Hoosiers' NCAA hopes dashed

DURHAM, N.C. -- The women's basketball team's gig as post-season Cinderella ended Friday night. A feisty horned frog wouldn't transform into a prince, preventing any more fairy tales for IU.\nThe ninth-seeded Hoosiers (17-14) forced tight defense on the No. 8 seed Texas Christian Horned Frogs (24-6) in IU's first NCAA tournament game since 1995. \nBut the Hoosiers' rushed offense didn't uphold its end of the bargain, shooting 23.5 percent (12 of 51) from the field en route to a 55-45 first-round loss in the East Region at Cameron Indoor Stadium. \nThe Frogs went on to lose, 76-66, to No. 1 seed Duke in the second round Sunday.\nIU's and TCU's oppressive defenses suffocated each other. The Frogs shot 33.3 percent (20 of 60) from the field and committed 21 turnovers. But IU scored only 45 points, its second-lowest point production of the season, and had 20 turnovers.\n"We really did play a good defensive game," associate head coach Trish Betthauser said. "Fifty-five points, and we ended up fouling at the end. They ended up getting quite a few free throws in the end. You hope that if you play that kind of defense you come out on top, but when you're shooting 23 percent, that hurts your chances."\nShooting 18.5 percent hurts worse. The Hoosiers fired that percentage in the first half (5 of 27), including 1 of 8 from three-point range. Without forward Erin McGinnis (11 points, 3 of 6 from the field), the Hoosiers would have been 2 of 21 from the field before halftime.\nTCU center Sandora Irvin hit the first basket, a three pointer in front of IU's bench. The Hoosiers never led -- but never trailed by more than 11. The Frogs kept the edge with a 48-34 rebounding advantage.\nThe Frogs led 25-20 at halftime, but center Jill Chapman's 6-0 run inched the Hoosiers back to within one at 27-26 with 16:38 left. But TCU then ignited a 12-5 run, pulling ahead 39-31. \nThe Frogs still couldn't pull away, and IU cut the deficit to 41-37 with 4:33 left after Chapman hit two foul shots. TCU point guard Ashanti Nix then hit her only three pointer and a layup to push the Frogs ahead by nine. The Hoosiers committed eight fouls in the final 3:30 to put the Frogs in the bonus. IU had two fouls to TCU's 10 at 3:03. \nThe defeat ends IU's surprising late-season run. The fifth-seeded Hoosiers earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament by upsetting the fourth, first and second seeds en route to the Big Ten tournament title 11 days earlier.\n"I'm extremely proud of this team and what they've accomplished," coach Kathi Bennett said. "I feel that we played good enough defense to win this game. I was disappointed in the second half. I did not feel we rebounded defensively, and that really hurt us. We just were rushed offensively. We never regained our poise on the offensive end."\nMcGinnis led IU with 13 points -- two in the second half -- on 3-of-9 shooting and 6-of-6 foul shots, but had nine turnovers. Chapman earned her 16th double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes after scoring one point off a free throw in the first half. Forward Kati Safaritova led TCU with 12 points and four blocks.\nTCU coach Jeff Mittie said his team applied good ball pressure to limit Chapman's touches. The 6-foot-5 senior led IU this season with 16.3 points per game but struggled all night on the inside, often passing the ball back to the perimeter against TCU's thick defense.\n"It was an excruciating night from a coaching standpoint to design offensive plays," said Mittie, whose team advanced to the second round for the second consecutive year. "I was the defensive coordinator tonight."\nIU point guard Heather Cassady, the most outstanding player at the Big Ten tournament, notched eight points, six assists and two turnovers. She finished 2 of 8 from the field and 1 of 7 from three-point range. \n"I think they wanted to pressure me full-court," Cassady said. "They just kept on bringing people off the bench. They did well on that, and it took us out of sets"