Baylor
Eastern Wash
Return Home Brings Baylor a 69-48 Win
8/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 30, 1999
WACO, Texas - Coming off the Christmas break and a California road trip that produced two disappointing losses, Baylor needed a boost in its final game of the century.
The Lady Bears got all they needed and more from sophomore Danielle Crockrom in a 69-48 win over Eastern Washington Thursday before 1,521 in the Ferrell Center.
Crockrom scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to produce her second double-double of the year. Dominating every phase of the game, she also blocked five Eagle shots, a career high, and grabbed five steals, all in just 17 minutes of floor time.
"She did everything," Eastern Washington coach Jocylyn Pfiefer said of Crockrom's performance. "She's their go-to player. She did it on the offensive end and defensive end."
"I don't know what she ate for pre-game (meal), but we need to find out and feed it to everybody," Lady Bear coach Sonja Hogg said. "There was a time in the second half there when she was rippin' and snortin'."
The win broke a two-game Baylor losing streak and put Baylor at 4-5 on the season while the Eagles fell to 3-6.
The Lady Bears and Eagles played a tight first half before Crockrom and Mandy Hayworth began to assert themselves. Baylor finished the half with a 14-2 run.
First Crockrom hit a jumper with 2:14 left in the second half to put BU up by six at 24-18. Then Hayworth, who finished with 12 points, hit four straight free throws and Crockrom scored again as BU built a 14-point halftime lead at 34-20.
"This game I was just determined I wouldn't rush things. I just let the game come to me. I tried to focus on defense. I felt the game would come to me if I continued to work hard," Crockrom said.
"She's big, she's athletic, she can rebound, she can play defense, she puts it in the basket," Pfiefer said.
The Lady Bears built a lead as large as 27 in the second half. Stasha Richards, who finished with 10 points, drained a trey to make it 65-38 with 5:29 to play in the game.
Tracy Ford-Phelps led Eastern Washington with 12 points. Allie Bailey scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds.
Baylor won the battle of the boards, 62-51, and out-shot Eastern Washington 34.8 to 24.7 percent. Guard Nicole Collins had eight rebounds.
"They shot the ball really well and we didn't," Pfeifer said. "They had a good run at the end of the first half."
"It's great to have a win and get into a situation where everybody could play," Hogg said. "I'm very pleased. We need to protect the home floor. That will be a big key for us in conference."
Baylor hosts Louisiana-Lafayette Jan. 2 at 3 p.m. before opening league play at home against Texas A&M Jan. 5.
