No. 7/9 WBB Shuts Down Texas In 60-35 Victory

Sunday, February 14

Waco, Texas

4 p.m.

Baylor

16-2,11-1Big 12

Texas

14-6,8-5Big 12

Texas

Baylor

No. 7/9 WBB Shuts Down Texas In 60-35 Victory

2/14/2021 6:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score WBB_18_UT

Fewest points allowed by Lady Bears in a Big 12 game since 2019, also against Longhorns

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Charli Collier has the numbers, but NaLyssa Smith has the rings.
            In a matchup of two of the Big 12's top Player of the Year candidates, Smith had 14 points and eight rebounds while holding the 6-5 Collier to a season-low two points as the No. 7 Baylor Lady Bears took another step toward their 11^th-consecutive Big 12 title with a dominant 60-35 win over the Texas Longhorns Sunday afternoon at the Ferrell Center.
            "NaLyssa Smith was the preseason player of the year, and my mind hasn't changed," said coach Kim Mulkey, whose team improved to 16-2 overall and atop the league standings at 11-1. "I'm so tired of people voting for players of the year based on stats. How about looking at a winner. How about looking a kid that does whatever it takes to win championships."
            The 6-2 Smith already has a combined three Big 12 titles (two regular-season, one tournament), along with the 2019 national championship when she was a freshman.
            At 6-3, Queen Egbo seemed the more likely matchup against Collier, who came in averaging 22.3 points and 12.8 rebounds per game. But, with Smith denying in the post area and not letting her breathe, Collier had more turnovers (3) than points (2) and fouled out with 1:49 left in the game.
            "That's what she does," said Moon Ursin, who had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. "We were there if she needed help, but she can hold her own. NaLyssa Smith is NaLyssa Smith. She's a great defensive player as well."
            Baylor's suffocating defense held Texas to single digits in the first three quarters and a season-low 35 points, matching the fewest the Longhorns (14-6, 8-5) have ever scored in this series. Two years ago, during Smith's freshman campaign, the Lady Bears cruised to a 64-35 win in Waco.
            "I thought our defense was outstanding, not just on Collier but on their other players," Mulkey said. "We hit a stretch there where we couldn't score. It was not a game that you're watching on TV and go, 'Whoah, man, that's entertaining!' You've got to really love basketball to watch some defensive things that were done today."
            After hitting its first three shots and jumping out to a quick 6-2 lead, Baylor missed its last eight from the field and limped into the second period up by just four, 12-8.
            Led by DiDi Richards' floor game and DiJonai Carrington's outside bombs, the Lady Bears found a better offensive rhythm in the second quarter, hitting 7-of-10 shots and outscoring the Longhorns, 21-9, to take a comfortable 33-17 lead into the break.
            Richards got two of her game-high 10 assists on back-to-back possessions, finding Carrington on the left wing for 3-pointers that stretched the lead to 25-11. Carrington had 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks before fouling out early in the fourth quarter.
            "DiDi's a competitor," Mulkey said of Richards, who had her fourth double-digit assist game of the season and moved up to fourth on Baylor's all-time list with 496 assists. "DiDi will do whatever is in the best interest of her team. And she's just handled the point guard position beautifully. . . . Ten assists to three turnovers, playing 37 ½ minutes, that's outstanding."
            The third quarter was particularly painful from the offensive end, with the two teams combining for 14 points and shooting 5-of-27 from the floor.
            "In that situation, you just stick with what works. And for us, that's defense," Ursin said. "We were all over them., we were very active, had our hands up, taking charges and stuff like that. When you're doing that, it creates an energy when you're not scoring the ball, but they weren't scoring, either."
            Grabbing double-digit rebounds for the third time in the last four games, Egbo had her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds. In the fourth quarter, she was 3-for-4 from the floor and scored seven points.
            "Queen was just a warrior," Mulkey said. "If Queen plays like that every night, just rebound and putbacks, defending, we can take it to another level when Queen can dominate like that."
            One of the keys for Egbo over the last stretch has been staying out of foul trouble, committing three or fewer in each of the last four games.
            "I want to stay in the game as long as possible, but I also want to be aggressive and get offensive rebounds," Egbo said. "I had to watch a lot of film with my coaches and think about what I'm doing and why I'm picking up my fouls. I hope to continue this way and be aggressive and be able to hold the big girls and rebound with the big girls. That's what I was able to do tonight."
            Celeste Taylor scored 11 points for the Longhorns, who shot just 25 percent overall from the floor and 1-of-12 from 3-point range. The Lady Bears also dominated on the boards, 51-31, limiting Collier to just one offensive rebound and five total.
            Finishing off a two-game home stand, Baylor will host No. 19/21 West Virginia (16-3, 10-3) at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Mountaineers lost the first meeting, 65-45, back on Dec. 10 in Morgantown, but reeled off 11-straight wins before Saturday's 72-71 loss to Oklahoma.

-BaylorBears.com-