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TCU defeats Baylor to win the Big 12 championship (0:19)
TCU takes home the Big 12 championship with a 64-59 win over Baylor. (0:19)
Mar 9, 2025, 08:54 PM ET
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tournament MVP Hailey Van Lith had 20 points, including a key bucket with 48.8 seconds left to give TCU a four-point lead, as the top-seeded Horned Frogs beat No. 2 seed Baylor 64-59 on Sunday at the T-Mobile Center to win the program’s first Big 12 championship.
Making their first appearance in the Big 12 title game, the Horned Frogs won their first conference tournament title since 2005, when they were members of Conference USA.
Sedona Prince had 12 points and 14 rebounds for No. 8 TCU (31-3). Madison Conner and Donovyn Hunter each had 11 points for the Horned Frogs.
“Congratulations to TCU,” Baylor coach Nicki Collen said. “Kind of led tip to finish.”
No. 17 Baylor (27-7) was led by Aaronette Vonleh with 20 points. It got 13 from Sarah Andrews and 12 from Yaya Felder.
Conner made one of two free throws with 9.7 seconds left to give TCU a three-point lead. Vonleh missed a potential tying 3-pointer before Agnes Emma-Nnopu made two foul shots to cap the scoring.
Aaliyah Roberson‘s layup late in the second quarter gave TCU its biggest lead of the game at 30-17, the Horned Frogs led by as many 12 points in the third and Emma-Nnopu hit two free throws to make it 55-45 with seven minutes to play. Andrews scored Baylor’s first six points in a 12-2 run that tied it at 57-all when Vonleh made a layup with 3:43 to go.
Prince answered with a layup and the Bears, who committed four turnovers in the final three minutes, got no closer.
Despite the loss, Baylor still leads the conference with 16 title-game appearances and 11 championships.
Both teams are likely to host opening-round games in the NCAA tournament, which begins March 19.
“The biggest takeaway is we have what it takes to play against really good teams and beat them,” Vonleh said. “I think there is this little switch that has to go off in our heads, and we’re going to work towards that. We have what it takes in our locker room to win against anybody, and we just have to believe that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
