Baylor
8-0 #4/4
Northwestern State
3-5
No. 4 WBB Tops Northwestern State, 86-44
12/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
| 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | F | ||
 | NSU | 13 | 14 | 4 | 13 | 44 |
 | BAYLOR | 27 | 18 | 22 | 19 | 86 |
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | USATSI Photo Gallery 
Waco, Texas - Attendance: 6,317
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Facing a Northwestern State team that had only one starter over 6-foot tall, Baylor's "bigs" had a field day.
Led by freshman Kalani Brown with 16 points, the five-player rotation at the two inside spots combined to hit 25-of-35 from the floor and score 51 points as the fourth-ranked Lady Bears (7-0) rolled over the overmatched Lady Demons, 86-44, Friday night at the Ferrell Center.
"It should be that way in a lot of games, because we're big," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "This is the biggest team I've ever coached, top to bottom. You know how big (Brittney) Griner was, but she didn't have this many bigs around her."
It's not just the size, which includes the 6-7 Brown, 6-5 Kristina Higgins, 6-4 Beatrice Mompremier and 6-3 Khadijah Cave, it's the constant wave and variety of post players that Mulkey uses. Higgins had nine of her 13 points in the first four minutes, and Mompremier shrugged off a shoulder problem to finish with 12 points and seven rebounds in just 17 minutes.
"You've got Kristina and Kalani who are more back-to-the-basket players, but they can shoot the mid-range jumper at the foul line," Mulkey said. "And then you've got the athletic bigs like Beatrice and (Cave) and (Justis) Szczepanski that can. We've just got to have the right people on the floor at the right time."
Northwestern State coach Brooke Stoehr, who was recruited to play at Louisiana Tech by Mulkey, said it was good for her freshman post players "to experience this big-girl basketball that we told them about." The Lady Demons (3-5) were outrebounded 38-15 and were outscored in the paint, 62-20.
"We can't guard 6-5 and 6-7 effectively," Stoehr said. "We told our kids before the game that we could be in correct position, and they're still going to lob it over your head. That's going to happen. But what are we doing to control what we can do going forward, when we get to conference play? We're not going to play anyone else from our schedule here on out where we're going to be this outmatched from a size standpoint."
Baylor used its size advantage early and often, feeding Higgins for four quick buckets and a 10-0 lead. Janelle Perez scored seven of her team-high nine points in the first quarter to keep Northwestern State within striking distance, but Mompremier and Cohen hit back-to-back layups in the last 70 seconds to give the Lady Bears a comfortable 27-13 lead.
After a sluggish second quarter that saw the Lady Demons close on a 5-0 run to pull within 45-27, the Lady Bears ratcheted it up on the defensive end in the third period and outscored them 22-4 to pull away for a 67-31 lead.
"We talked about it at halftime and then came back with a smaller lineup that could move and stay with them on that motion offense," Mulkey said. "Some of that is freshmen, some of it is size, having to go out there and defend and move all the time. But we have a team that we can go small or we can go big. We just kind of rotated a lot of players until we found a better defensive group."
The 6-7 Brown said it's hard for tall players to stay and down and move their feet to defend the fast-moving motion offense, "but it's just something you've got to do in order to defend and stay on the court. I thought they earned me the minutes, being able to move my feet."
Junior All-American Nina Davis, who started at one of the wing spots, had just one point in the first half. But she was 5-of-6 from the floor in the second half and finished with 14 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals.
"When she's at (power forward), she's a mismatch for a lot of teams because she's smaller and can run the floor," Mulkey said of the 5-11 Davis. "And at the (wing), people match up better with her. But Nina's the ultimate team player. I could move her down there and play her all year at the `4,' but then I don't develop (Mompremier and Cave). And quite frankly, until (Alexis) Prince gets well, I'm searching for a (wing) player."
Senior point guard Niya Johnson scored only two points, but hit double digits in assists (12) for the fourth time this season. Alexis Jones knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 15 points and five assists.
Baylor plays the third game of a five-game home stand, hosting Grambling State (2-4) at 2 p.m. Sunday as part of a day-night doubleheader. The No. 23/25 Baylor men (5-1) welcome in No. 13/16 Vanderbilt (6-1) at 7 p.m. in the nightcap.
