Medford’s Donovyn Hunter on the prowl for NCAA title
Published 8:30 am Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Former South Medford star boosts TCU to repeat showing at Sweet 16
FORT WORTH, Texas — Olivia Miles was getting angry and emotional because she wasn’t ready for her college career to be done. TCU’s playmaking point guard was distraught when a potential winning shot didn’t go in at the end of regulation.
Yet she was resilient, just like the rest of the Horned Frogs, who are going to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the second year in a row.
Miles had 18 points and 10 rebounds while adding some big assists late as third-seeded TCU finally overcame Washington for a 62-59 overtime victory Sunday night.
“I owe it all to my teammates, to be honest. I was crashing out multiple times. I was angry, I was feeling all the emotions because I didn’t want to go home. I don’t want them to let my team down,” Miles said. “It’d be a disservice for me not to be resilient for them, and for myself.”
Clara Silva had 16 points, with the go-ahead layup to start overtime after tying and tiebreaking baskets late in regulation on passes from Miles, and had eight rebounds. Taylor Bigby scored 15 points for TCU (31-5).
Former South Medford star Donovyn Hunter supplied four assists and three rebounds in nearly 42 minutes of play, and her lone basket of the contest came with 96 seconds remaining in overtime and gave TCU a pivotal cushion at 60-57 to halt a 6-0 run by Washington.
The Horned Frogs had never been to the Sweet 16 before last season, when they got to the Elite Eight in Hunter’s first season following a transfer from Oregon State.
The 6-foot junior guard is averaging 10.6 points, 2.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 3.2 rebounds whale averaging 33.6 minutes per game.
TCU is headed to Sacramento, where the Big 12 regular-season champions will play at 4:30 p.m. Saturday night against 10th-seeded Virginia after the Cavaliers upset second-seeded Iowa, 83-75, Monday night in Iowa City.
“That was just a gritty, resilient game,” third-year TCU coach Mark Campbell said. “We were down the whole time, just stayed in the fight. And we grinded that thing out, got it to overtime and then we finally broke loose … Winning in March is so stinking hard.”
TCU won its 44th consecutive home game since February 2024, matching top seed Texas for the NCAA’s longest active streak.
Sayvia Sellers had 18 points for Washington (22-11), and missed a 3-pointer as time expired in overtime.
After Silva’s layup on the first possession of overtime, she had a steal and then Miles assisted on a 3-pointer by Bigby. TCU had the first seven points of the extra session after Miles drove for a layup.
The Huskies were trying to get to their first Sweet 16 since Kelsey Plum led them there in 2017. Avery Howell, who last season as a freshman went to the Elite Eight last season with Southern Cal, had 14 points, while freshman Brynn McCaughy added 13.
Miles, who had only four points at halftime after a triple-double in the first-round win over UC San Diego, had a shot to win the game in regulation, but her 3-point attempt at the buzzer ricocheted off the back of the rim.
“Oh yeah, I thought it was going in,” said Miles, the graduate transfer from Notre Dame in her only season for TCU. “My teammates had to calm me down. … I practice that shot a lot.”
In that first-round win over UC San Diego, 86-40, Miles had her 12th career triple-double with 12 points and career highs of 16 rebounds and 14 assists, and became only the third player to twice have triple-doubles in women’s NCAA Tournament games, with her other coming while at Notre Dame in 2022.
Hunter went 4-for-9 for nine points in the first-round win.