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TCU's special practice jerseys serve as rallying cry during March Madness
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- TCU's special practice jerseys serve as rallying cry during March Madness
SACRAMENTO, CA — TCU women's basketball head coach Mark Campbell is always looking for something to give his team an extra edge.
"I try to always find something that's a rallying cry, but that's not a gimmick. Something that will resonate with who they are and their maturity level," he told USA TODAY Sports. "I was in the office late at night when it just clicked."
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Campbell came up with the idea of matching practice jerseys that have the No. 40 on the front and back. The number symbolizes that "the only thing we're promised right now is 40 more minutes of basketball," he said.
Campbell sat on the idea for a while and thought TCU's Big 12 Tournament final loss to West Virginia on March 8 marked the perfect time to bring them out.
His team instantly bought into the message. Forward Marta Suarez confirmed the No. 40 practice jerseys made the journey with the team from Fort Worth, Texas to Sacramento, California for TCU's Sweet 16 matchup against No. 10 Virginia.
"They're here to stay," Campbell added. "We'll wear those all the way to the finish line. Hopefully we get another couple of weeks with them. ... This group wants to win and this group has big goals in March."
Putting together a full 40 minutes of basketball has been a goal for the team long before the Horned Frogs earned the No. 3 seed in the Women's NCAA Tournament. It's a priority Campbell impressed on his team back in June when they first met 10 months ago.
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"We have been preaching and talking about putting 40 minutes together, but that's part of our process to get all these new players to understand that," Campbell said, referring to the team's 10 transfer students, including guard Olivia Miles, an All-American candidate. But focus naturally tends to wane during a lengthy 10-month long season. It's only human nature, especially for a team as talented as TCU.
"They're so gifted as a group. … In some ways this season has come easy to them," said Campbell, whose team compiled its second-consecutive 30+ win season. "But March isn't easy. And so I just felt it was the right time, the right message for this team."
TCU instantly responded with one of their best performances of the year in their first-round win over No. 14 UC San Diego . TCU shot 49% from the field and 13-of-26 from the 3-point line. Miles had a 13-point, 16-rebound and 14-assist triple-double and a total of five players finished in double digits.
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"We have seven seniors, so that's like half of our team. We understand, like I said, the sense of urgency we have to play with," Miles said after the March 20 victory. "We haven't put together a full 40 minutes of TCU basketball this season. Even though Mark (Campbell) may say we did today, I do think there's a whole other level we can get to. I'm just proud of our effort. When we play with that sort of effort and that sort of camaraderie and chemistry, it's hard to stop us on both ends of the floor."
Olivia Miles averaged a near triple-double in the tournament.
TCU's second-round overtime win over Washington , however, was far from the Horned Frogs' best effort. TCU was held to 19 points in the first half and overcame a 10-point deficit to advance to the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season. The two wins were on the different ends of the spectrum for TCU, but Suarez said both games reflect their gritty character.
"The first round was a game where everybody got touches. We moved the ball. I think it was a great version of ourselves, so we know we got that," Suarez said. "And I think the second round just gave us that, 'Hey, we pulled it off.' There's going to be ugly games. This is March. There's nothing going to be easy. Adversity happens, teams are fighting. It's going to be ugly sometimes. And we pulled it off and we did it in front of a great crowd."
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Heading into Saturday's matchup against No. 10 Virginia – the lone double-digit seed remaining and the first team to advance from the First Four to the Sweet 16 – Suarez said the sky is the limit for TCU.
"We understand who we are, the potential that we have, the talent that we have, and we also understand that in March in these games, that's not just it," Marta Suarez said. "We need to be able to figure out how to put 40 minutes together, but if we do that, we have the potential to do whatever we want to do."
Campbell said he's "just excited we get another 40 minutes to compete together."
Reach USA TODAY National Women's Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at @CydHenderson .
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: TCU using 40 practice jerseys during NCAA tournament run to Sweet 16
