Box Score By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Finishing a five-game home stand where the fourth-ranked Baylor Lady Bears outscored their opponents by 52.8 points per game, coach Kim Mulkey pressed Oral Roberts from the opening tip just to keep her team focused.
"That's what you worry about, especially the new ones, because they're excited about going home," Mulkey said after Baylor rolled to a 97-39 rout of the Golden Eagles Thursday night before a crowd of 6,189. "You've got to keep them focused, and that's why we pressed the whole game, because I wanted them to get a workout in and make sure they're still thinking about basketball."
With the Lady Bears (11-0) forcing three turnovers in the first two minutes, this one was never in doubt. Baylor took a double-digit lead 5 ½ minutes in and was up 25-10 after the first quarter, when junior All-American forward Nina Davis actually outscored ORU, 12-10.
"I just wanted to get out to a quick start and give my team a spark," said Davis, who finished with 26 points and six boards in just 23 minutes.
Playing more at her natural position at power forward, instead of the wing, Davis hit 12-of-16 from the field with a variety of spinning drives, layups and floaters in the lane.
"That's the position I played the last two years, so of course that's where I'm the most comfortable," she said. "I just have guards that look to get me the ball, and I owe all the credit to them."
One of those is senior point guard Niya Johnson, who is averaging a national-best 10.7 assists for the season after dishing out a school-record 19 in Sunday's 105-46 win over McNeese State and following that up with 18 assists and no turnovers in Thursday's game.
"Thirty-seven assists and one turnover, that's got to be some kind of record in a two-game span," Mulkey said.
During the five-game home stand, Johnson had 68 assists and only three turnovers. And she might have broken her own school and Big 12 record if Mulkey hadn't taken her out with three minutes to go.
"None of that stuff matters to me," said Johnson, who also had five of the team's 13 steals. "As long as we win, I can't complain."
Baylor dominated the smaller Golden Eagles inside, finishing with a 61-37 rebounding edge and outscoring them 72-18 in the paint. Despite being outmatched inside at 5-foot-9, sophomore forward Faith Ihim posted a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
"We don't have an answer for (Kalani) Brown, we don't have an answer for (Kristina) Higgins. We're real thin at the post this year," ORU coach Misti Cussen said. "For us, it's just the opportunity to be in front of - I always love Baylor crowds and Baylor fans, because they're really educated on women's basketball. So, that's always a good atmosphere to play in."
Cussen also said she had no problem with the Lady Bears pressing most of the game, because "it'd be a shame if they had a game on their schedule that they couldn't get anything out of it."
"It's kind of where we are, to where she is right now," Cussen said. "Do what you've got to do. She's responsible for getting her program better. And however she needs to do that at game time, it's open season."
All 11 Baylor players that suited up scored in the game, with Alexis Jones knocking down three 3-pointers and scoring 17 points to go with six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Dekeiya Cohen was 6-of-7 from the field and chipped in with 12 points, while freshman posts Beatrice Mompremier and Brown had eight apiece.
"Beatrice is playing very confident right now," Mulkey said of Mompremier, who scored all eight of her points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first half. "I didn't realize she just played 11 minutes because I was putting in so many players. That's OK, because she's getting ready to go to her home state (Florida) and play against a team that's in her backdoor."
The Lady Bears wrap up non-conference play this weekend at the Florida Sunshine Classic in Winter Park, Fla., facing 23rd-ranked Miami (10-0) Saturday night and James Madison (6-2) on Monday.
Since she will make the trip to Florida and won't be able to attend Saturday's winter commencement, redshirt junior guard Alexis Prince was presented her diploma before Thursday's game by Baylor President Ken Starr. Prince has missed the last nine games with a knee injury, but could be back sometime next month.
"I them, `I can't promise you playing time, I can't promise you championships, but I can promise you a degree from Baylor if you just stick with it and go to class and do what you're asked to do,''' Mulkey said of Prince becoming the team's fourth graduate, joining Johnson, Higgins and Chardonae Fuqua. "It's just very special to see Alexis be able to be presented her diploma by Judge Starr."
