No. 10 WBB Routs North Texas

Wednesday, December 29

Waco, TX

7 PM

Baylor

10-2,0-0Big 12

North Texas

-64,00 CUSA

North Texas

Baylor

No. 10 WBB Routs North Texas

12/29/2021 9:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Smith Posts 11th-straight Double-Double in 86-65 Win

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Already the national leader in double-doubles, Baylor All-American NaLyssa Smith recorded her 11^th-straight with 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Bears to an 86-65 win over North Texas in their final non-conference game Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center.
            Playing its first game since a 74-68 overtime loss to Michigan in the Dec. 19 Hall of Fame Women's Showcase in Uncasville, Conn., Baylor (10-2) also got a double-double from Queen Egbo (12 points, 11 rebounds) and had three other players score in double figures.
            "(North Texas) hadn't played a Power-5 team with our kind of size," said Baylor coach Nicki Collen, whose team won its 67^th-straight non-conference home game, "so I just knew that they had guards that were going to really attack us and get us in rotations. Just proud, ultimately, of how we got in transition. They really struggled to guard our ball screens. And when we separated, we kind of got anything around the rim we wanted."
            After falling behind 2-0 on an Aly Gamez jumper, the Bears hit eight of nine shots in a stretch that saw them outscore the Mean Green, 19-2, and take a commanding 19-4 lead on a Jordan Lewis bucket with 3:20 left in the first quarter.
            North Texas (6-4) trailed by 13 after the opening period, but whittled it down to a six-point deficit, 37-31, on a 3-pointer by Jazion Jackson.
            "I thought we had a stretch where we went on a run. We were shooting it well in the first half," UNT coach Jalie Mitchell said. "I do think we got some stops in that stretch that we sorely needed. And I think that's what they turned it around and did their transition offense and the pick-and-roll, things we weren't guarding."
            Caitlin Bickle hit back-to-back shots, including one of her career-best three 3-pointers, to help Baylor push the lead back to double digits, 44-33, at the half. Shooting just 17 percent from 3-point range (3-of-18) coming into the game, Bickle was 3-for-4 from outside the arc and matched her career high with 13 points.
            "I think sometimes, all it takes is a little spark to give someone confidence in that situation," Collen said. "(Smith) gave her a great pass late in the Michigan game at the top of the key, and the ball rattled in and out. Sometimes, that's the difference in winning and losing a game is taking and making that shot. Hopefully, this is just the catalyst."
            Collen called Baylor's 6-0 run to start the second half "the difference in the game." UNT missed its first four shots, while the Bears got buckets from Egbo, Lewis and Smith to go up 50-33.
            With a statistics glitch, Smith said she didn't know how many rebounds she had until the end of the game. But, she left at the 6:05 mark in the fourth quarter after grabbing her 10^th and 11^th boards.
            "Even if I looked up, all I saw was the little BU banner," Smith said. "I didn't know how much I had, but the objective is always to rebound in every game."
            Baylor dominated the boards, 48-25, and finished with a 15-5 edge in second-chance points. The Bears also outscored the Mean Green, 19-8, in points off turnovers despite having the same number of turnovers (13).
            Lewis chipped in with 13 points and seven assists, while backcourt mate Sarah Andrews gave the Bears their fifth double-figure scorers with 11 points and four assists. One of three double-figure scorers for UNT, preseason Conference USA Player of the Year Quincy Noble scored 12 of her 18 points in the second half.
            In easily her best game, freshman forward Kendra Gillispie subbed in for Smith at the six-minute mark and finished with six points and three rebounds, hitting both of her shots from the floor and going 2-for-2 from the line.
            Baylor opens Big 12 play with just its second true road game of the season, facing Kansas State (10-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday in Manhattan, Kan. With last week's game against Illinois-Chicago canceled because of COVID issues with the Flames, K-State hasn't played since a 68-56 win over Oregon on Dec. 18.