A WINNING TRADITION WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

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1 THIS IS TCU

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3 THIS IS TCU

4 TCU has won five conference championships during the last nine years, with the first title coming as a member of the Western Athletic Conference in Included in the total are three conference tournament titles WOMEN'S BASKETBALL A WINNING TRADITION

5 BUILDING A WINNING PROGRAM TCU has transformed itself into a major player on the national stage since Jeff Mittie took the reigns as head coach prior to the season. Before Mittie s tenure, the Lady Frogs had notched only one winning season as members of NCAA Division I a campaign in The success of the program has since exploded to the tune of a record, eight straight postseason tournament bids and five conference regular-season or tournament championships. The Lady Frogs often have found themselves in the national rankings for the first time in program history. The squad became the first TCU team to begin and end the season ranked in the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls, as it finished the year at Nos. 20 and 22, respectively. That group of Lady Frogs also achieved a program-high in the polls of 13th by the AP and 15th by the coaches. The Lady Frogs received votes in both major polls during the season, including the final AP poll released following the end of the year. TCU has positioned itself to play with the best, as last year s Lady Frog squad played six games against teams ranked in both of the two major polls. Two of the squad s wins came against ranked teams, including a victory over previously unbeaten Oklahoma State, which entered the game ranked 20th in the nation. The Frogs also scored a home win over No. 22 Wyoming during the Mountain West Conference season. 17

6 TCU made its seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2007 when it faced Ole Miss in the first round of the Dayton Regional. Five times during its seven trips, the squad has moved on to the tournament s second round WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WELCOME TO THE BIG DANCE

7 NCAA TOURNAMENT SUCCESS TCU made itself a household name in the collegiate women s basketball world with an amazing streak of seven consecutive NCAA Tournament berths from 2001 through The stretch was the longest such streak for programs from Texas, while the Lady Frogs were one of just 12 programs nationally to carry a streak that long. While falling just short of making its eighth straight tourney in 2008, the team did reach the quarterfinal round of the Women s NIT. Not only do the Purple and White reach the postseason, they stick around. Five of TCU s seven Tournament appearances have advanced through to the second round, including four consecutive seasons from 2001 to The Frogs often face some of the NCAA s other elite squads, as the program has matched up with teams the likes of Louisiana Tech, Penn State, Duke, Indiana, Michigan State, Connecticut, Temple, Georgia, Oregon, Texas A&M, Rutgers and Ole Miss, each since TCU s record currently stands at a respectable 5-7 in NCAA Tournament play. Ashley Davis 2007 ncaa tournament Hartford, Conn. TCU entered the 2007 NCAA Tournament with a record and No. 10 seed in the Dayton Regional. In a first-round matchup, the Frogs dropped an decision to No. 7 seed Ole Miss. Ashley Davis led TCU with 24 points and 12 rebounds in her final game in a Lady Frog uniform, while fellow senior Hanna Biernacka added 20 points and nine boards. The Rebels would go on to reach the Elite Eight, where they lost to eventual national champion Tennessee. 19

8 NCAA TOURNAMENT SUCCESS Sandora Irvin Ashley Davis Tiffany Evans 2006 NCAA Tournament Trenton, N.J. TCU advanced to the NCAA Tournament s second round for the fifth time in six years with a first-round victory over No. 6 seed Texas A&M. The victory tied those by the 2001 and 2004 Lady Frog squads for the highest NCAA seed defeated in program history. The Purple and White matched up with No. 3 seed Rutgers in the second round, dropping an decision. The Scarlet Knights were eventually eliminated from the Tournament during Sweet 16 play to Tennessee NCAA Tournament Seattle, Wash. One of only two TCU squads not to advance past the first round after reaching the NCAA Tournament, the seventh-seeded Lady Frogs lost a heartbreaker to No. 10 seed Oregon, The game marked the final game in the career of the accomplished Sandora Irvin, who totaled six blocked shots against the Ducks NCAA Tournament Philadelphia, Pa. TCU s squad earned the program s highest-ever NCAA seed at No. 6 after entering the Tournament with a 23-6 record. The team posted a win over No. 11 Temple in the first round of the West Regional thanks to doubledoubles by Sandora Irvin and Ebony Shaw. The Frogs were eliminated in the second round by No. 3 seed Georgia, 85-71, which would go on to lose to LSU in the Elite Eight.

9 NCAA TOURNAMENT SUCCESS Kim Ortega 2003 NCAA Tournament Storrs, Conn. TCU was placed in an extremely tough regional as the No. 9 seed, but opened the Tournament with a mild upset of No. 8 Michigan State, 50-47, thanks to 15 points from Grace Gantt and 14 points from Ebony Shaw. The Lady Frogs matched up against one of the top teams in NCAA history in the second round, as the squad dropped an decision to No. 1 seed and eventual NCAA champion Connecticut. The Huskies had set the NCAA record for most consecutive victories earlier during the season. TCU actually took a halftime lead over UConn to become only the sixth team in the previous five seasons to do so on the Huskies home court NCAA Tournament Durham, N.C. TCU opened the NCAA Tournament with its second win in the first round in as many tries, as the eighth-seeded Frogs out-played No. 9 seed Indiana during a victory in the East Region. Pitted against eventual Final Four participant Duke in the second round, TCU dropped a hard-fought battle to the Blue Devils, The Frogs trailed by 11 points at the half and cut the lead to eight on several occassions, but could get no closer NCAA Tournament Ruston, La. TCU made its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance on March 17, 2001 as the No. 11 seed matched up against No. 6 Penn State in the East Regional. The Frogs also earned their first Tournament victory, as four players scored in double figures to lead the squad to a win over the Nittany Lions. TCU dropped out of the Tournament in the second round to No. 3 seed Louisiana Tech,

10 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL LADY FROGS IN THE PROS Talented athletes have been one of the trademarks of the last decade of Lady Frog basketball. Once college ball is finished for some of these players, the professional ranks come calling. The summer of 2008 saw two former Frogs reach the WNBA Finals as members of the San Antonio Silver Stars. Sandora Irvin (pictured) and Adrianne Ross helped the Stars post the league s best record in the regular season on their way to winning the franchise s first Western Conference championship.

11 TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL TCU has made a habit of sending players on to professional basketball careers in the last few years. Sandora Irvin (below top), in the midst of a four-year WNBA career, was the third overall pick in the 2005 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury. Irvin was traded to the San Antonio Silver Stars prior to the 2007 season. Former TCU teammate Adrianne Ross (right) joined Irvin as a member of the Silver Stars during the summer of 2008, and the pair helped the squad win the Western Conference Championship (bottom) while advancing on to the franchise s first appearance in the WNBA Finals. In addition to the WNBA, several Frogs have taken their games overseas to play in professional leagues. Kati Safaritova currently plays in Belgium. Former Frog Kim Ortega had a one-year stint with the Birmingham Power in the NWBL in , while Tiffany Evans currently is with ABBA in the Spanish League. 23

12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACHING EXCELLENCE Jeff Mittie s teams have combined to post a record in his nine seasons as TCU s head coach. The.674 winning percentage easily ranks as the best in school history. Mittie s 347-win total overall during his 16-year coaching career nearly equals TCU s all-time victories count of 404. Mittie added a new associate head coach to his staff prior to the season, as Brian Ostermann will join assistants Tonya Benton and Tricia Payne on the bench.

13 coaching excellence LADY FROG COACHES Jeff Mittie 4Jeff Mittie, Head Coach 10th year ( at TCU; overall) Eight straight postseason bids 4Tonya Benton, Asst. Coach 9th year at TCU Frogs reached postseason each year 4Brian Ostermann, Assoc. Head Coach 1st year at TCU Nine years as college head coach ( ) 4Tricia Payne, Asst. Coach 2nd year as coach at TCU Helped guide Frogs to first two NCAA Tournament bids as a player Brian Ostermann Tricia Payne Tonya Benton 25

14 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY ATMOSPHERE The sound of the band... the cheers of the student section... the 30-4 home record over the past two seasons... there is not better place to be during the winter in Fort Worth than Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, where the TCU men s and women s basketball teams play in front of one of the most passionate groups of fans in all of college athletics. TCU annually plays one of the toughest home schedules in the nation. Teams that have traveled to play at the DMC over the last few seasons have included Tennessee, Duke, Texas A&M, Rutgers, Cal, USC, Oklahoma, Florida, Oklahoma State, Arkansas and Oregon. This season, the Lady Frogs will play host to Maryland, the 2006 NCAA champion, for its season opener.

15 LADY FROG GAMEDAY There is no place like home. Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, also known around Fort Worth as the DMC, is the basketball home for Horned Frog hoopsters. The cozy arena seats 7,200 and since the arena s 1961 opening, the facility has provided the team with huge home-court advantages. Last season, the Lady Frogs ranked third in the Mountain West Conference in home attendance with a total of 37,762 people attending their games. That s an average of 2,150 spectators per contest. TCU women s basketball ranked just outside the Top 50 in the nation in attendance last year with that figure. TCU completed the year with a 15-3 overall home record and a nearly perfect 7-1 league mark. The overall attendance figures since Mittie s arrival on campus are staggering. Nearly 380,000 fans have attended TCU homes games over the past nine seasons. In the nine seasons that TCU has been coached by Jeff Mittie, the Lady Frogs have been a dominant (.818) at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. 27

16 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL HORNED FROG TRADITION Tradition runs deep at TCU. It all begins with the Horned Frog. Some say the frog was chosen because the football practice field was overrun with the small, spiny lizards. Other say its feisty attitude simply matched the tough frontier spirit shown by TCU itself. Other school traditions include TCU s school colors, purple and white. The former represents royalty, the latter a clean game. Got a test? Rub the nose of the Horned Frog sculpture in the center of campus for good luck. Swaying while singing the alma mater is a must. So is learning how to do the horned frog hand sign. (Make a peace sign. Now fold those two fingers.) And new students may not have any idea what Riff Ram Bah Zoo means now, but they ll soon discover that it s one of the oldest cheers in the country. We also blow the 120-decibel Frog Horn a real live train horn after every football score.

17 tcu traditions What the Heck is a Horned Frog? The scientific name for this Texas reptile is phrynosoma cornutum; in Greek, phrynos means a toad and soma means body ; in Latin, cornutus means horned. Their primary diet is red harvester ants; they d like 80 to 100 a day. The typical horned frog is three to five inches long. Horned frogs are cold-blooded animals and have an unusual pineal gland, resembling a third eye on the top of the head, which zoologists believe is part of their system of thermoregulation. When angered or frightened, horned frogs can squirt a fine, four-foot stream of blood from their eyes. The horned frog was named the State Reptile of Texas in ALMA MATER Hail all hail, TCU Memories Sweet, Comrades True Light of Faith, Follow Through Praise to Thee, TCU FIGHT SONG CHANT F-R-O-G-S F-I-G-H-T Purple, White, Horned Frogs Fight Victory, Victory, Right, Right, Right Rah, Rah TCU! Rah, Rah, TCU F-R-O-G-S F-I-G-H-T Go, Go, Horned Frogs Go TCU Frogs Fight FIGHT SONG We ll raise a song, both loud and long To cheer our team to victory For TCU, so tried and true, We pledge eternal loyalty. Rah, Rah, TCU! Fight on boys, fight, with all your might Roll up the scores for TCU Hail white and purple flag whose heroes never lag, Horned Frog, we are all for you! 29

18 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL MEDIA EXPOSURE TCU is located in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the seventhlargest media maket in the country. Several local television stations and newspapers cover the Lady Frogs, and the weekly exposure extends to millions of people around the DFW area. In addition to the local media exposure, the national media also call on the Frogs at times. TCU will play at least nine games this season that will be televised across the nation.

19 in the nation s eye The Lady Frogs are scheduled to play in front of television audiences at least nine times in , each of which are viewable from anywhere in the nation. Two contests Jan. 25 at New Mexico and March 7 vs. Utah will be broadcast nationally by CBS College Sports. Six other matchups Nov. 14 vs. Maryland, Dec. 30 vs. SMU, Jan. 13 vs. BYU, Jan. 28 vs. San Diego State, Feb. 4 at Utah and Feb. 10 vs. UNLV will appear on The Mtn. television network, which is offered on a national basis by DirecTV. The Frogs Dec. 21 in-state showdown with Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, can be seen on ESPNU. Fans unable to catch the Frogs in person or on television can always log on to the Internet, where each TCU game will be carried live by the TCU/ISP Sports Network on GoFrogs.com. The radio broadcasts are carried live on FM 88.7 KTCU in the DFW Metroplex. In addition to broadcast coverage, several publications follow TCU on a regular basis, including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Dallas Morning News. 31

20 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BASKETBALL FACILITIES One of several new facilities on campus is the Ed & Rae Schollmaier Basketball Complex, which was added to TCU s athletics collection in The Frogs are one of the select college programs in the country that can boast having their own basketball-only practice facility.