FORT WORTH, TX – The Iona University women's basketball team concluded its opening road trip on Tuesday evening with a 78-53 setback to No. 15/16 TCU at Schollmaier Arena. The Gaels jumped out to an early lead and hung tough against the nationally ranked Horned Frogs through the first half before the home team pulled away in the second half.
Junior
Chloe Vasquez led the Maroon & Gold with a career-high 20 points on seven made field goals to go along with five rebounds, four steals and two assists. Junior
Anyla Herbert tallied 11 points in her Texas homecoming. Sophomore
Johanna Flores led the Gaels with four assists on the night.
THE RUNDOWN
The Gaels came out firing against the Horned Frogs, using three-pointers from Vasquez and junior
Adrianna Gonzalez along with a fast-break layup from senior
Mya Zaccagnini to take an 8-4 lead in the opening three minutes. Herbert spearheaded the next Iona scoring stretch with seven straight points to extend the advantage to 15-7 with just under five minutes remaining. TCU responded with an 8-4 closing run to cut the Gaels' lead to 19-15 at the end of the first quarter.
TCU opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run to take its first lead since the opening minutes before Vasquez halted the stretch with a turnaround jumper. The teams traded baskets from there as Iona used a 7-4 swing, highlighted by five points from freshman
Giselle Grant, to regain a 28-26 advantage with 3:59 remaining. The Horned Frogs answered with a 14-2 run to close the half and take a 40-30 lead into the break.
Scoring slowed out of halftime as Iona held an 11-9 scoring advantage through the opening seven minutes of the third quarter, trimming the deficit to six, 47-41. Vasquez paced the Gaels with four points during the stretch. TCU responded with seven unanswered points to take a 56-41 lead into the final frame.
The Horned Frogs continued their run into the fourth quarter, scoring the first 10 points to complete a 17-0 stretch and extend their lead to 66-41. TCU maintained its advantage down the stretch to secure the 78-53 decision in the second all-time meeting between the two programs.
IONA PERFORMERS
- Vasquez tallied a career-high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and a perfect 5-for-5 effort at the foul line. She added five rebounds, four steals and two assists while recording her fourth straight game in double figures.
- Herbert posted her fourth consecutive double-digit scoring performance, finishing with 11 points on two made field goals and a 6-for-6 effort from the free-throw line.
- Redshirt freshman Wilma Tuomi recorded a season-high seven points.
- Grant tallied a season-high six points to go along with three rebounds and three assists.
THE OPPONENT
- Jadyn Wooten led TCU with a game-high 19 points.
- Lara Somfai recorded a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
- Clara Silva added 10 points and eight rebounds.
TEAM STATS
- TCU shot 45.7% from the field compared to 35.3% for Iona.
- The Horned Frogs connected on seven three-pointers at a 22.6% clip, while the Gaels made four triples at a 22.2% rate.
- TCU held a 46-27 advantage on the glass.
- Iona committed 19 turnovers, leading to 18 TCU points, while the Horned Frogs committed 17 turnovers, resulting in 14 points for the Gaels.
- The Gaels held TCU to a season-low 78 points while becoming the first opponent to score more than 50 points against the Horned Frogs this season.
UP NEXT
Iona returns to the Hynes Center on Sunday, Nov. 15, for a 1 p.m. matchup against metropolitan foe Hofstra.
