Little known Aussie shines as TCU Horned Frogs advance to first ever Sweet 16 appearance
- Simone Wearne
- Mar 25
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 4
March Madness is once again in the media spotlight as both men’s and women’s college basketball take centre stage across the USA. What is March Madness some might ask?
A term first used first back in 1982 during coverage of the NCAA Division 1 basketball tournament, it is often referred to as the crown jewel of the college basketball season. March Madness is a single elimination tournament that determines the college basketball National Champion at Division 1 level for both men and women. It is played over the best part of three weeks during March and start of April.
In 2024, the Women’s March Madness tournament famously became the first to receive higher viewership than their male counterparts, thanks mostly to Caitlin Clark. The NCAA’s all-time leading points scorers, Clark and her teammates played their title game against the South Carolina Gamecocks last year to a tv audience of 18.7 million viewers.
Caitlin Clark representing Iowa during the 2024 NCAA season.
Now in the thick of the 2025 iteration, March Madness has reached the second round for the women’s bracket. If you’re any type of sports fan following popular sports media channels, you would no doubt have heard about players like USC’s star JuJu Watkins or UConn’s Paige Bueckers, the player touted as the probable #1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft.
JuJu Watkins is representing USC during March Madness
A player you may not have heard about is Aussie guard Agnes Emma-Nnopu. Hailing from Ocean Grove, Victoria, Emma-Nnopu's basketball journey began in Australia before she transitioned to college basketball in the US.
Born in Nigeria, she moved to Australia at the age of three. In 2018 she moved to Canberra, taking up a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport and training as part of the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence.
No stranger to big tournaments, Emma-Nnopu has been representing Australia on the world stage since the under 16 age group, winning multiple medals for her country, including gold at the 2017 Asian Qualifiers.
She spent three NCAA Division 1 seasons with the Stanford Cardinals, where she contributed to an NCAA Championship in 2021 and earned three consecutive Pac-12 regular-season titles.
Seeking new challenges and opportunities, Emma-Nnopu transferred to Texas Christian University (TCU) for the 2023-24 season. Her impact was immediate. She was the only player to start all 33 games, averaging 10.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. She led the team in minutes played and total rebounds, underscoring her integral role in the Horned Frogs' lineup.
Fast-forward to 2025, Emma-Nnopu just delivered one of the games of her career to help the Horned Frogs to a historic win over Louisville. On March 23 the TCU team advanced to their first Sweet 16 in program history, thanks in part to the role Emma-Nnopu played on the floor.
She produced a season-high 23 points, connecting on four three-pointers and shooting an impressive 8-of-12 from the field. Her performance was pivotal, with the senior guard finishing one point shy of breaking the TCU NCAA Tournament record for most points in a game.
Not only does this take TCU basketball (men’s or women’s) to their first Sweet 16 appearance, Emma-Nnopu and her team made history, their game breaking the record for the largest attended women’s sporting event in TCU history. It was also the first time the Horned Frogs went undefeated at home after playing more than 15 games in a season.
Agnes Emma-Nnopu and her TCU teammates now face No. 3 seed Notre Dame for their chance to progress to the Elite 8. A remarkable 101 Aussie women played Division 1 NCAA basketball across the 2024/25 season, 13 of whom took part in March Madness play in 2025. As of March 24, just three Aussies remain in the tournament; Agnes Emma-Nnopu (TCU), Lizzy Williamson (NC State) and Last-Tear Poa (LSU Tigers).
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