No. 18 WBB Posts 66-Point Win over Tigers

Thursday, December 15

Waco, Texas

11 a.m.

Baylor

8-2,0-0Big 12

Tennessee State

4-6,0-0OVC

Tennessee St.

Baylor

No. 18 WBB Posts 66-Point Win over Tigers

12/15/2022 1:13:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Even though she was averaging close to a double-double through the first nine games of her collegiate career, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs hasn't looked like the player that Baylor coach Nicki Collen expected to see.
            The highly touted freshman forward was shooting just 38% from the field and missing point-blank shots at the rim.
            In Thursday's matinee game at the Ferrell Center, the Future Bears Day crowd of 8,700 all got to see the Darianna Littlepage-Buggs that Collen's been waiting to see. Topping her previous scoring high in the first half, she recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 30 points and 11 rebounds to propel the 18^th-ranked Bears (8-2) to a 93-27 blowout of Tennessee State (4-6).
            "It's just really good to see her have the ball go through the net," Collen said of Buggs, who shot 72% (13-of-18) in outscoring the visiting Tigers all by herself, 30-27. "I think that was really important for her."
            The reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Week, Littlepage-Buggs scored 18 points in the first half, topping her previous high of 16 versus Maryland. She became the first Division I player to outscore a Division I opponent by herself this season and the first Big 12 freshman to do that since Baylor's Brittney Griner in 2009-10.
            "It felt really good. Honestly, I didn't know I had that much," she said. "I know I got to 20, but after that it didn't really feel like I got to 30. . . . I'm cheesing (smiling) right now, so I'm really excited."
            Tennessee State, playing its first Power 5 opponent this season, scored in single digits in each of the last three quarters and scored a combined eight points in the second half. The Tigers hit just 3-of-25 from the field and 0-for-12 from 3-point range in the last two quarters of the 66-point blowout loss.
            They did manage to pull within one of Littlepage-Buggs, 26-25, on a second-chance jumper by Kianni Westbrook with 3:04 left in the game. But, the freshman forward hit layups on back-to-back possessions, offsetting Ashley Malone's last bucket of the game.
            "I contemplated putting her back into the game," Collen said. "I wasn't trying to get her 30. She had a double-double at that point. . . . But, it just happened on two simple plays, two layups. It wasn't like she was forcing it and taking shots out of rhythm. But, happy for her."
            Baylor also welcomed back senior forward Aijha Blackwell, who missed the previous six games with a lower leg injury. Playing just 10 minutes, all in the first half, Blackwell had 11 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
            "I don't even know how to explain it," Blackwell said. "It was frustrating, for sure, but my teammates and my coaches were very supportive. So, I didn't really feel isolated from the team or anything like that. It was frustrating, because I've never had an injury like this, but it feels really good to be back."
            Buggs scored 10 points in the second quarter, when the Bears extended a 14-point first-quarter lead to 45-19 at the half.
            Ja'Mee Asberry added a season-high 16 points, knocking down 2-of-3 from outside the arc, while freshman Bella Fontleroy scored eight of her 12 points in the fourth quarter. Fontleroy, who has already earned two Freshman of the Week honors, scored in double digits for the sixth-consecutive game.
            Blackwell, a transfer from Missouri who considers herself a mom to the younger players, calls it a "proud moment" when she sees the freshmen contribute the way they have.
            "I've been through the trenches and all that, so I see how capable they are and what they have," Blackwell said. "They probably don't even know how much they have in them. I see it, and I'm just very proud that they displayed it on the floor today."
            Coming off the two most-lopsided games in the Collen era, the Bears will face No. 20/17 Arizona (8-1) in the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The No. 11 Baylor men (7-2) return from an extended break to face Washington State (4-5) in the late game at 9 p.m.

NOTABLES

The No. 18 Baylor Bears posted an impressive 93-27 win over Tennessee State inside the Ferrell Center on Thursday.
The 66-point victory marked the largest margin of win in the Nicki Collen era and second largest since topping McNeese by 93 in 2020.
The 90-point outpouring marked the second-straight game the Bears recorded 90-or-more, powering past UT Arlington last week, 91-36.
Freshman Darianna Littlepage-Buggs led the way for the Bears with a 30-point, 11-rebound performance for her fourth-career double-double.
Littlepage-Buggs became the first Division I player to outscore a Division I opponent by herself this season, and only the fourth in the Big 12 to do so since 1999-00.
The reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Week is the first Big 12 and Baylor freshman to outscore an opponent by herself since Brittney Griner in 2009-10.
In her first appearance back from injury, senior Aijha Blackwell added 11 points off the bench and grabbed seven rebounds in just 10 minutes of action.
Everyone who was available for the Bears saw the floor, as senior Jaden Owens logged a team-high 28 points. She led the team in assists for the eighth time this season, dishing out six along with junior Sarah Andrews.
Graduate Ja'Mee Asberry recorded a season-high 16 points, going 2-for-3 from behind the arc and a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
Rookie Bella Fontleroy added 12 points off the bench for the Bears, marking the sixth-straight contest she has reached double figures.