Egbo Logs Double-Double as No. 7/6 WBB Takes Win over Georgia

Wednesday, December 4

Waco, Texas

7:00 PM

Baylor

8-1,0-0Big 12

Georgia

6-3,0-0SEC

Georgia

Baylor

Egbo Logs Double-Double as No. 7/6 WBB Takes Win over Georgia

12/4/2019 9:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Egbo posted her fourth double-double of the season

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            No Lauren Cox, no problem . . . this time.
            Four days after suffering their first loss in almost a year, the No. 6/7 Baylor Lady Bears (8-1) came back with a smothering defensive effort in blowing out Georgia, 72-38, Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center before a crowd of 8,172.
            Cox, Baylor's 6-4 All-American forward, missed her seventh game in a row with a stress reaction in her right foot and is not expected to return until the Big 12 opener on Jan. 4 at Oklahoma.
            But playing without her, the sophomore duo of Queen Egbo and NaLyssa Smith combined for 35 points and 18 rebounds and helped the Lady Bears win the battle of the boards, 41-30, after getting outrebounded, 43-29, in a 74-59 loss to South Carolina at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands.
            "I really don't look at the offensive end," said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, whose team improved to 8-1 with its 45^th-consecutive win at home, "because I know until we get Cox back, we're a work in progress. I just think Cox makes everybody's game easier because she sees the floor, she passes it. And right now, we're so inexperienced with Queen and NaLyssa. They just want to do everything one-on-on real quickly."
            Egbo recorded her fourth double-double of the year and seventh of her career with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Smith chipped in with 15 points, eight boards and two blocks. Moon Ursin scored all nine of her points in the first half, with Te'a Cooper had 11 points and four steals despite playing just 15 minutes because of foul trouble.
            "My teammates were encouraging," said Ursin, who was 2-of-4 from 3-point range. "The first shot I hit, and then the next play DiDi (Richards) kicked it to me in the corner, and I passed to the post. (Richards) was like, 'You just hit one, shoot it.' And I looked over at Juicy (Landrum), and she was giving me the shooting signal. They had confidence in me, just telling me to shoot the ball. So, that's what I did."
            With four starters each picking up two fouls in the first half, Muilkey dipped into her bench early and got 12 second-quarter points from the reserves to stretch a 15-9 first-quarter lead to 39-20 by intermission.
            "We got in foul trouble, but I'll live with that," Mulkey said. "I thought our effort, our energy, just getting after it, was better. Now, certainly as we go along, we have to stop the fouls. I thought the kids that came in when all of them were in foul trouble in the first half, they extended the lead. That's what good teams are supposed to do."
            Georgia (6-3) had a 10 ½-minute scoring drought that began late in the third quarter as the Lady Bears scored 19 unanswered points and went up 68-34 on a jumper in the lane by Juicy Landrum, who had seven points, six assists and four rebounds.
            "Give Baylor credit, they're long and they're athletic, and I think that they rushed us," said Georgia coach Joni Taylor. "In some cases, we got the shot we wanted and didn't make it. and in some cases, we rushed our shot because of their defense and because of their length, and it bothered us."
            Guards Gabby Connally and Maya Caldwell were a combined 5-of-18 from outside the arc and scored 11 points apiece to lead the Bulldogs. Even with the inside presence of 6-4 center Jenna Staiti, Georgia was outscored, 34-10, on points in the paint and gave up 13 second-chance points on 14 offensive boards.
            "I think we had a knack for the basketball," Egbo said. "Wherever the ball seemed to go, we were just all over it. So, that was good for us. Our guards were rebounding well and posts rebounded. . . . We just played our style of basketball and were able to bounce back."
            Taking a break for final exams, Baylor will be off until a game against Arkansas on Dec. 18.
            "You give them some days off," Mulkey said, "and then you come back and you work and just get after each other. Sometimes, playing against each other is your best games. We'll scrimmage and do things and put in some tweaks here and there and watch film and just get better."