TCU outlasted Washington, 62-59, in overtime. Next stop: Sacramento.

Near the end of 45 grueling minutes, Washington’s freshman forward Brynn McGaughy corralled the inbound pass, pivoted on her left foot while surveying her options, then found her team’s top scorer, junior guard Sayvia Sellers, at the arc.

Sellers had an open look for a three. She caught, set and fired. One last breath. The ball bounced off the back rim and high into the air.

It hung there for a moment, then came down, tipped away by TCU’s Clara Silva as the final decimals faded from the clock.

What followed was more collective exhale than celebration.

The Horned Frogs rallied from a 27-19 halftime deficit to defeat six-seeded Washington in overtime Sunday, advancing to the program’s second Sweet 16 in as many seasons. Photo by Percise Windom

Trailing by eight at halftime and shooting 26 percent from the field, the Horned Frogs clawed back one possession at a time, briefly pushing ahead in the fourth quarter and finally breaking loose with a 7-0 overtime-opening run en route to punching their ticket to the Sweet 16.

“That was just a gritty, resilient game,” head coach Mark Campbell said. “We were down the whole time. They just stayed in the fight.”

The night belonged to Silva. The sophomore center finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocks, anchoring a defense that held Washington to 35 percent shooting for the game.

TCU’s All-American guard Olivia Miles, who went 2-of-11 from the field in the first half, was a different player after the break, when she was 7-of-13.

At halftime, Miles had already steadied her teammates before Campbell said a word. “I just was telling them, ‘They’re not gonna give it to us. This is what March is about.’ ”

When play resumed, Miles attacked the paint, created opportunities for others and finished just short of a triple-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds and game-high eight assists.

TCU’s Taylor Bigby, a senior guard who spent much of the night chasing the Huskies’ Avery Howell through screens, hit the shot that may have won it — a three-pointer early in overtime that pushed the lead to five and took the air out of Washington’s rally. “I took it really personal going into the second half,” Bigby said of her defensive assignment “I knew that’s what my team needed in order for us to win.”

TCU forward Marta Suárez, playing with four fouls for most of the second half, said she refused to play tentatively. “It was a very tight game.”

Newly named Big 12 Player of the Year Olivia Miles finished just two assists shy of a second consecutive triple-double during Sunday’s comeback win over Washington. Photo by Percise Windom

Miles said the win was far from easy. “I was crashing out multiple times. I was angry, I was feeling all the emotions because I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t want to let my team down.”

As she walked toward the handshake line after the final buzzer sounded, Miles blew kisses and flashed heart hands to the Schollmaier crowd. For Bigby, who, like Miles, played her final collegiate game in Fort Worth, the moment was special. “It’s a blessing,” she said. “My teammates, my coaches, I wouldn’t be here without them and the confidence they instill in me. There’s no other way to go out with my last games here at the Scholl. It’s definitely gonna be something I remember.”

Now TCU heads to California’s capital, where the 31-5 Horned Frogs will face No. 2 seed Iowa or No. 10-seeded Virginia on Thursday or Friday at the Golden 1 Center, in the city where Campbell spent two seasons leading Sacramento State. “To take a program that’s 1-17 and get back to the Sweet 16,” Campbell said of the turnaround from a one-win Big 12 season in 2022-23, “it’s happened two times in the history of our school. And that was last year and this year. … I’m thankful we get another 40 minutes together. We get another week together.”

— Corey Zapata-Smith