24 points, Sedona Prince added 18 points before fouling out, and eighth-ranked TCU held on for a 69-62 victory over Colorado on Friday in the quarterfinals of the women's Big 12 Tournament.
Donovyn Hunter also scored 13 points for the top-seeded Horned Frogs (29-3), who blew most of a 12-point fourth-quarter lead before holding on to win their eighth straight overall. That sent them into Saturday night's semifinal against No. 16 West Virginia, which rallied for a 73-69 victory over No. 20 Kansas State earlier in the day.
Jade Masogayo hit her first eight shots and finished with 22 points for the No. 9 seed Buffaloes (20-12), who are left clinging to the NCAA Tournament bubble. Kennedy Sanders added 11 points and Kindyll Wetta had nine.
TCU turned a 36-32 halftime lead into a 52-40 advantage heading into the fourth quarter, but the Buffaloes responded with a 14-5 run. Johanna Teder's 3-pointer got Colorado within 57-54 with less than five minutes to play.
The Horned Frogs answered by scoring on four consecutive possessions.
Takeaways
Colorado beat Houston and Arizona in Kansas City to help its NCAA tourney hopes, but coach JR Payne's team may have needed to beat the Horned Frogs, too. Now the Buffaloes are in for a nervous Selection Sunday on March 16.
TCU managed just a single point from its bench. And given the Horned Frogs will need to win three games in three days to cut down the nets, they may need more from their reserves going forward.
Key moment
After TCU's lead was cut to 57-54, Van Lith hit a jumper and Hunter scored on back-to-back possessions to keep it in front.
Key stat
Colorado committed 17 turnovers and was just 7 of 15 from the foul line.
Up next
The Horned Frogs play the fourth-seeded Mountaineers in the semifinals. Colorado awaits its postseason fate.
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