WBB Picks Up Road Win at UT Arlington

Thursday, November 11

Arlington, TX

6 PM

Baylor

2-0,0-0Big 12

UT Arlington

0-1,0-0Sun Belt

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Baylor	24	14	20	23	81
UT Arlington	15	17	9	13	54

WBB Picks Up Road Win at UT Arlington

11/11/2021 8:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            ARLINGTON, Texas – Two days after letting Texas State come back from a 20-point deficit to make a game of it, the seventh-ranked Baylor women didn't take their foot off the gas this time.
            Senior forward NaLyssa Smith scored 13 of her game-high 21 points in the second half as the Bears (2-0) used an 11-0 third-quarter run to pull away for a convincing 81-54 win over the Texas-Arlington Lady Mavs Thursday night at College Park Center.
            "I think what we did a good job of tonight was, even though we weren't great in the second quarter, we turned a 14-point lead into an 18-point lead into a 25-point lead, and we just never let them back in," said first-year Baylor head coach Nicki Collen, "because we took care of the ball, for the most part, and we defended."
            Baylor's defense was downright suffocating in the second half, holding the Lady Mavs (0-1) to just 22 points on 22.2% shooting, including 0-for-10 from outside the arc.
            "We didn't change anything (defensively), it was just giving more effort," senior forward Caitlin Bickle said. "There were so many times on Tuesday that we just didn't give our full effort, where we know how good we can be.  We know we have to be a great defensive team in order to beat great teams. I think tonight just showed what we can do, if we talk."
            UTA went toe-to-toe with Baylor for the first 18 minutes, with Temple College transfer Starr Jacobs scoring 10-straight points for the Lady Mavs in a 13-4 run that tied it up at 28-28 on a Claire Chastain 3-pointer.
            Going with a taller lineup that included the 6-2 Jacobs and size at every position, UTA outrebounded the Bears, 23-18, in the first half and trailed by just six at the break, 38-32.
            "They really surprised us with their starting lineup, to be honest," Collen said. "They were scrappy. I think there were some plays early where we defended pretty well and we'd have our hands on the ball, and then their guards would come in and rip it out of our hands. We just did a better job (in the second half) of controlling the defensive boards and getting in transition."
            Baylor's inside duo of Smith and 6-3 senior center Queen Egbo took a combined seven shots in the first half and scored 10 points against a congested zone defense.
            "We've just got to do a better job against the switching and handling it, bouncing the ball back and posting up guards in that scenario," Collen said. "They came to double pretty quickly, so just making good reads out of the double teams. Do we play through it early and make a quick move, or do we kick it and re-post?"
            It was a much different game in the second half, especially when Jacobs went out with leg cramps early in the third quarter after scoring 14 first-half points. Baylor dominated the boards in the second half and finished with a 42-37 edge.
            With the Lady Mavs going almost five minutes without making a field goal, Smith gave the Bears their first double-digit lead with a steal that she turned into a layup and then capped the 11-0 run with a deft touch on a hook shot that put them up, 53-35.
            The lead ballooned to as many as 30 before Collen emptied the bench and got some minutes for Penn State transfer Kamaria McDaniel and freshmen Kendra Gillispie and Andrea Katramados.
            Grad transfer Ja'Mee Asberry broke out of a shooting slump to knock down five of Baylor's nine 3-pointers and scored 17 points. Guards Jordan Lewis and Sarah Andrews scored 15 and 12 points, respectively, while Bickle filled up the stat sheet with seven points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks while also taking three charges.
            "I am in so much pain, I'm not going to lie to you," Bickle said. "I'm so glad we have an off day (Friday), because I'm going to be lying in bed all day."
Collen called the 6-foot Bickle "such a good utility player." Playing a career-high 29 minutes, Bickle was 2-of-4 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the line.
            "She's going to fire the team up taking a charge, she's going to battle, she's physical," Collen said. "We needed her energy. Queen is such an incredibly good player, but we needed the energy that Caitlin brings. She's like a quarterback. When we're on defense, as much as Queen is a shot blocker, Cait is an orchestrator. She's back there telling people when to switch."
            The 6-4 Smith, a returning All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year, was an efficient 8-of-9 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the line. She recorded her 26^th career double-double and first 20-10 game of the year for a Big 12 player with 21 points and a career-high-tying 16 rebounds.
            Baylor returns home to face New Orleans at 7 p.m. Monday at the Ferrell Center. The Privateers opened the season Tuesday night with a 131-36 blowout loss to 25^th-ranked Texas.