Citing a rash of injuries that have left it unusually shorthanded, the TCU women’s basketball team announced Wednesday it was canceling two upcoming games, including one set for that evening against N0. 7 Kansas State.
The school said the cancellations “are a result of injuries within the TCU program and ensure the health and safety of the program’s student-athletes.”
Already down standout center Sedona Prince going into a matchup Saturday against Houston, the Horned Frogs lost starting point guard Jaden Owens during the game to what the school announced Tuesday was a severe, season-ending knee injury.
According to a report Wednesday from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, several injuries suffered during a Horned Frogs practice Tuesday reduced their number of available scholarship athletes to six.
The second of TCU’s two cancellations involves a scheduled road game Saturday against No. 24 Iowa State. According to the Big 12, the Cyclones and Wildcats will each be given a win in the conference standings while the Horned Frogs get a pair of losses. The overall record for each team will not be affected, per NCAA policy.
“Per Conference rule,” the Big 12 said, “the member institution unable to field a team will forfeit the contest if no extraordinary circumstances exist.”
TCU women’s basketball will hold open tryouts on Thursday and Friday for full-time students interested in walking-on for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.
— TCU Women’s Basketball (@tcuwbb) January 17, 2024
Please see the information below or contact Jessie Craig (JESSIE.CRAIG@tcu.edu) for additional details. #GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/pQV2SvYnBm
Forward DaiJa Turner, who had been filling in for Prince in the starting lineup, said in a statement that an ankle injury she was trying to play through will instead require season-ending surgery.
Saying that “TCU women’s basketball is building something special this year,” Turner added, “We remain committed to this season and will come back that much stronger for this experience.”
Earlier this month, TCU said Prince, a two-time Big 12 player of the week after transferring from Oregon, would be sidelined indefinitely with a hand injury.
The game cancellations represent a major setback for a team that had run the table in nonconference play for the first time in program history and attained its first top 25 ranking since February 2020. Heading into what would be a win last month over BYU in its Big 12 opener, TCU was ranked as high as No. 23 for the first time since 2018.
Turbulence began to strike the Horned Frogs in their next game, a decisive loss at then-No. 6 Baylor in which Prince was injured. TCU went on to lose its next three games.
In its call for walk-ons, TCU said that in addition to having passed a physical before scheduled tryouts Thursday and Friday, aspiring team members must have high school basketball experience.