Box Score By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Baylor still has to take care of some business Monday night to win it outright, but the fourth-ranked Lady Bears clinched at least a share of their sixth consecutive Big 12 regular-season title Saturday afternoon at Bramlage Coliseum.
Putting a damper on Kansas State's Senior Night celebration and slowing down the Wildcats' run to the NCAA Tournament, the Lady Bears (29-1, 16-1) overcame an early double-digit deficit to pull away for a 63-52 victory.
That wraps up no worse than a share of the title, but they can win it outright and be the No. 1 seed for next week's Big 12 Tournament by beating eighth-ranked Texas in Monday's 8 p.m. game at the Ferrell Center.
"As a competitor, you want to win every game," said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, whose team won its 16th in a row since opening league play with a loss at Oklahoma State. "But win or lose Monday, we're going to get a ring and we're still going to cut those nets down. . . . This string of wins we've put together - I know I coached a 40-0 team - but guys, that's just clutch. That's clutch to be able to lose your first conference game and win a championship and not lose another (game)."
While 6-5 center Breanna Lewis had 20 points, six rebounds and four steals for K-State (18-10, 8-9), junior All-American forward Nina Davis led a much more balanced Baylor attack with 14 points while holding freshman Kaylee Page to zero points.
"That's big, because that girl can score for them and she played 30 minutes," Mulkey said. "And then you go to the offensive end, and Nina's an undersized player in there with the giants and somehow figures out how to get her shot off. They might block it once or twice, and she may not get a call, but she's going to keep at it."
With 6-7 freshman Kalani Brown adding 11 points, five rebounds and three blocks, and Kristy Wallace chipping in with nine points, Baylor's bench outscored the Wildcat reserves, 22-3. Junior guard Alexis Prince also had a solid all-around game with nine points, nine boards and five assists.
"Alexis gave us length on the perimeter," Mulkey said. "They'll shoot it quickly in your face, and she gave us that length. And then she had almost double-digit rebounds. Those are big rebounds, because in the first half we didn't have one offensive board and those guys had nine."
Baylor struggled out of the gates, missing five of its first six shots and turning it over four times in the first five minutes of the first quarter and falling behind 12-2. Prince and Alexis Jones both hit 3-pointers in a closing 8-3 run that trimmed the deficit to 17-12 by the end of the quarter.
"It's hard when you dig yourself a hole like that in the first quarter," said senior point guard Niya Johnson, who filled up the stat sheet with four points, six assists, four rebounds, two steals and a pair of blocks, "but they came out hot and got the moment. We were just trying to weather the storm early and keep encouraging each other."
Coming out guns blazing to start the second quarter, the Lady Bears took their first lead of the game, 20-19, on a short Prince jumper in the lane off a dish from Jones. Prince and Jones hit back-to-back 3-pointers that pushed the lead to 26-21 and they went to the half up by three, 30-27.
Baylor had that lead at the half despite turning it over eight times and getting crushed on the boards, 21-12, The Wildcats had nine offensive rebounds to zero for the Lady Bears, but had only a 4-0 edge on second-chance points.
"You think I talked about (the rebounding margin) at halftime? Just a little bit," Mulkey said.
The players certainly got the message, outrebounding K-State, 25-10, in the second half and winning the battle of the boards overall, 37-30.
"We made up a lot of rebounds that we weren't getting in the first half," she said.
They also did a better job on Lewis, who scored 12 first-half points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field. She still got eight points in the second half, but was just 3-for-8 from the floor and 2-of-6 from the line.
"This was more of a defensive game for me, learning to front and play better defense," Brown said. "She's a more experienced post . . . she moves her body really well. But I thought I did well, for the most part."
With the defense focused on shutting down K-State's 3-point shooters - they were just 5-of-17 from outside the arc - it left Lewis isolated in the post area on Brown, Beatrice Mompremier and senior Kristina Higgins, who was called for a flagrant 1 foul in the second half.
"You've got to understand, their offense is difficult to guard," Mulkey said. "But we certainly didn't give up 10 3's. When we're up tight on them, they couldn't get the 3-ball off, so they're going to throw it in there ot the big. In the second half, I thought we did a better job of at least altering her shots. She's going to get her points when you're guarding four perimeter players as tight as we were guarding them."
Baylor was clinging to a one-point lead 2 ½ minutes into the third quarter before reeling off nine unanswered points and taking a double-digit lead, 41-31. Jones had a three-point play off a steal, and Davis, Wallace and Johnson had buckets in the run that finally gave the Lady Bears some breathing room.
Johnson, Higgins and fellow senior Chardonae Fuqua, who have a four-year record of 128-11 overall and 66-5 in league play, will be recognized on Baylor's Senior Night for Monday's matchup against Texas. As part of a "Gold Out" promotion, the first 8,000 fans will receive free gold T-shirts.
