No. 1 WBB Routs Texas Tech in Big 12 Quarters

Saturday, March 9

Oklahoma City, Okla.

1:30 p.m.

Baylor

29-1

100

Texas Tech

14-17

Texas Tech

Baylor

100

No. 1 WBB Routs Texas Tech in Big 12 Quarters

3/9/2019 3:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score PDF Box Baylor Postgame Notes

Kalani Brown and NaLyssa Smith scored 14 points each.

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            OKLAHOMA CITY – Two months ago, Baylor's bench let a 31-point lead get whittled down to 17 with a closing 19-5 run by Texas Tech.
            They weren't about to let that happen again.
            In a game where the top-ranked Lady Bears (29-1) were in complete control from midway through the second quarter, Baylor's predominantly freshman bench outscored Tech's starters, 28-17, over the last 10 minutes and coasted to a 100-61 blowout victory in Saturday's Big 12 Championship quarterfinal at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
            "I hate to use the word bench, because those kids could start for us. They're all that good," said coach Kim Mulkey, whose team reeled off its 21^stconsecutive win and reached the Big 12 tournament semifinals for the ninth straight year. "What you saw today is the future here. I'm so happy for NaLyssa Smith and those kids that finally could just relax and play a lot of minutes and valuable minutes."
            Led by Smith and senior All-American NaLyssa Smith with 14 points apiece, Baylor became the first team in the 23-year history of the conference postseason tournament to have seven players score in double figures. With the Lady Bears' bench outscoring Tech's reserves, 52-0, Baylor also set a tournament record with 32 assists, 29 of them coming on the team's last 32 buckets.
            "It just shows that we're always ready on the bench," said Smith, who was an efficient 5-of-7 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the line, adding seven rebounds. "When our name is called, we've got to do what we can do and we've got to rest our starters for bigger and better things down the road. And we have to handle business so they don't cut the lead."
            Spreading the wealth, all 12 players scored for the Lady Bears. All seven bench players scored in the fourth quarter, with Caitlin Bickle knocking down a 3-pointer with 1:02 left that not only got her in the boxscore but gave Baylor its third 100-point game of the season.
            Baylor's starters erupted from the bench as Bickle's trey tickled the net and then celebrated with the freshman forward when Tech called a time out with 54 seconds left.
            "I don't know, I guess they were just excited, considering everyone else had scored," said Bickle, who hadn't hit a 3-pointer since December. "I guess it was just a fun moment."
            While junior forward Lauren Cox said it looked like Bickle hesitated before taking the shot, the 6-foot freshman forward from Arizona said she was just trying to get her feet set before launching the shot.
            "I wanted to make sure I would make it if I was going to shoot it," she said.
            Big 12 Freshman of the Year Chrislyn Carr knocked down seven 3-pointers and scored a game-high 25 points for the Red Raiders, while Baylor's scoring was spread out from top to bottom.
            Moon Ursin and Chloe Jackson chipped in with 12 points apiece, with Lauren Cox, DiDi Richards and freshman Aquira DeCosta each scoring 10.
            "I guess I could have given Queen (Egbo) a frew more minutes and a couple more shots, and we would have eight (in double figures)," Mulkey said. "That's what wins championships, your defense first and then sharing the basketball. We're going to share the wealth and guard you on both ends of the floor."
            Cox, the two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, helped limit Brewer to just 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the floor. And that included a banked-in 3-pointer off the glass.
            "She banked that one in, but we were trying to help down in the lane," said Cox, who added six rebounds, four blocks, three steals and three assists to her 10-point effort. "I was just trying to take away her left hand and being physical with her, not letting her post deep in the lane."
            The Lady Bears held Tech to 35 percent shooting from the floor overall and 12-of-29 from outside the arc. They also dominated the boards, 51-25, and outscored the Red Raiders in the paint, 64-12.
            Mulkey said she didn't change the defense much after winning the first two meetings, just make sure you have who your matchups. Who is guarding who is very important to me. I thought DiDi being on the point guard . . . and Lauren Cox being on Brewer, those are our two best defensive players, and we need to make sure they're on their best offensive players."
            "We take pride our defense," Brown said. "Coach rides us about it all the time."
            After ending the first quarter with eight unanswered points, Baylor had a 17-0 run early in the second quarter and went up 39-15 on a Smith layup off a feed from Ursin. Tech (14-17 scored the last seven points of the half to get back within 20, but never seriously challenged in the second half.
            "They're No. 1 in the country for a reason," first-year Tech head coach Marlene Stollings said. "They played like it today. They're so physical, they're so deep and they're so long and athletic that they're hard to go against."
            Advancing to the Big 12 Championship semifinal for the ninth year in a row, Baylor will face fifth-seeded Kansas State (21-10) at 2 p.m. Sunday at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Wildcats advanced with a mild upset of fourth-seeded West Virginia, 72-59, in the early game.