No. 2 WBB Uses 2nd-Half Surge for 81-62 Win over TCU

Wednesday, February 12

Waco, Texas

7:00 PM

Baylor

22-1,11-0Big 12

TCU

17-5,8-3Big 12

TCU

Baylor

No. 2 WBB Uses 2nd-Half Surge for 81-62 Win over TCU

2/12/2020 9:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Five Lady Bears scored in double figures against the Horned Frogs

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Kim Mulkey doesn't worry about how many shots Lauren Cox misses. "My problem is if she quits taking them."
            After missing four of her first six shots in Wednesday's game, the 6-4 senior All-American scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half and was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field in helping the top-ranked Baylor Lady Bears knock off TCU, 81-62, before a Ferrell Center crowd of 8,271.
            "We're winning ballgames because of Lauren Cox," said Mulkey, whose team won its 15^th in a row and extended its winning streaks to 52-straight in conference and 53-consecutive at home. "She is so vital to our basketball team. . . . When she relaxes, those shots will fall. I have no doubt, when it gets to crunch time, Lauren Cox is going to do whatever it takes to win a basketball game."
            Three weeks after rallying from a fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Frogs, 66-57, in Fort Worth, the Lady Bears (22-1, 11-0) found themselves in another tight game in a matchup of the Big 12's top two teams.
            TCU (17-5, 8-3) closed the first half on a 5-0 run and pulled within 36-34 on a last-second bucket by Yummy Morris off a sweet wrap-around dish from Jayde Woods.
            The second half was a different story, though.
            Shooting a sizzling 61 percent (14-of-23), Baylor started the third and fourth quarters with 10-2 runs and turned a tight game into another blowout.
            Mulkey joked that it was just a "great halftime speech," but credited some defensive improvements for the second-half turnaround.
            "We challenged them, corrected some stuff," she said. "First thing was dribble penetration. Second thing was help the helper. Cox and Queen (Egbo) did good jobs of helping, but then they'd get a layup because we're hugging our man away from the ball. We corrected those things. And then, you can't turn the ball over. We had too many turnovers in the first half (11)."
            Cox, who recorded her fifth double-double of the season and 33^rd of her career with 16 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and five blocks, hit all four of her shots in the third quarter and helped the Lady Bears extend their lead to as many as 16.
            That third-quarter scoring spree included a layup off a pick-and-roll pass from Juicy Landrum.
            "If we set a good screen, they've got to guard our guards because they can knock down that mid-range shot," said Cox, who was 7-of-11 for the field, finishing one point off her season-high (17 versus Texas Tech). "If we can get a pick-and-roll like that, it's always good. And Coach has been on us to roll every time."
            After shooting just two free throws in the first half, Baylor was 16-of-17 in the last two quarters and 18-of-19 for the game. In the previous win over the Frogs, the Lady Bears were just 8-of-20 from the line.
            "Both teams didn't go to the free throw line, really, in the first half, and I liked the way it was called," said TCU coach Raegan Pebley, whose team had a four-game winning streak snapped and lost its 29^th in a row against Baylor.
"The second half, obviously, especially the third quarter, Baylor dialed up their defense, and I don't think we responded well and we gave up too many high-percentage shots to them. The free throw line in the second half was definitely a difference maker for both teams."
            Moon Ursin hit back-to-back pull-up jumpers to cap a 12-2 run at the start of the fourth quarter, extending Baylor's lead to 70-47. The Lady Bears went up by as many as 26 before the Frogs scored the last seven points of the game in the last two minutes after Mulkey emptied the bench.
            "We had a comfortable lead there with two minutes to go, and quite frankly I'm going to coach till the bitter end," Mulkey said. "So, what do you think I said after the game about those last two minutes? Wasn't really good. My expectation is that every kid in that Baylor uniform is going to be held accountable. I let them all play, but when you go out there, I expect you to maintain a 26-point lead. So, you constantly teach."
            NaLyssa Smith added her team-high ninth double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 boards, while DiDi Richards just missed a double-double of her own with a team-high 17 points and nine assists. Ursin (11) and Egbo (15) also scored in double figures for the Lady Bears.
            "Our posts have to get deep and they've got to want the ball and they've got to take hits," Mulkey said. "They can't run and fade and shoot fade-away (jumpers), get to the rim. If they block your shot, they block your shot. I thought you saw more of that tonight. I thought Queen set the tone with that. She got to the rim, gave us a big presence in there, and everybody else started doing the same."
            Michelle Berry and Lauren Heard led the Frogs with 15 and 14 points, respectively, with Woods chipping in with 11. Kianna Ray, TCU's second-leading scorer coming into the game, was hounded by Richards all night and finished with just five points on 2-for-10 shooting.
            Mulkey said Richards "just had a good all-around game."
            Matching her career high with nine assists while scoring in double figures for the 20^th time, Richards said, "It's just knowing when to take the shot and when to pass the ball."
            "With guards that can score as well as we do, it makes it easy for me to get nine assists or how many ever I get a night," Richards said. "But, with them double-teaming (Smith and Cox), it's kind of easy for me to hit a jumper every now and then, so it's just reading the defense."
            Baylor is on the road for its next two, facing Oklahoma State (14-10, 5-7) on Saturday and at Texas Tech (15-7, 4-7) next Tuesday in Lubbock when Mulkey (598-100) can become the fastest coach in NCAA Division I basketball – men's or women's – to get to 600 career victories.