{"id":194526,"date":"2026-03-07T08:42:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T08:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/194526\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T08:42:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T08:42:23","slug":"3-takeaways-from-byus-loss-to-tcu-in-big-12-tournament-quarterfinals-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/194526\/","title":{"rendered":"3 takeaways from BYU\u2019s loss to TCU in Big 12 tournament quarterfinals \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

BYU\u2019s run at the Big 12 women\u2019s basketball tournament came to an end in the quarterfinals Friday afternoon, as TCU\u2019s defense bottled up the Cougars in a 63-46 contest. <\/p>\n

The top-seeded Horned Frogs held No. 9 seed BYU to 27% shooting \u2014 including just 19.4% in the first half \u2014 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City to avoid the upset in a game where the Cougars\u2019 NCAA r\u00e9sum\u00e9 would have received a major boost with a victory. <\/p>\n

Here are three takeaways from the matchup that drops BYU\u2019s overall record to 22-11.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 1 of 11<\/p>\n

BYU’s Lara Rohkohl (13) puts up a shot as TCU’s Kennedy Basham defends in a quarterfinal game at the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on Friday, March 6, 2026. | Denny Medley\/Big 12 Conference \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 2 of 11<\/p>\n

TCU’s Olivia Miles shoots the ball against BYU in a quarterfinal game at the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on Friday, March 6, 2026. | Denny Medley\/Big 12 Conference \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 3 of 11<\/p>\n

TCU’s Veronica Sheffey, right, battles for control of the ball with BYU’s Bolanle Yussuf in a quarterfinal game at the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on Friday, March 6, 2026. | Denny Medley\/Big 12 Conference \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 4 of 11<\/p>\n

TCU’s Olivia Miles dribbles the ball as BYU’s Brinley Cannon defends in a quarterfinal game at the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on Friday, March 6, 2026. | Denny Medley\/Big 12 Conference \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 5 of 11<\/p>\n

BYU and TCU players battle for a loose ball in a quarterfinal game at the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on Friday, March 6, 2026. | Denny Medley\/Big 12 Conference \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 6 of 11<\/p>\n

BYU’s Sydney Benally (2) tries to get around the TCU defense in a quarterfinal game at the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on Friday, March 6, 2026. | Denny Medley\/Big 12 Conference \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 7 of 11<\/p>\n

BYU’s Brinley Cannon, right, drives to the paint as TCU’s Clara Bielefeld defends in a quarterfinal game at the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on Friday, March 6, 2026. | Denny Medley\/Big 12 Conference \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 8 of 11<\/p>\n

TCU’s Kennedy Basham (0) defends the paint as BYU’s Lara Rohkohl drives to the hoop in a quarterfinal game at the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on Friday, March 6, 2026. | Big 12 Conference \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 9 of 11<\/p>\n

TCU’s Olivia Miles shoots the ball against BYU in a quarterfinal game at the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on Friday, March 6, 2026. | Denny Medley\/Big 12 Conference \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 10 of 11<\/p>\n

BYU’s Lara Rohkohl (13) grapples for the ball with TCU’s Clara Silva (17) as BYU’s Kambree Barber looks on in a quarterfinal game at the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on Friday, March 6, 2026. | Ryan Weaver\/Big 12 Conference \"\"<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery: 11 of 11<\/p>\n

TCU’s Marta Suarez (7) tries to get a handle on the ball as BYU’s Bolanle Yussuf falls to the ground in a quarterfinal game at the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on Friday, March 6, 2026. | Denny Medley\/Big 12 Conference Horned Frogs\u2019 lockdown defense set the tone<\/p>\n

TCU entered the contest leading the country in field goal percentage defense, at 33.6%, and the Horned Frogs made things extremely difficult on the offensive end for the Cougars, right from the start.<\/p>\n

BYU fell behind 15-2 five minutes into the game and 24-8 after one quarter. At halftime, the Cougars had only 19 points and trailed by 13 as they shot under 20% during the opening 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

While BYU\u2019s shooting percentage improved in the second half, the Cougars were playing from behind all day and couldn\u2019t keep pace with the Big 12 regular-season champions.<\/p>\n

TCU was particularly disruptive in the paint, as the Horned Frogs blocked nine shots, led by four each from Clara Silva and Kennedy Basham.<\/p>\n

BYU made just 6 of 15 layups and was held to 0.676 points per possession.<\/p>\n

Top scorers work for points, but TCU\u2019s supporting cast was strong<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s contest featured two of the league\u2019s top guards in TCU\u2019s Olivia Miles, the Big 12 Player of the Year and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, as well as BYU sophomore Delaney Gibb, a first-team All-Big 12 performer.<\/p>\n

Horned Frogs forward Marta Suarez is also a first-team all-conference player.<\/p>\n

All three of those players had relatively quiet first halves in terms of scoring \u2014 Suarez scored six, Gibb had five and Miles was scoreless at the half.<\/p>\n

The trio worked for their points and made contributions in other ways as well. <\/p>\n

Suarez went 6 for 16 from the field and ended up with 17 points to go with eight rebounds, three steals and two assists.<\/p>\n

Miles didn\u2019t hit her first field goal until late in the third quarter but still had 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting, as well as 10 rebounds, six assists and a block.<\/p>\n

Gibb ended up leading BYU with 17 points, though that came on 6-of-22 shooting from the field. She also had seven rebounds, five assists and a steal. <\/p>\n

TCU\u2019s supporting cast, particularly Taylor Bigby, also played well. Bigby scored 11 first-quarter points, including three early 3-pointers, to help the Horned Frogs lead by 16 after one period.<\/p>\n

What it means for BYU\u2019s NCAA Tournament hopes<\/p>\n

The latest bracketology from ESPN\u2019s Charlie Creme<\/a> on Friday morning moved BYU into the last team out slot, after the Cougars beat rival Utah<\/a>, another NCAA at-large hopeful, in Thursday\u2019s second round.<\/p>\n

That is the most optimistic outlook for BYU among a variety of recently updated women\u2019s bracketology projections. <\/p>\n

With the Cougars out of opportunities to make an impression before Selection Sunday on March 15, BYU\u2019s odds seem long to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022.<\/p>\n

With Friday\u2019s result, BYU is 0-5 against Quad 1 competition and 8-4 against Quad 2.<\/p>\n

The Cougars went into the day No. 54 in the NET rankings and No. 43 in the WAB (wins above bubble) rankings.<\/p>\n

Two other Big 12 programs viewed as NCAA bubble teams, Arizona State and Colorado, also advanced to the conference tournament quarterfinals and will play later in the day. <\/p>\n

A win over TCU would have been the signature victory BYU needed for its NCAA r\u00e9sum\u00e9, but now the Cougars will have to sweat things out until Selection Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BYU\u2019s run at the Big 12 women\u2019s basketball tournament came to an end in the quarterfinals Friday afternoon,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117,24215],"class_list":{"0":"post-194526","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-fort-worth","9":"tag-fort-worth-headlines","10":"tag-fort-worth-news","11":"tag-news-feed-national"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}