Jadyn Wooten Scores 19 as No. 15 TCU Pulls Away From Iona 78-53 for 48th Straight Home Win

FORT WORTH, Texas. For 26 minutes on Tuesday night, No. 15 TCU had a real game on its hands. Then the Horned Frogs did what they almost always do at Schollmaier Arena. They outscored Iona 52-25 the rest of the way, broke it open with a 17-0 run that spanned the end of the third quarter, and pulled away for a 78-53 win on Nov. 10 that pushed their NCAA-leading home winning streak to 48 games.

Jadyn Wooten led TCU with 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting. Lara Somfai posted 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for her second double-double of the season, and Clara Silva added 10 points and eight rebounds, nine of those points coming in the fourth quarter. TCU moved to 4-0. Iona, which got a career-high 20 points from Chloe Vasquez, fell to 1-3.

Here is the box score (opens in a new tab) and TCU's recap (opens in a new tab).

Iona came to shoot

The Gaels did not look like a team that had just lost at Arizona two days earlier. Iona buried three 3-pointers in the first five minutes and jumped out to a 15-7 lead, and it won the first quarter 19-15. Vasquez was the engine. The guard went 7 of 10 from the field, made all five of her free throws and added five rebounds and four steals in 35 minutes.

TCU, meanwhile, could not find the basket from deep. The Horned Frogs, who have made more 3-pointers than anyone in the country since the start of the 2023-24 season with 1,034 according to the school, missed their first 11 attempts from beyond the arc. TCU did not hit a 3 until Lanie Grant connected from the left side with 1:29 left in the second quarter.

The Frogs had steadied themselves before that. Somfai capped a 16-4 run early in the second quarter with five straight points. But Iona kept answering, and its fourth 3 of the night put the Gaels back in front 28-26 with 4:00 left in the half. It was the last lead they would hold. The game had seven lead changes, and Iona led by as many as eight, according to ESPN.

The 14-2 finish before the break

Grant's 3 was the middle of a 14-2 TCU run to close the half. Iona did not make a field goal over the final 3:58 of the second quarter, according to The Associated Press, and the Horned Frogs went to the locker room up 40-30.

That stretch came without much from Somfai, who was in foul trouble. The 6-foot-3 sophomore had seven points and seven rebounds in the first half, but picked up her third foul early in the second quarter and played most of the second half with four. She still finished with five offensive rebounds and 14 total boards in 21 minutes, and the school noted that her 9.5 rebounds per game rank second in the Big 12.

The 17-0 run that ended it

Iona did not go away after halftime. Wooten and Somfai combined for three 3s out of the break, two of them from Wooten, but the Gaels stayed close enough to make it uncomfortable. TCU led only 49-41 with 1:53 left in the third quarter.

Then the Horned Frogs ripped off 17 straight points over roughly five minutes. Freshman Jessie-May Hall scored five of TCU's last seven points in the third quarter as the lead grew to 56-41 heading into the fourth. Silva took over from there. The preseason All-Big 12 center scored on TCU's first four trips down the floor in the fourth, and by the time the run ended the Frogs led 66-41. TCU's largest lead reached 29.

Iona did not make a 3 in the second half, according to the AP, and finished 4 of 18 from deep. The Gaels shot 18 of 51 overall, about 35 percent.

Owning the paint and the glass

The 3-point numbers for TCU were not pretty. The Horned Frogs finished 7 of 31 from deep, and Grant went 1 of 8. But they won this game inside. TCU shot 25 of 39 inside the arc, 64 percent per the school, and outscored Iona 46-24 in the paint.

The rebounding gap was even wider. TCU outrebounded Iona 46-22 and grabbed 15 offensive boards to Iona's two. Somfai and Silva each had five on the offensive glass. The school said it was the third straight game with 15 or more offensive rebounds for the Frogs. TCU shot 49 percent over the final 30 minutes, per the school.

The rest of the rotation filled in around the frontcourt. Hall had nine points and three steals in her second career start and has scored at least nine points in all four games of her freshman season. Clara Bielefeld added eight points, tied for her career high, and six rebounds off the bench. Bella Hines handed out a game-high five assists without much fanfare, and Laura Vilcinskas logged a career-high 21 minutes at center.

TCU did give the ball away 17 times, and Iona turned those into 14 points while winning the fast break battle 16-15. The Gaels also made 13 of 14 free throws. The Frogs forced 19 turnovers of their own and scored 18 points off them.

A tough trip for the Gaels

Vasquez's career night was the headline for Iona. Anyla Herbert added 11 points and made all six of her free throws, Wilma Tuomi scored seven off the bench, and Giselle Grant chipped in six. Johanna Flores had four points, four rebounds and four assists. Iona had 12 steals, but it also committed 19 turnovers, five of them by Vasquez, and the Gaels did not block a shot.

Iona came to Fort Worth off a 74-61 loss at Arizona on Sunday, and the Gaels now head home to host Hofstra on Sunday. A crowd of 2,118 watched this one, per ESPN.

Why it matters for TCU

The streak is the story that follows this program everywhere. The win was TCU's 48th straight at home, the 21st-longest run in Division I history according to the school, and its 40th straight nonconference home win dating to December 2022. TCU said Iona became the 40th visitor at Schollmaier Arena under coach Mark Campbell that failed to reach 55 points. Campbell's teams are now 26-0 in November and 40-2 in nonconference play, per the school.

It was also a different kind of win. TCU's first three victories came by an average of 53 points, over Oral Roberts, Le Moyne and Tarleton State, according to the AP. This one took some work, and the Frogs still won by 25. According to the school, TCU has never before opened a season with four straight wins of 25 points or more, and this is the fourth straight year it has started 4-0.

Wooten has been the constant. The school said she has at least 10 points and five rebounds in all four games, and her 19 on Tuesday made it 11 straight games in double figures. Wooten and Somfai have both scored in double figures in every game this season.

The questions, if there are any, are about the perimeter. A 7 of 31 night from 3 is fine against Iona. It will be harder to survive against Big 12 teams, and TCU will want Grant and the rest of its shooters to find a rhythm before conference play.

TCU continues its season-opening homestand on Thursday, Nov. 12, against Southeastern Louisiana at 6:30 p.m. The Frogs then face Abilene Christian on Nov. 15, UT Arlington on Nov. 18 and Utah State on Nov. 22.

Sources: ESPN box score, TCU Athletics, The Associated Press.

Photo: TCU Athletics.