TCU women’s basketball has the best duo in the country.
Saying something so conclusive is rarely easy, but guard Hailey Van Lith and center Sedona Prince have put together a pretty clear case. No other tandem is averaging nearly 39 points per game while leading their team to a 9-0 record featuring wins over two top 15 programs – then-No. 13 NC State and then-No. 3 Notre Dame – and a No. 9 ranking, the best in TCU women’s basketball’s 48-year history.
ESPN’s Charlie Creme, the women’s college basketball tournament bracketologist, agreed with the definitive statement when evaluating the season’s first month. His report card noted several duos that were expected to take the top mantle entering the season, like the pairings at NC State and Notre Dame, but none of them matched Van Lith and Prince.
“The TCU duo has been better than all of them,” Creme’s report card read.
Van Lith and Prince combined for 40.5 points, 21.5 rebounds, 10.5 assists and six blocks per game in wins over Notre Dame and South Florida at last week’s Cayman Islands Classic. Such a performance deserves recognition and the duo received it on a national stage, being named the Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week.
Individually, Prince and Van Lith have been nearly unstoppable.
Prince, a two-time Big 12 Player of the Week honoree this year, leads the nation in blocks per game (4.3) and ranks in the top 30 in scoring, rebounding, and blocks. She also became the first player in NCAA history to record 20 points, 20 rebounds, and 8 blocks in a game versus an AP Top-25 opponent.
Van Lith is in the top 10 nationally for assists (5th, 57 assists), assists per game (10th, 6.6), and assist-to-turnover ratio (5th, 3.9).
Put them together and everything operates like a well-oiled machine.
“The way Van Lith and Prince run the pick-and-roll makes it seem as if they have played their entire careers together, but it has only been eight games,” Creme’s report card continued, which came out before the duo upped it to nine games against Florida Atlantic on Wednesday.
The nation’s taking notice 🗞️#GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/7DX5DeDuWd
— TCU Women’s Basketball (@tcuwbb) December 4, 2024
Creme’s comment does beg one question – how did Van Lith and Prince gel so fast?
Learning how to play off each other takes time. Prince and Van Lith became teammates over the summer when Van Lith joined the program as a transfer from LSU. Roughly half a year together is not a long time in the world of basketball, where some teammates play together for years and never reach the heights of Prince and Van Lith.
Their past experiences and elite playmaking abilities have made all the difference.
“It’s all about making reads and Sedona has a great feel for the game,” Van Lith said following the win over NC State in November. “She’s easy for me to play with. She has great tempo, she knows when to roll, she knows when to pop and she can hit shots. It doesn’t take a whole lot of chemistry when you’re two really good basketball players.”
Prince echoed those sentiments.
“Playing with her is so relieving because she’s gonna make the right move, right choice every single time,” Prince said. “You play with elite, high-level players and smart players, it works out almost immediately.”
With more than half the season remaining, Van Lith and Prince will continue building a rapport and finding new ways to cause headaches for opposing coaches. Several challenges still await, including a Dec. 8 showdown against No. 3 South Carolina and a tough Big 12 conference slate, but Van Lith and Prince seem ready.
The country’s best duo is just getting started.
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