The TCU women’s basketball team has faced a challenging setback, having to forfeit its upcoming games against No. 7 Kansas State and No. 24 Iowa State due to an insufficient number of healthy players. TCU, with an overall record of 14-4, including a 1-4 standing in the Big 12, cited the unavailability of enough players as the reason behind these forfeitures.
The situation has become so critical that the program has issued a call for open tryouts exclusively for full-time students interested in walking onto the team for the remainder of the season.
As per Big 12 regulations, these forfeits have caused TCU’s conference record to drop to 1-6. However, NCAA rules do not mandate the inclusion of forfeited games in the team’s overall record.
In their recent game against Houston, TCU had ten players on the court, but the loss was compounded by the unfortunate injury suffered by senior point guard Jaden Owens. Owens, who had been contributing nearly 10 points per game and over 30 minutes per game, endured a season-ending torn ACL and meniscus in her right knee after playing just seven minutes.
This injury followed star forward Sedona Prince’s finger injury sustained during the Baylor game on January 3. Prince, averaging over 21 points per game following her transfer from Oregon, announced that she had broken a finger on the first play of the game. Her return remains indefinite.
TCU’s recent forfeitures mark the second instance in two seasons of a Power Five conference team having to forfeit games due to a shortage of available players. In January 2023, Arizona State faced a similar situation, forfeiting two games for the same reason.
The Horned Frogs had a promising start to the season, going undefeated in their first 14 games and securing their initial conference victory against BYU. However, the team has since experienced four losses and is now facing an official six-game losing streak leading up to their next scheduled contest against UCF on January 23.