Big 12's 1st winner-take-all finale as No. 10 TCU women face No. 17 Baylor in bid for league title
'C'mon, man. I watched Brittney Griner growing up. It's special,' Prince said while sitting at the podium with Hailey Van Lith and Madison Conner after a blowout win over Houston in the final regular-season home game for the three seniors.
The Frogs (27-3, 15-2 Big 12) went 19-0 at home, where it could start the women's NCAA Tournament. That included their first win over Baylor in 35 years, since the Texas teams were together in the long-defunct Southwest Conference.
Now they play Sunday at 17th-ranked Baylor (25-5, 15-2) for the outright Big 12 title. This is the first time in the league's 29-season history with a winner-take-all game on the final day of the regular season, and it comes in the last of the 144 conference games.
'Going to be a crazy game. Not only is it for the league title, it's also a rival game and it's their senior night. So they're gonna have a lot of emotions behind it,' said Connor, the national leader with 106 made 3-pointers. 'But I think we're ready to go in there and handle business. We beat them at home, but that doesn't mean anything. It's going to be a very intense game.'
Baylor has a nine-game winning streak since that 80-75 loss at TCU on Jan. 26 to set up the finale for a trophy.
'You're welcome, Big 12. Great job, TCU. I think this sets up to be a really big game for our league, for both teams. ... That stand in the way of a goal of ours, and certainly it's a goal of theirs,' fourth-year Baylor coach Nicki Collen said.
'It's what March Madness is all about,' second-year TCU coach Mark Campbell said. 'In June, we sat down as a team to map out our goals. And No. 1 was win a league title, and two was put yourself in position to host and earn a top 16 seed. It's the best.'
TCU has won its past six games and already set school records for overall and conference wins. The Frogs, who haven't won a league title since 2010 in the Mountain West, also have wins over Atlantic Coast Conference co-leaders No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 9 NC State to go with that big one over their instate rival.
Prince, Van Lith and Conner combined for 64 points in the win over Baylor five weeks ago. That trio has also together scored at least 60 points in seven other games.
Baylor senior guard Sarah Andrews, who has played a Big 12-record 162 games, was part of league titles in her first two seasons with the Lady Bears in 2021 and 2022. She would like to get another one on her senior day.
'It'll be bittersweet, because I'm going to hate leaving,' said Andrews, who this week had memories of those titles pop up on her Snapchat app. 'But I think when we have the confetti dropping down on our heads, then it'll all come together.
'I think TCU should be a little more nervous than us, because there's a lot of pressure on them, honestly,' she said. 'They're ranked higher than us, and we're the underdog going into this game.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Women's flag football coming to Division I school in California
Another Division I school is pursuing the addition of women's flag football. In a letter to the campus community published on Friday, Cal Poly athletic director Don Oberhelman said the school could add women's flag football as a varsity sport as early as 2027. Cal Poly is the sixth Division I school at the NCAA level to announce its intentions of starting a women's flag football team. The members of the Big West follow Alabama State, Long Island, Mercyhurst, Mount St. Mary's, and UT Arlington. Back in February, flag football made a significant stride in gaining ground in the college ranks when the NCAA recommended adding it to its Emerging Sports for Women program. Should flag football be granted status in the program at the 2026 NCAA convention, there could be a ways to go before fans see something like an NCAA Tournament for the sport. Still, as flag football barrels toward its debut at the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles, interest in it seems to be growing at the collegiate level. Nebraska AD Troy Dannen said folks should keep 'a close eye' on women's flag football after hosting an exhibition contest at the Husker Games in April. Last month, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips told SB Nation the conference is 'watching' what's happening in flag football and the conference has had 'a few preliminary conversations' about the sport. On May 9, 2024, in an email obtained by SB Nation through an open records request, NCAA Senior Vice President Felicia Martin wrote to Division I athletic directors: 'The combination of flag football's Olympic recognition and its expanding popularity among youth and high school players has elevated its importance as one of NCAA President Charlie Baker's top priorities for the Association.' The email included stats about the sport's growth and links to videos and a learning portal. In announcing the addition of flag football at Cal Poly, Oberhelman wrote that he hopes that being early on investing in the sport and building a program quickly will allow it to 'embark on a legacy of success' similarly to how the Mustangs have performed in beach volleyball 'which continues to pay dividends.' Beach volleyball is a sport that also grew from the NCAA's Emerging Sports for Women program and now has championship status. The Mustangs have been to five NCAA Tournaments for beach volleyball and have advanced to the national semifinals in each of the past two years. Cal Poly is also elevating its STUNT program from club status to a varsity sport. 'Both of these additions are part of the university's long-term planning to increase opportunities for female student-athletes,' Oberhelman wrote. 'This is particularly important as Cal Poly's female student population has increased over the last 12 years from 42 percent of enrollment to 51 percent.' While just a handful of Division I schools have added women's football, many more have at the Division II and III levels. This past season, the Division III America East held a full varsity season of women's flag football capped off with a conference championship, becoming the first NCAA league to do so. Jacqie McWilliams-Parker — commissioner of the CIAA, the Division II HBCU conference — told SB Nation that she hopes to have flag football as a varsity sport in the league during the 2026-27 academic year.
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Tennessee soccer preview versus top-ranked North Carolina to kick off 2025 season
Tennessee will kick off its 2025 soccer season Thursday. The Lady Vols will host No. 1 North Carolina at Regal Soccer Stadium. Rankings reflect the preseason United Soccer Coaches Poll. Kickoff between the Lady Vols and Tar Heels is slated for 7 p.m. EDT and the season opener will be televised by SEC Network. North Carolina leads the soccer series versus Tennessee, 12-0-1, all time dating to Sept. 5, 1997. Tennessee tied the Tar Heels, 0-0 in double overtime, on Sept. 10, 2004. Joe Kirt enters his fourth season as Tennessee's head coach in 2025. He previewed facing the top-ranked Tar Heels. 'I think it's where we want to finish the season, right,' Kirt said. 'We want to play those games in December, so let's figure out where we are early on. It's going to be no different than playing Clemson over the weekend. It is going to help us prepare for not only what we're going to see in the league, but what we're going to see in the NCAA Tournament. 'I think it's right away we're going to know here's where we are, here's where we need to improve, here's what we need to keep doing. It's why we're here to compete for national championships, so let's see where we are straight away.' The Lady Vols held exhibition matches versus Chattanooga and Clemson ahead of Thursday's contest against North Carolina. More: Mia Binkowski commits to Tennessee soccer Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Predictions for the AP Top 2025 this college football season
The AP Top 25 poll has been released. It is time to look at the schedules and rosters of these schools to come up with some predictions for the 2025 college football season. With top-ranked Texas and the third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes set to meet on August 30 in a massive early-season clash of the titans, here's a look into the college football crystal football. 25. Boise State Boise State will not collectively rush for the 2,601 yards Ashton Jeanty had on the ground in 2024. 24. Tennessee Tennessee will wind up playing Nico Iamaleava and UCLA in a bowl game. These things have a way of working out. 23. Texas Tech With Thaj Brooks off to the Cincinnati Bengals, Texas Tech will not have a 1,500-yard rusher for the third straight season 22. Iowa State Rocco Becht will, at some point, wind up in the Heisman discussion. Might not be for long, but there will be a period where he gets the push. 21. Ole Miss Lane Kiffin and the Rebels will not have a double-digit win season. They have won 10 or more three times in the last four years. 20. Indiana Indiana will not get to 10-0. 19. Texas A&M Marcel Reed will throw for more yards than he did in 2024 (1,864) and more touchdowns (15) than he did last season. 18. Oklahoma There will be unrest in Norman as Brent Venables fails to deliver a 10-win season for the third time in four seasons. 17. Kansas State Chris Klieman and the Wildcats will make a run to the Big 12 championship by winning 10 or more games in the 2025 regular season. 16. SMU SMU has gone undefeated in regular season conference play for the last two seasons, one in the American and one in the ACC. It will not happen for a third year in a row. 15. Florida DJ Lagway will improve on his stats of 1,915 passing yards and 12 touchdowns against nine interceptions last year. 14. Michigan Michigan quarterbacks will throw for far more than the putrid 1,678 yards the Wolverines achieved in 2024. 13. South Carolina LaNorris Sellers will flirt with an invite to the Heisman ceremony and he will lead the Gamecocks to another stellar season. 12. Illinois The Illini will break the recent pattern of going 5-7 in every odd-numbered year. They may not win 10 games but they will not lose seven. 11. Arizona State Sam Leavitt will have to throw for more than 2,885 yards and 14 touchdowns for the Sun Devils to have a chance at repeating the 2024 campaign — especially with Cam Skattebo off to the New York Giants. 10. Miami (Florida) Do not dream about Carson Beck having the same impact that Cam Ward had in 2024. It won't happen. 9. LSU Garrett Nussmeier has a big chance to move LSU up in these rankings. His season won't rival Joe Burrow in Baton Rouge but there will be plenty of highlights and headlines. 8. Alabama Kalen DeBoer will need to win more than nine games in his second season as Crimson Tide coach or else there will be a lot of unhappy people in Tuscaloosa. 7. Oregon The Ducks will not finish the regular season undefeated as they did last year. 6. Notre Dame Notre Dame will find itself in the CFP picture again because playing the ACC schedule makes it next to impossible to avoid the playoff picture. 5. Georgia Georgia will beat both Alabama and Texas in 2025 with the games at Sanford Stadium. 4. Clemson Cade Klubnik will not win the Heisman Trophy. 3. Ohio State Ohio State will lose more than two games in a season for the first time since 2011. 2. Penn State Drew Allar and the Nittany Lions will play their way into the Big Ten Championship Game. 1. Texas No matter what Arch Manning does for the Longhorns, there will be critics and people who still say it isn't enough.
