WBB Holds off SMU to Move to 3-0

Tuesday, November 15

Waco, Texas

7 p.m.

Baylor

SMU

WBB Holds off SMU to Move to 3-0

11/15/2022 9:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Nicki Collen would like nothing better than to win every game by 25 points, but Tuesday's down-to-the-wire battle with former Southwest Conference rival SMU is exactly the kind of chess match that Baylor's second-year head coach absolutely loves.
            Despite building 13-point leads in the third and fourth quarters, the Bears couldn't shake an upset-minded SMU team coached by former Baylor assistant coach Toyelle Wilson.
            But, with the game on the line, freshman Bella Fontleroy drained a corner 3-pointer with 1:07 left that helped the 17^th-ranked Bears (3-0) hold on for a 58-55 win over the Mustangs (1-2) Tuesday night before a Ferrell Center crowd of 3,839.
            "Winning by 25 is fun, but I love a good chess match," Collen said. "I'd prefer to not have been in one tonight, but you see who's not afraid in those moments. Maybe Bella is so young, she doesn't know she shouldn't take that 3 in the corner late. I'm just glad she did and made it."
            Scoreless for almost 38 minutes, Fontleroy got loose for a backdoor layup off an inbounds pass from Jaden Owens for Baylor's first field goal in 6 ½ minutes and stopping SMU's 13-1 run to push the Bears' lead to 53-50.
            And then, when the Mustangs' Jasmine Smith hit a 3-pointer from the wing, Fontleroy took a pass from Owens and calmly sank a corner trey that made it a two-score game, 58-53, with a little over a minute left in the game.
            "Oh my gosh, you don't understand," said Fontleroy, the reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Year after averaging 14 points in last week's wins over Lamar and Incarnate Word. "We practice shots like that all the time – that one more (pass) on the baseline drift. And I said, 'I have to knock this down. I have to make this shot, and we have to get a defensive stop.' It felt really, really good."
            Even on a night when the shots weren't falling – the Bears shot 32.4% overall (22-of-68) and just 7-of-25 (28.0%) from 3-point range – Baylor was on the brink of turning this into a blowout. But each time, the Mustangs answered.
            "One thing, our girls, we believe in what we're doing here at SMU and we believe in each other," said Wilson, an assistant coach on Baylor's 2019 national championship who led the Mustangs to a WNIT berth in her debut season last year. "I'm just proud of how our girls fought, competed, executed."
            With Ja'Mee Asberry knocking down three of her first four shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, the Bears went on an 8-0 run and led 20-11 after the first quarter. With Baylor missing eight of its first nine shots in the second quarter, SMU got back within one before a closing 8-2 run gave the Bears a seven-point cushion at the break, 30-23.
            "(Freshman Darianna Littlepage-Buggs) got open shots all night long from 15 feet and couldn't," Collen said. "It was painful. We had 12 turnovers, and it felt like 47 because some of our shots looked like turnovers."
            Pushing the lead back to double digits, Baylor scored six unanswered points on buckets by Illinois transfer Erika Porter and Sarah Andrews and a hook shot in the lane by sophomore post Kendra Gillispie. But, the Mustangs got the momentum back when Savannah Wilkerson knocked down a step-back jumper to make it 45-34 going into the fourth.
            Catarina Ferreira hit a 3-pointer and layup in the first minute and a half of the final e period as the Bears matched their largest lead of the game, 50-37. Answering with a 13-1 run over a stretch of five and a half minutes, SMU got a second-chance jumper by Reagan Bradley that made it a one-point game, 51-50, with 3:24 left.
            "This is what you live for," said Sarah Andrews, who hit two late free throws and finished with a team-high 13 points. "This is what you work on each and every day. The blood, the sweat, the tears, you pray for games like this, but these are fun games to. You don't want them all like that, bu play in."
Freshman Darianna Littlepage-Buggs made just 1-of-9 from the field and scored two points, but she grabbed 14 rebounds to help the Bears win the battle of the boards, 49-42.
            Chantae Embry had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Mustangs. Smith (12), Reagan Bradley (11) and Savannah Wilkerson (10) also scored in double figures for SMU, which is coached by former Baylor assistant Toyelle Wilson.
            The Bears wrap up a four-game home stand with a matchup against 19^th-ranked Maryland (2-1) at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Ferrell Center.



NOTABLES

Baylor moved to 3-0 on the year, and 18-2 at the Ferrell Center in the Nicki Collen era, with the 58-55 victory over SMU on Tuesday night.
The Bears broke a 13-game losing skid to the Mustangs in their first meeting since the 1995-96 season and just the third game ever played between the two in the Ferrell Center.
The last time Baylor won by less than 10 points was against Kansas, 85-77, at home on Feb. 26, 2022. The last time a Bears' contest was decided by less than five points was against Oklahoma on Feb. 2, 2022, when BU suffered the 78-77 setback.
BU has outrebounded its opponents in 190 of the last 202 games.
Freshman Darianna Littlepage-Buggs finished with a career- and game-high 14 rebounds, including 12 defensive boards and 10 rebounds in the first half.
Littlepage-Buggs became the first Bear to secure 14 boards in a game since Queen Egbo grabbed the same amount in last year's loss to South Dakota (3/20/22).
Sophomore Kendra Gillispie bested her career mark in total points (9) matching a career-high 22 minutes played.
Junior Sarah Andrews reached double-figure scoring for the 21st time in her career, finishing with a team-high 13 points.
Senior Jaden Owens continued to dish it out, recording a game-high seven assists to bring her to season total to 23.
For the second time in three games, Baylor's bench outscored its opponents, 25-6, led by Gillispie's nine points. Catarina Ferreira and Bella Fontleroy each tallied five points, while Fontleroy grabbed the second-most rebounds (7).