No. 9/9 WBB Takes Care of TCU, 82-49

Tuesday, January 26

Waco, Texas

7 p.m.

Baylor

11-2,6-1Big 12

TCU

7-7,2-7Big 12

TCU

Baylor

No. 9/9 WBB Takes Care of TCU, 82-49

1/26/2021 9:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score WBB_13_TCU

Ursin leads Lady Bears with 21 points, Smith collects career-high 16 boards, Andrews explodes for 18 in the 4th quarter in the win

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Moon Ursin makes it sound as easy as rolling off a log. And honestly, she made it look even easier.
            In what's become her signature play, the senior guard rolls off a screen, drives into the paint and elevates to knock down a jumper. Nothing but net.
            "DiDi (Richards) puts the ball right on the spot, so all I've got to do is jump up and nail it," said Ursin, who hit six of her first seven shots and finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists to help No. 8/9 Baylor roll to an 82-49 win over TCU Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center.
            "You've got a kid that's having an unbelievable senior year playing with a lot of confidence, is a great mid-range jump shooter, can shoot the 3," said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, whose team improved to 11-2 overall and first in the Big 12 at 6-1. "We need more than Moon on the perimeter to hit shots. If we get more than one hitting shots, then it's not so crowded down there when the posts touch the ball."
            Scoring nine of her game-high 21 points in the first quarter, Ursin opened things up for everybody and helped the Lady Bears get out to a double-digit lead in the first seven minutes.
NaLyssa Smith posted her fifth double-double in the last six games and 19^th in her career, hitting 6-of-7 from the floor and finishing with 18 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
            "I thought she was very unselfish with the basketball. She passed up opportunities to score 1-on-1 down there," Mulkey said, "but she battled on the boards and did some good things. That's what she should do. Her 16 rebounds, it's a career-high, but I expect NaLyssa at some point will break that, because she has the ability to really break some records at Baylor."
            Baylor had an 8-0 run in the first quarter to create separation, scored nine unanswered points in the second and then opened the second half with another 8-0 run to go up, 44-23.
            "Baylor's runs are what make them so good," TCU coach Raegan Pebley said. "I think we're young enough and new enough in some spots to not quite understand how important it is that if they score once that they don't get an easy score again when you're playing a team like Baylor, because they can rattle off those runs so quickly."
            Ursin hit a pair of jumpers in that 9-0 second-quarter run, pushing Baylor's lead to 32-19. And then, with Richards limping off the floor after turning her ankle, the Lady Bears reeled off eight unanswered points on a pair of buckets by Queen Egbo, a Smith jumper and a fast-break layup by Jordyn Oliver.
            "We're a better basketball team when we have other people besides Moon that can hit an open shot," Mulkey said, "because our posts are going to draw a lot of attention. I look at Trinity (Oliver) and           DiDi, and that's two starters that scored two points apiece. They've got to give us more than that. They're getting wide-open shots, and they can't turn them down. They've got to have confidence to step up there and make those shots."
            But, maybe the most impressive stretch for the Lady Bears was freshman Sarah Andrews hitting four 3-pointers and scoring all 18 of her points in the last 9 ½ minutes of the game. After missing nine of her first 10 shots, she hit her next four shots and five of her last seven en route to a career-high 18-point night.
            "I went through a slump, missed a couple shots," said Andrews, whose previous best was 12 points. "Coach Mulkey looked at me on the sidelines and said, 'Body language!' It's all about confidence and knowing that I can knock the shot down every time."
            Lauren Heard (14) and Michelle Berry (12) scored in double figures for the Horned Frogs (7-7, 2-7), but were a combined 8-of-34 from the floor.
            Baylor goes back on the road to face Iowa State (10-5, 6-2) at 3 p.m. Sunday in Ames in a game that will be televised by ESPN2. The Cyclones defeated Baylor, 75-71, on Jan. 16, ending the Lady Bears' 61-game home winning streak.

-BaylorBears.com-