By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Blending a little of the old with some of the new, the fifth-ranked Baylor Lady Bears sprinted out to a 43-point halftime lead and blew out Texas A&M-Commerce, 104-41, in Tuesday's exhibition opener at the Ferrell Center.
Six players scored in double figures, led by junior transfer Alexis Jones with 22 points, eight assists, four steals, four rebounds and two blocks, as the Lady Bears didn't miss a beat without All-American forward Nina Davis on the floor. Davis made the rounds at the ESPN campus in Bristol, Conn.
"She's just a tremendous passer," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said of the 5-9 Jones, an All-ACC pick two years ago at Duke who sat out last season. "She's a tremendous player, but she can pass, so you better get your hands ready. Sometimes, players like that tend to pass too much, but I thought she distributed the ball well, shot it well. It's just good to have a kid like that working with Niya (Johnson), who's going to break every record Odyssey Sims owns here."
Johnson had her typical night, coming up two assists shy of a double-double with five points, eight assists, 12 rebounds and two steals in 23 minutes. The Lady Bears dominated the boards, 62-33, outscored the Lions in the paint, 62-12, and held the visitors to a dismal 22.1 percent shooting from the field.
"I think we did a great job rebounding tonight," Johnson said. On grabbing 12 rebounds, the 5-8 Johnson said, "I guess it was just knowing where the ball is going off the rim and being in the right place at the right time."
Getting their first action on the collegiate level, freshman posts Kalani Brown and Beatrice Mompremier combined for 31 points and 20 rebounds. The 6-4 Mompremier recorded a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 13 boards, while Brown had 20 points and seven rebounds.
"I thought they played hard, they got fatigued early," Mulkey said. "They're going to give you all they have in spurts. What we have to do, as they continue to get better, is make sure we can keep them on the floor for longer periods of time. They're going to be good, they are good, but can you imagine seeing them now and then comparing them in another year or two?"
With the much smaller Lions playing a zone defense, Baylor came out on fire and made them pay, hitting 5-of-7 from 3-point range to take a 31-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the new women's college basketball format, the teams will play four 10-minute quarters instead of two 20-minute halves.
Led by Jones 4-of-5 shooting from outside the arc, the Lady Bears shot a sizzling 57.1 percent from 3-point range (8-of-14) for the game. Kristy Wallace and Alexis Prince both hit a pair of treys and scored 10 points apiece.
"Prince can shoot the 3, Jones brings the 3-ball to the floor for us, and we know what Kristy can do," Mulkey said. "When those three get on a roll, and they're on the floor at the same time, you've got to kind of pick and choose your poison, because they all shoot it well."
The first quarter ended on a highlight-reel moment when Johnson tossed a deep pass to Khadijah Cave, who hit a trailing Wallace on the wing for a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that gave the Lady Bears a 21-point lead at the first break.
Jones, who didn't start the game, took it over at the end of the second quarter. She fed Brown for a wide-open layup, drained a pull-up jumper and then beat the buzzer again with a layup off a nice outlet pass from Cave.
"She pushes the ball as much as I do," Johnson said of Jones, "and it's fun seeing either I get the ball and run or she gets the ball and run. We just feed off each other, and it's great having three point guards in there because any of us can push the ball. That makes it fun for our post players, because they know they're going to receive the ball."
Cave rounded out the Lady Bears' double-figure scorers, finishing with 12 points, five boards and three assists, while Krystal Pickron banked in two of her three 3-pointers and led the Lions with 10 points.
Baylor wraps up exhibition play with a game against Arkansas-Monticello at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, before tipping off the regular season with a matchup against UT-Arlington on Nov. 13 in the first round of the Preseason WNIT.
