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Carlson helps Wyoming beat No. 22 TCU

Jan 14, 2010 - 5:09 AM LARAMIE, Wyo.(AP) -- Hillary Carlson scored a career-high 29 points to help Wyoming beat No. 22 TCU 73-67 on Wednesday night.

The Cowgirls (11-4, 2-1 Mountain West) took advantage of TCU's cold shooting early, as the Lady Frogs missed their first 11 shots of the game. Wyoming led 39-25 at halftime.

"It was a big win tonight for the Cowgirl basketball program," Wyoming coach Joe Legerski said.

It was Wyoming's first win over a ranked program since 2008 when the Cowgirls defeated then-No. 25 Wisconsin.

"You can't go into a conference game worrying about national rankings," said Carlson, who was 8 of 13 from the field and 11 of 15 from the free-throw line. She also grabbed 11 rebounds. "It was just another conference game and we wanted to get a win just like any other game."

Emily Carter scored 20 points for TCU (12-4, 2-1).

TCU chipped away at the Cowgirls lead and tied it at 51 with 4:52 left on a three-point play by Antoinette Thompson.

Wyoming answered with 11 straight points, including three 3-pointers by Kristen Scheffler, who was previously scoreless in the game.

TCU came back with consecutive 3-pointers by Carter and Helen Sverrisdottir to cut the lead back to five, and Carter added two late 3-pointers, but Wyoming was 9 of 14 from the free-throw line in the final 1:22 of the game.

Carlson was 8 of 13 from the field and 11 of 15 from the free-throw line. She also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Aubrey Vandiver scored 18 points for Wyoming, followed by Emma Langford with 13 and Scheffler with 11. The Cowgirls finished 21 of 29 from the free-throw line, to 11 of 17 for TCU.

"There were so many plays that were big plays in this basketball game," Legerski said. "I told the team at halftime that that was as well as we could have played in the first 20 minutes.

"But we need somebody else to step up and we cannot just rely on the three - Emma (Langford), Aubrey (Vandiver) and Hillary (Carlson). Kristen Scheffler answered the call. Her three threes when the score was tied at 51, that is the difference in the basketball game."

Sverrisdottir scored 15 for TCU, with TK LaFleur adding 11.

"I thought Wyoming played a very good game; we just didn't respond well to the tough atmosphere," TCU coach Jeff Mittie. "We just could not buy a basket down the stretch and we couldn't battle back from that."