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Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery | Postgame Press Conference

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Kristy Wallace knocked down five 3-pointers and scored 26 points to help the third-ranked Baylor Lady Bears cruise to an 88-51 win over the struggling Kansas Jayhawks Saturday afternoon at the Ferrell Center.

But, it was a hustle play by the senior guard that stuck out to Kansas coach Brandon Schneider.

Christalah Lyons seemed to have the angle on a deep rebound off a missed 3-pointer by Baylor freshman Alexis Morris, but Wallace beat her to the ball and got it back right at midcourt. She drove to the basket and dished off to forward Dekeiya Cohen for a three-point play that stretched the Lady Bears' lead to 70-40 late in the third quarter.

"She had a hustle play that led to an and-one that we're going to show our team," said Schneider, whose team has lost 12 in a row in falling to 11-15 overall and 2-13 in conference. "She has the kind of competitive, grinding spirit you have to play with. And she brings that to the table every possession. I felt like we were closer to the ball, but we went with one hand, she went with two and turned it into an and-one."

That one came about three minutes after another hustle play by Wallace, who had a pass picked off by Lyons for Baylor's first turnover of the game but hustled back to block Kylee Kopatich's point-blank shot from under the basket.

"And the crowd went wild," said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, whose team improved to 25-1 overall and 15-0 in conference with its 22nd straight win. "That's Kristy. Y'all see it during the games. This is how that kid practices every day. The only difference now is her freshman year when she messed up, she'd beat the heck out of that floor with her hand. I told her, 'You're going to break your hand one day.'

"She's high-energy and she is one of those that you're blessed to coach, because you don't have to prod her to get her going. You know what you're going to get out of Kristy."

Wallace's performance helped the Lady Bears move a step closer to their eighth consecutive Big 12 regular-season championship. With a two-game lead on sixth-ranked Texas (22-4, 13-2), they can clinch an outright title with a win on Monday in Austin.

"We have three (games) left, and we have to win two out of three to clinch it is the way I approach it," Mulkey said. "But, we want to just focus on the next game. We know how good Texas is, and we know how tough it is to win on the road."

Kansas was able to stick with Baylor through most of the first half. With both Kalani Brown and Lauren Cox on the bench with two fouls, the Jayhawks twice pulled within six midway through the second quarter.

But, the Lady Bears closed the half on a 12-2 run that included a couple buckets by Cohen, a Morris 3-pointer and a driving layup by Wallace, who had 19 points by the break. After going 0-for-9 from 3-point range in the previous games, Wallace was 4-of-6 in the first half and 5-of-7 for the game.

"I think it's just a mental game with shooting," Wallace said. "If you have missed in a few of your past games, it's just a mental thing and you keep shooting the ball. If you're open, shoot it. And my teammates were able to find me. Kalani was getting double-teamed, triple-teamed, and Lauren down there, they were able to find me on the skip pass."

Schneider said it was a wasted opportunity when Kansas didn't capitalize on the Lady Bears' foul trouble in the post.

"When their two bigs were out, we tried to go inside four possessions in a row and didn't get (Tyler Johnson) a touch. Obviously, we're frustrated with that," Schneider said. "It's just hard when you don't have a paint presence. Having a kid like Wallace today that makes shots, that makes them very, very difficult to beat when they have that inside-outside punch."

After shooting 50 percent overall (10-of-20) and 5-of-9 from outside the arc in the first half, the Jayhawks cooled off considerably. The last two quarters, they scored just 20 points combined and were 7-of-31 from the floor and 3-of-15 from distance.

Brown had a strong second half to finish with 20 points and eight boards, while Cohen and Cox tallied 11 points apiece. All eight players logged double-digit minutes and scored at least three points for the Lady Bears, while Lyons and Kopatich had 16 points apiece for Kansas.

With a 30-point lead going into the fourth, Mulkey was able to rest Wallace the whole period and pulled Brown off the floor after just 40 seconds.

"It's late in the year, and I feel like we have fresh legs, I really do," Mulkey said. "With only eight players, I really think we're bouncing around defensively. I think we're playing good right now. Let's just hope we have it in us to finish this thing these last three games."

Earlier Saturday, Mulkey was named as one of 13 finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The other finalists are former players Katie Smith and Tina Thompson and the Wayland Baptist team from the women's screening committee and former players Ray Allen, Maurice Cheeks, Grant Hill, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash and Chris Webber, coaches "Lefty" Driesell and Rudy Tomjanovich and referee Hugh Evans from the North American committee.