TCU thought it had escaped with a narrow win, but Lani White had other plans. With 11 seconds left and the Horned Frogs up three, the ball found White on the left wing. She pulled up and watched it dance on the rim before dropping to force overtime. Utah seized the moment, stunning TCU 87-77 despite late heroics from Olivia Miles.

Olivia Miles was on fire, scoring a career-high 31 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. That includes eight of TCU’s 10 points in overtime. Despite the performance, Miles missed one of her two free throws, which allowed the Utes to tie the game. The day was all about Utah maneuvering TCU’s top-rated defense.

TCU entered the night allowing just 49.4 points per game and conceded 60+ points only once. However, Utah dismantled that with sheer grit as Lani White stepped up with 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists. She had plenty of support from Reese Ross and Maty Wilke, who scored 15 and 12 points, respectively.

The bench also pitched in with 23 points as opposed to just 2 from TCU. Naturally, the result left fans underwhelmed. Rivals pounced with criticism while TCU supporters were left looking inward.

TCU’s First Loss Sparks Fallout as Perfect Start Comes to an End

“Alright, I’ve seen enough. Iowa State is winning the Big 12,” announced a fan.

Iowa State certainly looks the most dominant team in the Big 12. With an unbeaten record of 14-0 and 2-0 in the Big 12, they are the favorites for the title. Audi Crooks is as dominant as ever, with no defender successful in stopping her so far.

However, that’s what we thought regarding TCU as well. We are just a couple of games into the conference schedule, and even Iowa State could meet its match in the future. But there is another reason why this TCU loss is drawing such reactions. “St. Mary’s school for the blind had TCU WBB feeling unstoppable,” another commented.

It is an obvious hyperbole, inferring that TCU hadn’t faced real competition before this game. So far, they have faced only one ranked opponent, No.10 (at the time) NC State. They have had the 40th strength of schedule according to the Warren Nolan analytics site.

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Another fan pitched in with the same tone, writing, “TCU ain’t what y’all thought they were lol.” It felt like Olivia Miles and Co. might punch above its weight come March, as it was undefeated. However, this game has exposed major flaws that will affect their AP ranking next week as well.

They will need to turn things around as the schedule is only getting tougher from here. They will face the likes of Ohio State, Texas Tech, Baylor, and Iowa State. If they need to go toe to toe, they will need to address a concerning stat from the Utes game. 

“TCU has the tallest D1 team, but got beat on the boards by straight hustle. Utah wanted this more,” analyzed another fan. TCU is not the absolute tallest team in the country, as UCLA has a higher average height.

However, they are close with an average height of 6’2. Compared to that, Utes are much shorter at 5 feet 9 inches. Despite this discrepancy, TCU lost out 43-39 on the boards while conceding 22 points in the paint. Before this game, TCU was averaging only 31.7 rebounds conceded per game. Safe to say, Utes beat them at their own game. 

“Damn, TCU really lost to Utah, wow, these unranked teams are coming for everyone’s necks this week,” commented a fan. The new year has spelled losses for ranked and unbeaten teams.

No. 6 Michigan lost at Washington, No. 7 Maryland lost at Illinois, and No. 18 Notre Dame lost at Georgia Tech. No. 5 LSU also lost on New Year’s Day, but it was to No. 11 Kentucky. Every giant is falling. The remaining unbeaten teams, like UConn and Texas, will be wary going forward.