No. 5/6 WBB Coasts to Sweet 16 with 90-48 Win vs. Virginia Tech

Tuesday, March 23

San Antonio, Texas

6 p.m.

Baylor

Virginia Tech

No. 5/6 WBB Coasts to Sweet 16 with 90-48 Win vs. Virginia Tech

3/23/2021 8:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score WBB_29_Va Tech

Ursin, Carrington score 21; Lady Bears advance to 12th-consecutive Sweet 16

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            SAN ANTONIO – After Tuesday's second-round NCAA Tournament game at Greehey Arena, the Naismith folks might want to recount the ballots for the Lisa Leslie Award.
            A finalist last year for the award that honors the nation's top center, Queen Egbo didn't make the cut this year. But, in a matchup against one of this year's finalists, the 6-3 Baylor junior had 12 points, 13 rebounds, seven blocks and three steals in leading the second-seeded Lady Bears to a 90-48 blowout of seventh-seeded Virginia Tech and into their 12^th-consecutive Sweet 16.
            "Queen Egbo was a beast out there today, and she's been doing that," said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, whose team improved to 27-2 with its 19^th-straight win. "The job that Queen did on (Virginia Tech center Elizabeth) Kitley, but she's been doing that. . . . Not that she cares, but every now and then people need to recognize what that kid does and what she did today."
            The one-on-one post matchup between Egbo and the 6-5 Kitley wasn't even close. A first-team All-ACC pick and one of five finalists for the Lisa Leslie Award, Kitley was just 2-of-12 from the floor and finished with six points, six rebounds and two turnovers.
            "You didn't see us double a whole heck of a lot to help Queen," Mulkey said. "Scouting her, she'll pick you apart if you go down there and double. So, Queen somewhat was on an island by herself. And when she does those things, it allows DiDi (Richards) and it allows your perimeter players to gamble a little bit. When you can defend like that and you don't need our help, it's impressive."
            Not that Egbo had to do it all by herself.
            Senior guards Moon Ursin and DiJonai Carrington scored 21 points apiece, junior All-American NaLyssa Smith chipped in with 15 points, four rebounds and four blocks and Richards had nine assists and zero turnovers in 35 minutes.
            "I've been doing this for 36 years, and that was as impressive a performance defensively from start to finish that I've ever been a part of," Mulkey said. "I hate to even say that, because sometimes we forget as coaches, but good golly, our kids were ready to play defensively."
            After winning its first two games by 91 points – the 42-point margin was the biggest in program history for a second-round game – Baylor advances to the River Walk Region semifinals and will face sixth-seeded Michigan (16-5). The Wolverines upset third-seeded Tennessee, 70-55, behind a 23-point outing from Leigha Brown.
            "Certainly, we're going to celebrate, the excitement of how well we played today," Mulkey said. "We'll give them tomorrow off. When you play that hard and you play two games in three days, you need to be very careful how much you do."
            They need a day off after a physical game that saw Richards, Ursin, Smith and Carrington all hit the floor with hard falls.
            "It's March. Everybody knows you win or you go home," said Carrington, who was 7-of-15 from the floor, adding eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. "Everyone's playing with everything on the line, and sometimes that's going to happen. I don't think it was malicious on either team's end. You've just got to get up and keep battling."
            With Ursin knocking down jer first three shots and scoring eight points in the first six minutes, Baylor got out to a 13-6 lead. Smith picked up her second foul and went to the bench at the 2:49 mark in the first quarter, but the Lady Bears were able to stretch the lead out to 17-9 by the end of the period and closed the half on a 17-6 run to go up 44-20.
            Carrington and Caitlin Bickle both nailed 3-pointers in the closing run, and then freshman center Hannah Gusters scored just before the half on an offensive rebound and putback.
            "Obviously, NaLyssa is a huge asset to our team, and I don't think by any means we're better without her," said Carrington, who scored 13 of her 21 points in the first half. "But, when she went off the court, we knew we had to step up. The game's not going to stop just because somebody goes out."
            But, it all started with Egbo on the defensive end. She had four blocks in the first quarter alone, including swatting away all three of Kitley's shots.
            "Everybody knows NaLyssa Smith is our All-American," Mulkey said. "But, our team is not just NaLyssa Smith. Through the years, our team has never been just one payer. We have to understand that this game is not about any one individual. And I thought (Smith) ddid fine when she got in there in the second half, and she was our biggest cheerleader on the sidelines when she wasn't in there. It's depth."
            Smith came back in the second half and hit 6-of-10 shots to finish with 15 points, giving the Lady Bears their fourth double-figure scorer. Baylor dominated the boards, 53-23, finished with 26 second-chance points and outscored Virginia Tech, 46-4, on points in the paint.
            When Smith went to the bench with about 2 ½ minutes left in the first quarter, Caitlin Bickle came off the bench to knock down a pair of 3-pointers to help the Lady Bears stretch the lead.
            "Every single night, we know that all five players on the court have to help us rebound, and that's what really gets us going," Carrington said. "When we can hold a team to one shot and get running on the opposite end, it's really hard for teams to guard us. . . . Queen was just a menace on defense. She didn't give them anything that they wanted."
            While Baylor is making its 12^th-consecutive and 15^th overall trip to the Sweet 16, this will be Michigan's first. The region semifinal will be either Saturday or Sunday at the Alamodome, with times, dates and TV selections announced at the end of Wednesday's second-round games.
            Michigan's coaching staff includes Toyelle Wilson, a Baylor assistant from 2013-19 and a former head coach at Prairie View A&M. Wilson was on the Lady Bear staff in 2018 when Baylor defeated the Wolverines, 80-58, in a second-round game at the Ferrell Center.