HOUSTON (Interstat) — The Texas Christian Lady Frogs used a dominant first half and a stifling defensive performance to cruise past the Houston Cougars 72-50 in a Big 12 Conference women’s basketball game Wednesday night at Hofheinz Pavilion.

TCU, improving to 24-4 overall and 12-3 in conference play, never trailed, building a 19-8 lead after the first quarter and extending it to a commanding 41-19 advantage by halftime. The Lady Frogs held Houston to just 14 first-half field goal attempts, forcing 10 turnovers and blocking five shots to set the tone early. The Cougars, who fell to 7-19 overall and 2-13 in the Big 12, struggled offensively throughout, shooting a frigid 23.3% from the floor for the game and making only two of their 15 attempts from three-point range.

The most pivotal stretch of the contest came in the opening minutes of the second quarter, where TCU effectively put the game out of reach. Leading 19-8 after one period, the Lady Frogs opened the second with a 10-0 run over the first three minutes. The surge was fueled by their interior defense and transition offense. It began with Clara Silva converting a jump shot, followed by a Donovyn Hunter three-pointer off an assist from Clara Bielefeld. After a Houston miss, Silva scored again inside, pushing the lead to 29-8 and forcing a Houston timeout. The Cougars went scoreless for nearly five minutes of game time spanning the first and second quarters, a drought from which they never recovered. TCU’s lead ballooned to 22 points by the break, allowing them to manage the game comfortably in the second half despite a lower-scoring fourth quarter.

Marta Suárez, the 6-foot-3 forward from Oviedo, Spain, led all scorers with 21 points for TCU, adding four rebounds and a block. Olivia Miles of Phillipsburg, New Jersey, provided 18 points and four assists, while Veronica Sheffey came off the bench to contribute 11 points. The Lady Frogs’ defense was anchored by a formidable shot-blocking presence, tallying seven total rejections. Kennedy Basham recorded four blocks in just 12 minutes of action, and Silva added two.

Houston was led by hometown guard Kyndall Hunter, who scored 20 points, though she needed 19 field goal attempts to reach that total. No other Cougar scored in double figures. Houston’s primary offensive success came at the free-throw line, where they made 20 of 25 attempts, but their inability to generate consistent scoring from the field proved insurmountable. TCU won the battle in the paint decisively, outscoring Houston 30-14, and capitalized on Houston’s 15 turnovers to score 17 points.

The victory completed a regular-season sweep for TCU over Houston, having defeated the Cougars 90-45 in Fort Worth just two weeks prior. The Lady Frogs have now won three consecutive games following a narrow road loss to Colorado. Houston has lost four of its last five.

The announced attendance was 1,098. TCU next hosts Iowa State on Sunday, while Houston travels to face Arizona State on Saturday.