Madison Booker scores 21 points as No. 10 Texas beats TCU 72-60
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Madison Booker scored 21 points, Taylor Jones had 13 and No. 10 Texas beat TCU 72-60 on Wednesday night.
Booker, a freshman, added seven rebounds and six assists as Texas (16-1, 3-1 Big 12) won its third straight game. It also improved to 25-1 against TCU in Austin.
The 6-foot-1 Booker has averaged 19.8 points, eight rebounds and 6.8 assists in four Big 12 games since moving from forward to point guard when Rori Harmon was lost for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee.
Texas coach Vic Schaefer said he has been impressed with the transition Booker has made. Booker said her new job is difficult.
“Going from my favorite spot on the court, the wing, to the point, I gotta say, is the hardest thing ever,” Booker said. “Rori made it look too easy. I'm going through bumps in the road, but it's going well.”
Aaliyah Roberson led TCU (14-3, 1-3) with 15 points, and Madison Conner scored 14 on 5-for-19 shooting in her team's third straight loss.
The Horned Frogs committed 23 turnovers, including 11 by guard Jaden Owens, who was hounded by Texas' Shay Holle for much of the night. Owens averaged 7.3 assists against two turnovers before Wednesday.
Coach Mark Campbell said Owens has to carry "a heavy load' with injured center Sedona Prince missing from the lineup.
“She's given us everything she's got," Campbell said. “Sometimes she tries too hard, but it’s with the right intentions, so I’m willing to live with some of those mistakes.”
Texas had a 10-point lead with 2:32 left. TCU closed to 66-60 on Victoria Flores' 3-pointer with 1:55 remaining, but Jones made two free throws and Booker made four foul shots to help the Longhorns close it out.
Texas struggled offensively for most of the first half. Then it made three 3-pointers in the final two minutes, two by Holle and one by Shaylee Gonzales, for a 34-26 lead at the break.
“If Shay and Shaylee don't hit back-to-back 3s at the end of the half, it's a two-point game,” Schaefer said.
BIG PICTURE
TCU: The Horned Frogs played their second straight game without Prince, the 6-foot-7 graduate transfer who has a broken finger. She plans to return this season. Prince, who initially enrolled at Texas, transferred to Oregon after missing her freshman year with a broken leg, and landed at TCU this season. She averages 21.2 points and 10.2 rebounds, and she also ranks fourth in the nation in blocks per game with 3.3.
“I'm proud of our team for the way they competed, battled on the road,” Campbell said. “We are still trying to get our feet under us with without Sedona and create an identity.”
Texas: Gonzales committed eight turnovers, several on passes, but Jones said some of them should have been assessed to her. Schaefer said the Longhorns weren't tough enough in the game. “We didn't finish with contact,” Schaefer said.
MOORE STILL ACCLIMATING
Texas forward Aaliyah Moore appeared in her 12th game since returning from season-ending surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee that was torn in December 2022. Moore said she feels fine, but she’s still trying to regain her confidence as a player, particularly her ability to make shots. She scored six points against TCU.
UP NEXT
TCU: Hosts Houston on Saturday.
Texas: At No. 12 Kansas State on Saturday.
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