No. 5 WBB Escapes Mizzou, 70-68

Saturday, December 4

Waco, Texas

7 PM

Baylor

8-1,0-0Big 12

Missouri

8-1,0-0SEC

Missouri

Baylor

No. 5 WBB Escapes Mizzou, 70-68

12/4/2021 9:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Bears win tough contest with Tigers at home behind NaLyssa Smith

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Missing a chance to "put a dagger in them," the fifth-ranked Baylor women missed 10 free throws in the second half alone and had to come up with two defensive stops in the last 20 seconds to hold on for a 70-68 win over Missouri Saturday night at the Ferrell Center.
            Reigning Big 12 Player of the Week NaLyssa Smith recorded her eighth-straight double-double with 25 points and 17 rebounds as the Bears (8-1) won their fifth in a row and handed Missouri (8-1) its first loss in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
            But, it was the free throws that nearly did in Baylor and gave the Tigers a chance to pull off the upset.
            "We've got a chance to put a dagger in them," first-year Baylor head coach Nicki Collen said. "We've got to go to the line and make those foul shots. And it's not like there's anybody on our team that isn't capable of making 70, 80% of their foul shots. That was the most frustrating thing for me as a coach is putting them in situations where they get free throws, and then not taking advantage of them."
            Smith hit all five of her shots in the second quarter and nearly matched Missouri with 10 points, taking a seemingly comfortable 36-27 lead going into the locker room.
            "If you're coming into a game undefeated, you're playing at an all-time high," said Smith, who was 9-of-13 from the floor and 7-of-10 from the line. "When they did come in, I expected every single thing. We watched their scout, we knew they could shoot, we knew they could drive. They played their best game, and we just come out with the win."
            Missouri, which started only one player taller than 6-foot, had a hard time containing the 6-4 Smith.
            "NaLyssa is just such a powerful player, and is surrounded by some tremendous players," said Missouri coach Robin Pingeton, whose team is off to its best start in six years.
            After "probably one of our roughest halves of basketball," Pingeton said, the Tigers whittled a nine-point halftime deficit down to just one, 56-55, on a Haley Troup 3-pointer. Troup, who had 16 points and six assists, then gave Missouri its first lead of the game, 60-57, on another trey with 7:11 left in the game.
            With the Tigers held scoreless over nearly five minutes, Smith got the lead back with a three-point play and sparked a 12-0 run that put Baylor on top, 69-60, with three minutes left in the game. Sarah Andrews scored half of her 10 points in a two-minute stretch with a 3-pointer and mid-range jumper to quickly make it a three-score game, 69-60.
            "I feel like we feed off of just seeing each other make the baskets see the ball go in," Smith said. "Anytime that we do score, it's like high energy. So, I knew we needed a possession where we get a shot. That's how energy came from."
            Caitlin Bickle and Andrews scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Aijha Blackwell had 20 points and 16 boards for Missouri before fouling out late in the game.
             Outrebounded by the smaller Tigers, 38-35, Baylor missed four free throws down the stretch and was just 18-of-32 for the game.
            After Haley Troup nailed a 3-pointer to give Missouri its first lead of the game, 60-57, with 7:11 left, the Bears reeled off 12-straight points in a run that included a 3-pointer and jumper by Andrews.
            Baylor will finish out a busy stretch with an 11 a.m. game against Alcorn State on Wednesday, then take off 11 days before facing Michigan in the Naismith Women's Challenge on Dec. 19 in Uncasville, Conn.