Three takeaways from No. 13 TCU women’s basketball’s game against Arizona State

No. 13-ranked TCU women’s basketball got off to a slow start on offense, but its defense came up big in a 77-46 Big 12 win over Arizona State on Sunday at Schollmaier Arena.

TCU (16-1, 4-1) saw its vaunted 3-point attack struggle early, starting 2-for-10 from beyond the arc and allowing the Sun Devils (16-2, 3-2) to hang around the game, but a perfect second quarter from 3 powered a 23-7 run that gave the Horned Frogs a 35-20 halftime lead.

TCU won its second straight after suffering its first loss of the season at Utah in overtime on Jan. 3.

Here’s how the Horned Frogs rolled Sunday:

Big 12’s best defense delivers

No team in the Big 12 allows teams to score less (52.3) than the Horned Frogs, and with an uneven start on the offensive end, the defense was forced to start the game smothering.

Besides a few early offensive rebounds that led to easy buckets, the Sun Devils struggled to have any consistency, especially with several turnovers.

The Horned Frogs forced the Sun Devils into multiple traveling violations, making it difficult for Arizona State to start its offense. When the Sun Devils did, it didn’t go much better, with the team ending the first half with more turnovers (11) than baskets (seven).

Clara Silva’s defense was huge, with the sophomore center having multiple blocks and making the Sun Devils consider and reconsider every shot at the rim. They finished the game shooting 26% on layups.

TCU head coach Mark Campbell praised centers Kennedy Basham and Silva for the presence they bring in the paint.

“Basham and Silva are two elite rim protectors,” he said. “They’re mobile. They are hard to score over. I mean, look how versatile those kids are. Against Oklahoma State, they switched every single pick-and-roll, and did a tremendous job. Today we didn’t switch pick-and-rolls, they’re in drop coverage, and made people finish.

“… Because you have the protection, you get to really defend the 3-point line, and we’ve done a really good job of that all year.”

The Sun Devils’ 3-point attack withered under the Horned Frogs’ defense, shooting 3-for-12 for the game.

TCU bludgeons Sun Devils at the rim

On the offensive side, while TCU’s 3-point attack struggled (9-for-25), the Horned Frogs instead thrived in the paint, scoring 42 points and shooting 18-for-25 on layups.

Guard Olivia Miles, who scored a game-high 22 points, led the layup line, slicing to the basket off fast breaks or out of the half court. Junior guard Donovyn Hunter added several makes at the rim to offset a difficult shooting day (0-for-4) from 3-point range. She finished with 10 points.

Graduate forward Marta Suarez, the team’s second-leading scorer, scored only four points on 2-for-7 shooting. However, all but one Horned Frog who got in the game scored, and Campbell said the team’s scoring versatility matters even more when one of the team’s top scorers struggles.

“Ultimately, Marta and Miles are two of the best players in college basketball, and they’re incredible at what they do, and so for our team to reach our full potential, we need these other players to show great growth, and I think we have,” Campbell said.

“Silva’s on a tear right now. It’s been so fun to watch her, but [graduate guard] Maddie Scherr is really starting to settle into a good rhythm the last couple of games, and [senior guard] Taylor Bigby has been tremendous all season. And [Hunter] has made a huge jump from a year ago, and now [senior guard Veronica] Sheffey is jumping in the fight. So it’s just so awesome. We’re growing as a team. We’re getting better. And again, your eye is on March. Your eye is peaking at the end of the year.”

Olivia Miles continues scoring trend

Since Miles’ 25-point game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 16, she has only scored fewer than 20 once in her past six games. She hit that benchmark again Sunday with 22 points on an efficient 9-for-15 shooting.

Miles led the team in assists (six), including a highlight fast break in the fourth quarter when she hit Hunter on a no-look pass that earned oohs and ahhs from the crowds.

Hunter broke down what she saw on the play and what it’s like catching one of Miles’ no-look passes.

“I was able to defend Olivia last year, so I kind of just [have] a defensive mindset of … when she’s about to do something,” Hunter said. “Now, it’s funny on the back end where I get the honor to be able to play with her, where I’m like, I can see that she’s not attacking the rim right now to shoot it, she’s looking for us to run. So I was just like, I keep running, I might get this, and sure enough, the bounce pass came.”

TCU will travel to Morgantown next to play West Virginia (14-3, 4-1) at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

This story was originally published January 11, 2026 at 5:58 PM.