Posts Dominate as WBB Extends Win Streak to 34

Thursday, November 21

Waco, Texas

7:00 PM

Baylor

Lamar

Posts Dominate as WBB Extends Win Streak to 34

11/21/2019 10:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Lady Bears post fourth-best single-game field goal percentage mark

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            At a distinct height disadvantage in the post area, Lamar's only real defense against the second-ranked Baylor Lady Bears (5-0) was forcing turnovers.
            Baylor's four-player post rotation of NaLyssa Smith, Erin DeGrate, Queen Egbo and Caitlin Bickle hit 25-of-29 from the floor and combined for 56 points as the Lady Bears blew out the visiting Cardinals, 90-28, Thursday night at the Ferrell Center before a crowd of 7,352.
            "They weren't that tall, so it was definitely a mismatch," said the 6-3 Egbo, who recorded her second-straight and sixth career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
            Smith was a perfect 8-of-8 from the floor and scored 18 points, her sixth-consecutive game in double figures. DeGrate, a 6-6 grad transfer playing with the second group in the second and fourth quarters, was 8-of-9 and finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes.
            Bickle had seven points, seven rebounds and a career-high five assists, while grad transfer point guard Te'a Cooper gave the Lady Bears their fourth double-figure scorer with 12 points and five assists.
            "We're going to look for you. These two, in particular, they're going to run the floor," said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, referring to Egbo and the 6-2 Smith. "You better get back in transition defense because they're going to run the floor with our guards. We are really focusing on, when they run the floor, let's reward them. Now, they've got to do a better job of taking care of the ball. They can't turn it over as much as they're turning it over."
            The four post players accounted for 11 of Baylor's 21 turnovers, including five by Smith and three by Egbo.
            Making all eight shots from the floor was good, Smith said, "but I missed free throws (2-of-4) and had five turnovers. I've got to work on that."
            With the four posts leading the way, Baylor shot a sizzling 67.9 percent from the floor (36-of-53), the fourth-highest single-game percentage in program history.
            "They're big and they're athletic and they're hard to guard," Mulkey said of her post players. "It's not just the scoring that they're doing, they're trying to really give us second-chance points. And they're trying to really rebound and not let the other team get a second rebound."
            Egbo and Smith combined to score nine points in a 16-0 run over the last 6 ½ minutes of the first quarter, with the Cardinals missing their last 10 shots and falling behind 24-7.
            Baylor's only real struggle came in the second quarter, when Mulkey swapped out five for five and the Lady Bears turned it over seven times.
            During one of the timeouts, Mulkey's message to the team was, "Would y'all take a deep breath? Come on now!"
            "I told them, 'You're going to cost your team a timeout if you turn the ball over in a game like this and I have to put you in as a sub,''' Mulkey said. "You bring it to their attention, and you let them play through it. You let them, in a game like this, play through it."
            As impressive as Baylor's offensive numbers were, the defense might have been even a notch or two better. The Lady Bears forced 21 turnovers, blocked eight shots and held Lamar to a miserly 17.5 percent overall (10-of-57) and 3-of-20 from outside the arc.
            Towering over 5-6 Lamar guard Amber Vidal by seven inches, 6-1 junior wing DiDi Richards held the Cardinals' leading scorer to just 1-of-16 shooting and two points.
            "If you don't understand the game of basketball and you're not watching things like that, you can't understand the value of DiDi Richards," Mulkey said. "She can play four positions on the floor for us, and then she has to go guard four positions, if I need her to do that. You just can't take her off the floor. She's just one of those kids that makes everybody else play harder. She gets her hands on stuff, she's just a tremendous defensive player."
            After a season-opening five-game home stand that included four blowouts by at least 62 points, Baylor goes on the road for the first time for next week's trip to the Virgin Islands to play Washington State, 18^th-ranked Indiana and No. 5 South Carolina in the Paradise Jam.