WBB Coasts to Exhibition Win over Langston, 110-45

Friday, October 26

Waco, Texas

7 p.m.

Baylor

0-0

110

Langston

0-0

Langston

Baylor

110

WBB Coasts to Exhibition Win over Langston, 110-45

10/26/2018 10:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Lady Bears dominate glass in win over Lions

By: Jerry Hill, Baylor Bear Insider

Postgame Notes | Postgame Quotes | PDF Box

Jerry Hill, Baylor Bear Insider
Breaking in six new players, including five freshmen, Kim Mulkey knows there might be some tough nights this season.
            Twenty turnovers and 20 missed free throws aside, this wasn't one of them.
            With senior All-American Kalani Brown (19 points, 12 rebounds) and freshman NaLyssa Smith (23 points, 13 boards) both posting double-doubles and two other freshmen recording double-digit rebounds, the Baylor Lady Bears coasted to a 110-45 win over Langston University in Friday's exhibition game at the Ferrell Center.
            "The talent is there," Mulkey said. "The chemistry, I think, is there. It remains to be seen. Let's wait until a tougher game and see how they respond. They're a joy to coach. I have no complaints there."
            Towering over a team that had only one player taller than 6-foot, the 6-7 Brown had eight points and six rebounds by the end of the first quarter, helping the Lady Bears take the early 31-12 lead over the outmanned Lions.
            But, it was the 6-2 Smith that shined "when the lights are on and fans are in the stands." Showing no signs of nerves or jitters, she was 10-of-16 from the field and grabbed seven of her 13 rebounds on the offensive end.
            "It was fun just going from scrimmaging each other in practice," Smith said. "We finally got a new team to play against., it was fun. I did things I knew I could do. I feel like I bring a lot of offensive rebounds and energy."
            The Lady Bears stretched the lead out to 57-22 by the half and never allowed more than 12 points in a quarter as the ended up winning by 65.
            "I wasn't looking at the score, I was looking at kids," Mulkey said. "When the lights are on and the fans are in the stands, some kids impress you more than they do in practice. Some kids impress you less."
            While Mulkey started the five returning players, each of the six newcomers contributed. LSU grad transfer Chloe Jackson hit 6-of-8 from the floor and finished with 14 points and four assists, while Caitlin Bickle (12) and Aquira DeCosta (10) both had double-digit rebounds as Baylor dominated the boards, 78-33.
            The only negatives were turning it over 20 times and missing 20-of-40 shots from the free-throw line.
            "That's about how we shot them in pregame today," Mulkey said. "I told them, it all goes hand in hand. We had a terrible pregame free-throw shooting. It took them forever to do the drill. Hopefully, they got it out of their system. The good thing is they did get to the free-throw line, but you can't miss as many free throws as we did tonight. We all know that."
            When you're rotating 12 players – no one played more than 24 minutes – and "moving kids in and out like that, you're going to have a lot of turnovers," Mulkey said.
            "We can't have 20 turnovers, either. Five players in the first half sitting by me with two fouls, that's nerves, that's their first game in college. They'll figure it out," she said.
            At the top of that list was 6-3 freshman forward Queen Egbo, who logged just seven minutes before fouling out with four points, three rebounds and a steal.
            "I hate it for Queen. I told her to go talk to (junior guard Juicy Landrum) about it, because Juicy did the same thing at K-State her freshman year," Mulkey said. Landrum, who's splitting point guard duties with Jackson, committed five fouls in nine minutes at Kansas State two years ago.
            "A lot of kids will go back, and that will just eat them up. Queen is like, 'OK, let's move on to the next game.' That's a good mindset to have. She was giving you effort. But, it was like I told her, it was wild. She'll calm down."
            In the point guard comparison, Landrum had a better assist-to-turnover ratio (7-3) than Jackson (4-4), but scored just five points on 2-of-5 shooting
            "This past month, she's been drilling me and making sure I do everything right and been on me," said Jackson, a second-team All-SEC pick as a shooting guard at LSU. "There's really no breaks at the point guard position, which is something I'm not used to. Being able to talk and lead, that comes with knowing the players. The more you know, the more you lead."
            Sophomore guard Moon Ursin had 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in 17 minutes, while redshirt freshman guard Trinity Oliver had two points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks in her first game since suffering a torn ACL last season.
            The Lady Bears wrap up exhibition play with a game against Texas A&M-Commerce at 7 p.m. next Thursday, Nov. 1, before opening the regular season against Nicholls State five days later as part of a doubleheader with the men's team.