Lady Bears Cruise into Round of 32

Saturday, March 23

4:30 PM CT (approx.)

Baylor

32-1

Abilene Christian

23-10

Abilene Christian

Baylor

Lady Bears Cruise into Round of 32

3/23/2019 7:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score PDF Box Baylor Postgame Notes

Baylor to face Cal at 8 p.m. Monday night on ESPN in second round

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Going into Saturday's NCAA Tournament opening-round game, Abilene Christian coach Julie Goodenough knew she didn't have the size in the post to go against Baylor's 6-foot-7 senior All-American Kalani Brown and 6-4 junior Lauren Cox.
            "We don't even have guys on our scout team the size of Kalani or Lauren Cox and some of the players that come in," she said. "They are just so much bigger than our players."
            That size mismatch helped top-seeded Baylor (32-1) jump out to a 20-0 lead in the first seven minutes of a 95-38 blowout victory before a Ferrell Center crowd of 6,669 as the Lady Bears won their national-best 24^thgame in a row and 15^thstraight NCAA Tournament game at home.
            "I think we just hopped on them early and got them back on their heels," said Brown, who recorded her 38^thcareer double-double and fourth in NCAA Tournament play with 17 points and 11 rebounds in just 18 minutes. "We got out and started running in transition and getting the ball into the post early, sharing the ball pretty much. It was a good team win."
            Baylor coach Kim Mulkey couldn't have drawn this one up any better. Not only did the Lady Bears breeze to a 57-point first-round victory, she was able to give her starters plenty of rest as no player logged more than 21 minutes in the game.
            Mulkey went to her bench early and often, swapping out five for five when ACU guard Breanna Wright finally ended the scoring drought with a 3-pointer at the 2:47 mark.
            "You talk about being up 20-0. In that timeout, I was looking at them saying, 'Which one of our teammates is going to give up the first bucket?''' Mulkey said. "Challenge them so that they don't let each other down."
            Junior guard Juicy Landrum called it a "dagger in the heart" when the other team scores its first bucket.
            DiDi Richards, Baylor's designated defensive stopper on the perimeter, said it was rewarding to see the Lady Bears hold the Wildcats to just three points and 1-of-17 shooting in a dominant first quarter.
            "The only part that kind of hurt was when they scored," Richards said. "When they started scoring and got on a little run or whatever, it kind of hurt (Mulkey), but we thought we were doing pretty good."
            The postgame press conference turned into a giggle-fest with Richards, Landrum and Brown.
            "We were having fun today doing what we do best, getting out in transition," said Brown, who scored 10 of her 17 points in those first seven minutes, helping the Lady Bears take a 26-3 lead after the first quarter. "Keep playing like that, hey, you never know."
            "You never know," Richards repeated.
            Stoic during the players' portion of the press conference, Mulkey said, "The silliness you just saw up here, they wouldn't be like that if we hadn't won. But yes, they enjoy themselves."
            "They don't play silly, they don't play goofy," she said. "They play tough. But, when the game is over, you know, they are kids at the end of the day. They think they are grown up, but until they pay all their own bills, they are not grown up."
            After missing their first 12 shots, the Wildcats (23-10) went cold again and missed 13 in a row until another Wright trey almost five minutes into the second quarter. By then, Baylor had stretched its lead to 35-3.
            "I think we were a little timid at first in the beginning of the game, looking for our open shots, being shot-ready to catch," said Wright, who finished with eight points on just 3-of-14 shooting. "Obviously, that got better as the game went on."
            This one was never close, though, as Baylor saw its lead balloon to 49-16 at the break and 74-31 going into the fourth. By the end, the Baylor band was chanting, "We want 100!"
            That didn't happen, but Baylor did get 44 points from its bench, outscored ACU by 22 in the paint (40-18) and crushed it on the boards, 61-25. The Lady Bears set program records for an NCAA Tournament game with the 61 total rebounds and 24 on the offensive end and tied another record with nine 3-pointers, hitting 9-of-13.
            Landrum and freshman Aquira DeCosta both hit three 3-pointers and scored 14 and 11 points, respectively. Mulkey said DeCosta can give the Lady Bears another serious 3-point threat if she becomes a better defender.
            "Can she go on that floor here during the playoffs and not hurt you on the defensive end?" Mulkey said of DeCosta, who was 3-of-4 from outside the arc. "I don't worry about the offensive end, because she'll go to the boards, she leaps out of the gym, can shoot it. Can she move her feet, can she keep them out of the paint, those types of things."
            Freshman NaLyssa Smith also had a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards, while Cox had 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks. That didn't include an inbounds pass by ACU that she swatted into the stands.
            "I thought the ball was going to hit me. I had to look up to see where it went," Landrum said.
            ACU had four double-figure scorers coming into the game, but Wright, Dominique Golightly, Sara Williamson and Lexie Ducat combined to hit just 7-of-39 from the floor. Lexi Kirgan had 10 points of the bench to lead the Wildcats, who were making their first NCAA Tournament appearance in just their second year of Division I eligibility.
            "Our team has really overcome a lot of odds and exceeded expectations of everybody outside of our locker room," Goodenough said. "We, honestly, are huge fans of Baylor and hope they go on and win the national championship."
            Baylor advances to face eighth-seeded California (20-12) at 8 p.m. Monday, with the winner earning a trip to Greensboro, N.C., for a Sweet 16 berth.
             Led by a monster double-double from 6-4 sophomore Kristine Anigwe (18 points, 22 rebounds), Cal overcame an early 12-point deficit to defeat ninth-seeded North Carolina, 92-72, in the earlier first-round game.