By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
ESTERO, Fla. – One day after going off for a career-high 17 points in a 75-70 win over 23
rd-ranked Villanova,
Jaden Owens outdid herself by hitting nine of her first 10 shots and pumping in 22 points in Sunday's championship final of the Gulf Coast Showcase.
But, with No. 21 Baylor (5-2) missing its last five shots and turning it over three times in the last 2 ½ minutes, 22
nd-ranked Michigan (7-0) got a go-ahead 3-pointer from Laila Phelia with 48.5 seconds left and closed on an 11-0 run to pull out an 84-75 win.
"I thought Jaden's pace offensively, the downhill pressure that she put on, I thought she finished well attacking the basket," said Baylor coach
Nicki Collen, whose team had bookend losses to Big Ten teams, losing to then-No. 19 Maryland, 73-68, last Sunday. "As she continues to be a good decision-maker outside of scoring, I think she can truly be someone who creates shots, not just for herself but for her teammates."
This was the third down-to-the-wire game between the two teams in the last 20 months, with Baylor pulling out a 78-75 overtime win in a Sweet 16 matchup in March 2021 and the Wolverines returning the favor with a 74-68 OT win in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's showcase last December in Uncasville, Conn.
The Bears looked like they might blow this one out, hitting 10 of their first 13 shots and jumping out to a 24-15 lead behind a 10-point first quarter by Owens.
But with Emily Kiser scoring 13 of her game-high 26 points in the second quarter, Michigan took its first lead of the game, 31-29, on a layup by Cameron Williams with 3:29 left in the half and was up 37-35 at the break. Freshman
Bella Fontleroy hit three first-half 3-pointers and scored 11 of her 14 points in the first two quarters.
After falling behind by as many as six in the third quarter, Baylor got big buckets from
Catarina Ferreira and
Ja'Mee Asberry and got it back to a two-point game, 59-57, going into the fourth.
"We had some good minutes from Catarina tonight," Collen said of Ferreira, who had three points and five rebounds in 11 minutes off the bench. "I thought Ja'Mee these last three games has been really good shooting the basketball, taking care of the basketball, making simple plays, really defending. I think she's been really, really good."
There were five lead changes in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, with Fontleroy nailing a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put Baylor back on top, 65-63, with 7:15 left in the game.
In a pivotal 12-second stretch, Michigan's Leigha Brown picked up her fourth foul going for an offensive rebound but then took a charge on the other end when
Caitlin Bickle was called for her fourth foul. The senior forward was then hit with a technical when she argued the call and fouled out with 6:46 left, finishing with 12 points and seven boards and a plus-minus rating of plus-8.
Maddie Nolan hit one of the two technical free throws, but the Bears responded with a 5-0 run that included a free throw and back-to-back driving layups by Owens that pushed Baylor's lead to 70-64 with 4 ½ minutes remaining.
After seven unanswered points by the Wolverines, the Bears took late leads on a
Sarah Andrews 3-pointer and a floater by Asberry to make it 75-73. Down the stretch, though, Michigan scored three second-chance buckets and iced the game with free throws.
While Baylor shot a sizzling 55% for the game (31-of-56) and knocked down 10 3-pointers (10-of-26), Michigan made up for it with 22 second-chance points on 14 offensive boards and 23 points off the Bears' 22 turnovers.
Asberry finished with 15 points and six assists, giving Baylor its fourth double-figure scorer. While Kizer had a monster double-double with 26 points and 13 rebounds, the Wolverines also got double-digit scoring from Phelia (20), Nolan (12), Brown (11) and Williams (10).
"I think our freshmen are growing up," Collen said of Fontleroy and
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs. "Buggs struggled to put the ball in the basket this tournament, but continues to get better and to battle. Bella had big moments, especially the first half tonight and big shots in the first half against Villanova last night. Hoping we get Aijha (Blackwell) back and (
Dre'Una Edwards), eventually. I think it will make us deeper and better as we had into Big 12 play in a month."
On the tournament's final day, No. 23 Villanova routed South Florida, 72-50, for third place; Georgia Tech got by Belmont in the consolation final, 58-52; and the Saint Louis Billikens ended a six-game slide with a 72-58 win over Air Force in the seventh-place game.
After playing three games in three days, Baylor is off now until hosting Houston Christian (3-2) at 2 p.m. next Sunday, Dec. 4. The Bears will be home for five of their six December games, the lone exception being a short drive up I-35 to face No. 15/14 Arizona (6-0) on Dec. 18 in the first game of a Big 12/Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge doubleheader at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
NOTABLES
- BU made its second-ever appearance in the Gulf Coast Showcase championship game Sunday night, falling to Michigan, 84-75.
- The Bears were one of four programs in the 2022 tournament making their second appearance in the ninth running of the event.
- Senior Jaden Owens was named to the all-tournament team.
- Owens notched a career-high in scoring in Saturday night's win over No. 23 Villanova, before breaking it with a 22-point performance against the Wolverines.
- On the weekend, Owens averaged 16.7 points and shot 60.6% from the floor.
- Graduate Ja'Mee Asberry finished with a season-high 15 points, going 3-for-5 from 3-point range, while dishing out a team-high six assists.
- Freshman Bella Fontleroy knocked in a career-best four 3-point field goals and 14 total points and finished alongside Caitlin Bickle with a team-high seven rebounds. Bickle was the fourth Bear to reach double-figure scoring, finishing with 12 points.