Olivia Miles, TCU escape with OT win over Washington to reach Sweet 16

FORT WORTH, Texas — Olivia Miles was getting angry and emotional because she wasn’t ready for her college career to be done. TCU’s playmaking point guard was distraught when a potential winning shot didn’t go in at the end of regulation.

Yet she was resilient, just like the rest of the Horned Frogs, who are going to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the second year in a row.

Miles had 18 points and 10 rebounds while adding some big assists late as third-seeded TCU finally overcame Washington for a 62-59 overtime victory Sunday night.

“I owe it all to my teammates, to be honest. I was crashing out multiple times. I was angry, I was feeling all the emotions because I didn’t want to go home. I don’t want them to let my team down,” Miles said. “It’d be a disservice for me not to be resilient for them, and for myself.”

Clara Silva had 16 points, with the go-ahead layup to start overtime after tying and tiebreaking baskets late in regulation on passes from Miles, and had eight rebounds. Taylor Bigby scored 15 points for TCU (31-5).

The Horned Frogs had never been to the Sweet 16 before last season, when they got to the Elite Eight. They are headed to Sacramento, where the Big 12 regular-season champions will play Saturday night against second-seeded Iowa or 10th-seeded Virginia, who play their second-round game Monday night in Iowa City.

“That was just a gritty, resilient game,” third-year TCU coach Mark Campbell said. “We were down the whole time, just stayed in the fight. And we grinded that thing out, got it to overtime and then we finally broke loose … Winning in March is so stinking hard.”

TCU won its 44th consecutive home game since February 2024, matching top seed Texas for the NCAA’s longest active streak.

Sayvia Sellers had 18 points for Washington (22-11), and missed a 3-pointer as time expired in overtime.

After Silva’s layup on the first possession of overtime, she had a steal and then Miles assisted on a 3-pointer by Bigby. TCU had the first seven points of the extra session after Miles drove for a layup.

The Huskies were trying to get to their first Sweet 16 since Kelsey Plum led them there in 2017. Avery Howell, who last season as a freshman went to the Elite Eight last season with Southern Cal, had 14 points, while freshman Brynn McCaughy added 13.

Miles, who had only four points at halftime after a triple-double in the first-round win over UC San Diego, had a shot to win the game in regulation, but her 3-point attempt at the buzzer ricocheted off the back of the rim.

“Oh yeah, I thought it was going in,” said Miles, the graduate transfer from Notre Dame in her only season for TCU. “My teammates had to calm me down. … I practice that shot a lot.”

TCU took its first lead since the opening minutes of the second quarter when Miles passed to Silva for a layup with 1:39 left in regulation that made it 51-49. Washington got even when McGaughy beat the shot clock with a layup with 14 seconds remaining.

The game was tied for the first time, at 47, when Miles made a nifty pass over her head to Silva with 3:57 left. Miles finished with eight assists.

Washington led 27-19 at halftime after holding the Frogs to six points in the second quarter. It was their lowest-scoring quarter and half this season, after they missed 14 of their last 16 shots before the break.

Hannah Stines, who finished with 10 points, made a layup with just over 7 minutes left in the second quarter that put the Huskies from the Big Ten ahead 16-15, and they stayed ahead until TCU’s late surge. Then after Miles missed again, Howell hit a 3-pointer from the right wing.

Instead of getting to stay at home to play in the Sweet 16 at Dickies Arena, about three miles from their campus, the Frogs have to travel about 1,700 miles to California for the Sacramento Regional.