FORT WORTH - Ray Alexander scored 18 points and Whitney Smith added 13 for Sam Houston State in a 83-65 non-conference women's basketball loss to TCU at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum Sunday afternoon.
Alexander went 7-for-12 from the field and Smith was 4-of-5 as the Bearkat women fell to 3-6 for the season.
TCU (8-3) was led by Emily Carter with 24 points and Starr Crawford with 14. The Horned Frogs dominated under the boards, out-scoring Sam Houston 40-28 in the paint and out-rebounding the Bearkats 57-50.
"We battled hard," SHSU head coach Brenda Nichols said. "The score didn't show how hard we worked in this game. We were able to cut into the lead several times, but we just made too many unforced turnovers."
Bre Agnew totaled nine points for Sam Houston as the Bearkats hit 22-of-65 from the floor for 34.3 percent shooting. Khamra Echols led the Kats with eight rebounds. Echols and Sequeena Thomas each scored six points for Sam Houston.
TCU forced Sam Houston into 29 turnovers, scoring 31 of their points off the Bearkat miscues.
The Horned Frogs never trailed, jumping out to a 13-4 lead. TCU led 46-34 at halftime.
Sam Houston battled back in the second half, however, cutting the Frogs' lead to five, 46-41 on a three-point basket by Echols with 17:01 to play.
TCU fought back with an 18-6 run to go up 64-47 and the Bearkats never got closer than 12 again.
Sam Houston State will break for Christmas before playing the University of Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville on Tuesday, Dec. 28.
The Sam Houston women do not return home to Johnson Coliseum until January 12 when they will play host to Texas Southern in a 6:30 p.m. contest.
Tickets are on sale now on-line at www.gobearkats.com or at the Sam Houston State athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium.
Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone is (936) 294-1729.
