No. 8/8 WBB Handles Kansas 83-50

Thursday, February 4

Waco, Texas

7 p.m.

Baylor

Kansas

No. 8/8 WBB Handles Kansas 83-50

2/4/2021 9:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score WBB_15_KU

Balanced offense leads Lady Bears to fifth-straight win

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Keeping Baylor post players NaLyssa Smith, Queen Egbo and Caitlin Bickle off the boards is hard enough. When guards Moon Ursin and DiJonai Carrington crash the glass, it's almost unfair.
            Kansas never had a chance.
            Dominating the boards on both ends of the floor, the eighth-ranked Lady Bears used a 21-1 edge in second-chance points and Smith's seventh double-double in the last eight games to blow out Kansas, 83-50, Thursday night at the Ferrell Center.
            "First of all, acknowledge that they're really crashing the offensive boards," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said of the Lady Bears' 26-4 edge in offensive rebounds anf 56-25 overall. "We've programmed them in the last week or two: offensive rebounds, offensive rebounds, offensive rebounds. (Smith, Egbo and Ursin) can get up and rebound with anybody. When you add Carrington to the mix . . . it gives us a chance to be a very good basketball team."
            Following up on her career-high 15 rebounds in Saturday's 85-77 road win at Iowa State, the 5-6 Ursin had 11 points and nine rebounds, including six on the offensive end. Smith had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Egbo added nine points and 11 boards and Carrington had 17 and seven in her second game back after missing four games because of COVID issues.
            "Everybody competes in practice," Smith said. "(Mulkey) stresses all the time, we need to rebound on the offensive end. So yeah, it is a competition to see who can get the most."
            Kansas coach Brandon Schneider, whose team dropped its seventh in the last eight games in falling to 6-9 overall and 2-7 in conference, said the Lady Bears (13-2, 8-1) can "play in space and areas that we just can't get to."
            "They are one of the top rebounding teams in the country, always have been," he said. "When you're giving up the size and an athletic advantage like that, and it's something they're extremely good at, even their guards . . . Moon Ursin, for example, is an elite rebounder. We just lost too many of those individual battles."
            Hitting eight of its first 10 shots, Baylor jumped out to a 16-6 lead in the first five minutes, with Smith and Egbo combining for 10 points. The Jayhawks didn't go away, though, outscoring the Lady Bears, 20-17, in the second quarter and going into the break within striking distance at 38-28.
            "We knew going in that Kansas wasn't going to look at the scoreboard and quit playing," Mulkey said. "We got a 15-point lead and didn't extend it. I, as a coach, can accept some of that, because I subbed a lot early. I know that we didn't finish the half as we need to, to be a really good basketball team."
            Holly Kersgieter scored nine of her game-high 21 points in the second quarter, hitting her only 3-point attempt and 4-of-6 overall in the period.
            The difference in the game was an 18-4 run by the Lady Bears to start the second half. After hitting one of two free throws to start the run, Egbo got a steal and led a fast-break opportunity, dishing to a trailing Smith for a layup.
            "We're really point guards," said Smith, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds. "We do it all the time in practice. That's just (your) first time seeing it. We do it all the time in practice. But, it's fun when (Egbo) gets to do that."
            Carrington hit a 3-pointer and added a three-point play in the run, then Bickle helped finish it off with assists to Ursin and Smith to help Baylor push the lead to 56-32.
            "Cait's a great passer," Smith said of Bickle, who had nine points, six rebounds and three assists. "I wish we could have her on the guard end a lot more, but she's better at scoring the ball inside. We do it a lot in practice, we do little things like me posting and giving her a target to pass the ball to. It's exciting when she can do things like that."
            Bickle also pulled the trigger on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that gave Baylor a 63-38 lead after three quarters.
            Baylor's bench scored 13 of the team's 20 fourth-quarter points and finished the game with a 34-12 edge on the Kansas reserves.
            The Jayhawks had no answers for Smith and her vast array of offensive weapons. If she wasn't posting up and taking the ball to the rim, the 6-2 junior forward was knocking down mid-range jumpers.
            During a COVID quarantine, "I worked a lot on perimeter shots and just ball-handling and little things like that to expand my game," Smith said. "When you can bring a lot more to the table, you're going to be harder to guard."
            The Lady Bears go on the road for their next two, facing Kansas State (5-10, 0-8) at 1 p.m. Sunday in Manhattan and Texas Tech (9-9, 4-8) at 6 p.m. next Wednesday in Lubbock.

-BaylorBears.com-