TCU women's basketball wins with new players, after injuries forced team to forfeit games

The Texas Christian University women’s basketball team returned to the court Tuesday after an emotional week.

Injuries forced the team to forfeit two games last week. Then they went back to the drawing board to find a solution, holding open tryouts to find the right players to help the team return to the season.

Mark Campbell, the TCU women's basketball coach, said he's never had anything like this happen before.

"In some ways, you look back in your career in the blessing of how fragile being healthy is," Campbell said. "It just shows how quickly a season can turn."

Out of the 40 hopefuls who participated in the open tryouts, four players were selected to join the roster. On Tuesday night, the new players -- alongside their new teammates -- helped bring the Horned Frogs to a close win against the University of Central Florida, 66-60.

“It’s a unique opportunity for a Big 12 school to have open tryouts,” said Steve Hamlin, the father of freshman Ella Hamlin, one of the four new players.

For many of the players, it was a whirlwind to join a Big 12 team in the middle of the season and the middle of studies. Some players are working on medical degrees and are even part of the TCU Chancellor's Scholars program.

“She’s in a unique situation to hopefully be able to come out and help the team because she really hasn't missed a beat as far as getting in the gym,” Steve Hamlin said.

Ella Hamlin, 18, played for Granbury High School. Her dad told NBC 5 that she decided against college ball to pursue a medical degree at TCU.

Alan Thorpe is her former coach, who attended Tuesday’s game.

“This is incredible. She is such a deserving kid. She worked extremely hard in high school,” said Thorpe.

Freshman Piper Davis and sophomore Mekhayia Moore are also now on the team. Both helped their high schools become state champions.

Then there's 6 foot 3 inch Sarah Sylvester, a TCU volleyball athlete who was invited to try out. She’s now a dual-threat athlete on both the volleyball and basketball courts.

The post-game one-on-one with the coaches was full of emotion and pride.

"I'm just beyond proud of this group of kids. The injury bug has hit our team hard. And this group tonight showed they're resilient, showed their character. We're down a lot of pieces and this group fought for 40 minutes," said Campbell. "I'm just really, really happy with everything that has gone on. The kids have worked really hard and kept chipping away at this thing. I'm glad they got rewarded."

With this new win, fans are now hoping the team can finish the season strong and safe.

“Our hearts go out to the girls who are injured. We're praying for them to have a fast recovery and get back on the court just as quickly as they can,” said Hamlin.