Cougars fall to top-seeded Horned Frogs in quarterfinal

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – BYU fell to top-seeded TCU 63-46 in the quarterfinal of the 2026 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament on Friday at T-Mobile Center.

“Tremendous team we came up against today. We started a little bit slow, and that was ultimately the difference in the end,” head coach Lee Cummard said. “I'm really proud of the group, their fight and the competitive spirit that they showed today and over the last three days as we try to beef up our postseason resume in this tournament."

Delaney Gibb led the Cougars in scoring, totaling 17 points alongside a team-high five assists. She also led the team in rebounds alongside Brinley Cannon, with each grabbing seven boards. The team shot a season-low 27 percent, going 17-of-63 from the field. The team also shot just 18% from beyond the 3-point line, hitting five of its 28 attempts.

BYU’s defense held TCU 16 points under its season average and gave up just 37 percent shooting from the floor, 10.7 percent below the Horned Frogs' average. The Cougars also limited TCU's 3-point efficiency to 30 percent for the game, with just one 3-pointer made in the final three quarters.

First Quarter
TCU started the game on a hot streak, scoring a 3-pointer right off the bat. The Cougars responded with a lay-in bucket from Lara Rohkohl, to which the Horned Frogs answered with an 8-0 run, forcing a BYU timeout just three-and-a-half minutes into play.

BYU gave up two interior buckets out of the timeout before Hamlin ended the run with a 3-pointer. TCU responded with another triple of its own before both teams went on a two-minute scoring drought. The two teams traded 3-pointers again before the buzzer sounded with the Cougars trailing 24-8.

BYU shot 17.6 percent from the field in the first quarter, making just three shots on 17 attempts.

Second Quarter
Both teams struggled offensively to start the second quarter, with BYU earning its first field goal four minutes into the period. A timeout was called a minute later, with the Cougar defense holding TCU scoreless through the quarter, tightening the Horned Frogs’ lead to 24-12.

TCU hit a jumper out of the timeout, marking its first score of the quarter. Benally then hit a second-chance bucket before the teams traded free throws. Gibb scored her first field goal of the game off a steal and fastbreak drive with 42 seconds left before hitting a free throw in the closing seconds of the half, moving the score to 32-19 in favor of the Horned Frogs heading into halftime.

The Cougars held TCU to just eight points in the second quarter, the fewest allowed in a quarter against the Horned Frogs this season.

Third Quarter
Rohkohl earned BYU’s first bucket of the half after TCU opened with a 5-0 run. The Cougars shifted momentum, going on a 7-0 run and forcing a Horned Frogs turnover and media timeout with BYU down 39-29.

Gibb scored a Euro-step transition bucket out of the timeout, moving the run to 9-0 and the Cougars’ deficit to just nine, their first single-digit deficit since the first quarter. TCU responded with two buckets, moving the lead back to 13 at 43-30, and both teams would score before the end of the quarter, putting the Horned Frogs ahead 45-33 at the end of the third.

Fourth Quarter
BYU’s first field goal came with just over seven minutes left in the quarter from Gibb. Despite the Cougars’ consistent pressure on defense, TCU’s offense proved difficult to manage, compelling BYU to take a timeout with just under four minutes left in the game, trailing 59-41.

The teams traded buckets in the final minutes, sealing the score at 63-46 and ending the Cougars’ Big 12 Tournament run.

Up Next

The Cougars have nine days to wait until Selection Sunday, when their postseason plans will be finalized.