Olivia Miles' 12th career triple-double powers TCU to March Madness win

FORT WORTH, TX — Olivia Miles knew the stakes were high entering the 2026 Women’s NCAA Tournament. 

“It's win or pack your bags from TCU forever,” she said on Thursday, March 19. 

Miles didn't want her college career to come to an end, and she delivered a masterpiece in TCU’s 86-40 blowout win over No. 14 UC San Diego to play another day. Miles put up video game numbers in the process with 12 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and a program-record 14 assists. 

It marked Miles’ sixth triple-double of the season and the 12th of her career. Only Sabrina Ionescu (23) and Caitlin Clark (17) have more career triple-doubles in women's college basketball. It was also the first tournament triple-double by a Big 12 player. Miles’ 14 assists tied her career-high and set a new TCU single-game record.

"It's a different sense of urgency that I came with, and I promised myself that I'd help my team out in any way that I can," Miles said after her record night. "I know that it starts with me."

After the 3-point shot went down to complete her triple-double with 4:50 remaining, TCU head coach Mark Campbell immediately subbed out Miles to loud applause at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. There was plenty to cheer about. The crowd had just witnessed TCU's 43rd consecutive home win at the arena. 

Head coach Mark Campbell had just witnessed Miles' “best game as a Horned Frog.”

"To break our all time single-game assist record while having a triple-double during March Madness. Holy cow," Campbell said. "At halftime, she was on pace for 20 assists and 20 rebounds."

Miles knew she was cooking early. She assisted on three consecutive 3-pointers to Taylor Bigby and Marta Suarez less than two minutes into the game. At the end of the first quarter, Miles was scoreless, but had seven rebounds and four assists. By halftime, she had 10 assists and 10 rebounds.

"I was finding people early and I literally told Mark (Campbell)... 'If I go out there and I have zero points and 20 assists, I'll be just as happy,'" said Miles, who admitted that changed slightly at halftime when she noticed her state line. “Once I heard that I had 10 rebounds early on, I was like, okay, so I have to go get it now.”

Miles wasn’t the only TCU player with a career-night. Bigby, a senior guard, scored a career-high 27 points in the win. She shot 8-of-10 from the field and 7-of-9 from the 3-point line. Her seven made 3-pointers also marked a career-high. 

"I blacked out, but honestly I was just out there playing with my team. I wasn't playing to get 27 tonight, but they just kept finding me, and it was just within the flow of our offense," she said. "Tonight was my night, but there's many other nights that I feel like are other people's nights. We're always just so happy for one another because we see everyone in the gym every day."

Campbell had all his players wear No. 40 jerseys during practice ahead of Friday's March Madness opener to signify "the only thing we're promised right now is 40 more minutes of basketball," he revealed Thursday. The message came after TCU's 62-53 loss to West Virginia in the Big 12 Tournament final on March 8.

Twelve days later, Campbell said his squad delivered a full 40 minutes of TCU basketball, even though Miles said "there's a whole other level we can get to."

"I thought (Miles) really got us started and set the tone from the beginning and then there were special performances up and down the roster," Campbell said. "You could tell they were itching and ready to go compete. That's 40 minutes we talked about. It's an 80 minute weekend. That's 40 down. We got 40 left."

No. 3 TCU will play the winner of No. 6 Washington and No. 11 South Dakota State in the second round. 

Reach USA TODAY National Women’s Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at [email protected] and follow her on X at@CydHenderson.