No. 6 WBB Defeats Fordham to Open Cancun Challenge

Thursday, November 25

Cancun, Mexico

10:00 AM

Baylor

4-1,0-0Big 12

Fordham

3-2,0-0Atlantic 10

Fordham

Baylor

No. 6 WBB Defeats Fordham to Open Cancun Challenge

11/25/2021 12:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            CANCUN, Mexico – As much as sixth-ranked Baylor is driven by its inside duo of NaLyssa Smith and Queen Egbo, it was the backcourt trio of Jordan Lewis, Sarah Andrews and Ja'Mee Asberry that got the Bears going Thursday morning at the Cancun Challenge.
            Turning a four-point halftime deficit into a double-digit lead, they combined to hit four 3-pointers and score 21 of the team's 24 points in the period as Baylor (4-1) dominated the last two quarters and blew out Fordham, 68-45, in the opening game of the three-day tournament.
            "Offensively, I think putting the ball in Jordan's hands as our point a little bit more early, she was going to make us run with her," Baylor coach Nicki Collen said. "Us getting some easy baskets in transition, some kickout 3's, extra pass to a 3, when you get the inside-outside game, now they can't load up the way they were in the first half."
            Smith had a double-double with 19 points and 15 rebounds, and the Bears got double-digit points from Lewis (15), Asberry (10) and Andrews (10) in bouncing back from their first loss of the year last Sunday at now-No. 2 Maryland.
            "They looked for each other, they made the right extra pass," Collen said. "I thought a big play for us was K-Mac (Kamaria McDaniel) driving and hitting Caitlin (Bickle) at the top of the key. It's just simple basketball. It's making the right play, it's not trying to do too much, it's just trying to make the simple play."
            Baylor jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game on three quick buckets and a fast-break layup by Lewis. Fordham (3-2) missed its first six shots and turned it over three times before Kendell Heremaia ended the scoring drought with a 3-pointer with 5:02 left in the first quarter.
            That seemed to spark the Rams, who closed to within 14-11 at the end of the quarter and outscored the Bears, 13-6, in the second period to go up 24-20 at the break. Heremaia, who had to leave early in the fourth quarter with an apparent knee injury, hit three first-half treys and scored all 14 of her points in the first two quarters.
            Baylor was just 8-of-27 from the floor and turned it over 12 times in the first half, getting half of its 20 points from Smith.
            "They lulled us into walking the ball up the court and taking our time getting into actions and standing around looking at one another," Collen said of the first-half struggles. "We allowed the officiating, the physicality, to get in our heads."
            After Egbo hit a pair of free throws for her only points to start the third-quarter scoring, the guards took over the rest of the way. Three-pointers by Andrews, Asberry and Lewis keyed a 21-6 run by the Bears that gave them a 44-34 lead going into the fourth quarter.
            "It really all started with J-Lew," Collen said of Lewis, who added six assists and two steals. "Jordan really got us going in transition. And then, all of a sudden, they were all playing faster."
            The outside game helped the 6-4 Smith get back on track, as she scored nine of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter and helped Baylor stretch out the lead to as many as 26 points. Bickle hit a fourth-quarter trey and finished with eight points and six boards off the bench, while Egbo was 0-for-9 from the field but grabbed eight rebounds to help Baylor dominate the boards, 41-32.
            Anna DeWolfe was Fordham's only other double-figure scorer with 10 points, hitting just 4-of-15 from the floor. The Bears also forced 20 turnovers and outscored the Rams, 24-14, in the paint.
            In a quick turnaround, Baylor will face Arizona State (2-3) at 10 a.m. CST Friday. Sophomore guard Jaddan Simmons scored a game-high 16 points in the Sun Devils' 68-60 loss to Houston in the second game of the Cancun Challenge.
            "If we thought we got pressured in the second quarter (against Fordham), that's about to go up by about 100 against Arizona State," Collen said. "So, that was good for us. We took on that challenge, we got better in the second half, and now we've got to be better from the tip against Arizona State, because I can promise you, they're going to be just as physical and more so."