By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            After three-straight blowout wins at home, the 18^th-ranked Baylor women (8-2) will be tested in Sunday's 6:30 p.m. matchup against No. 20/17 Arizona (8-1) in the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
            "It's going to be a big stage, top-25 matchup," senior forward Aijha Blackwell said. "We've just got to come and play Baylor basketball. I just know (Arizona coach Adia Barnes) and the way she plays is very tough. We've got to come with our intensity and take over the game."
            This is Baylor's fourth top-25 matchup after beating Villanova sandwiched between close losses to Maryland and Michigan. Baylor-Arizona is the third game in a quadruple-header, starting with the seventh-ranked Texas men versus Stanford at 12 p.m. and the Texas women vs. USC at 2:30 p.m., and ending with the No. 11 Baylor men taking on Washington State at 9 p.m.
            "I think just the idea of both Texas teams and Baylor playing in there and making it a day, hopefully it will be an incredible atmosphere," Baylor coach Nicki Collen said. "I think it's something you don't want to miss – Arizona, two top-25 teams. And then, it'll be great to stay and watch our men play as well and get to mix and mingle, hopefully after a (win)."
            The Bears are coming off a 93-27 blowout win at home over Tennessee State, with freshman Darianna Littlepage-Buggs recording her fourth double-double and outscoring the Tigers with 30 points and 11 rebounds.
            "I wasn't the best at it at first," Littlepage-Buggs said of her mid-range game, "but my coaches have been telling me, 'Let's work on this, let's get shots up,' and telling me what I need to fix on it and just lifting me up. I think I've been taking that and shooting and stuff and just implementing it in the game."
            Baylor is the only women's team in the country with seven players averaging double-digit points, led by Blackwell and junior guard Sarah Andrews with 13.3 per game. Littlepage-Buggs bumped up her averages to 10.4 points and 9.3 rebounds, with Caitlin Bickle (11.3), Bella Fontleroy (10.9), Jaden Owens (10.5) and Ja'Mee Asberry (10.1) also averaging double figures.
            "It's just really good to see her have the ball go through the net," Collen said of Buggs, who was 13-of-18 from the floor. "If you had asked me what's Buggs good at coming here to Baylor, I would have told you elbow jumpers, especially if she can get into a rhythm off one bounce, short-corner jumpers, and then just scoring around the rim, being a utility Swiss-Army-knife type kid."
            Arizona is two years removed from its first trip to the Final Four, when the Wildcats lost to Stanford, 54-53, in the national championship game. But, 6-2 fifth-year senior forward Cate Reese (12.1 ppg, 6.6 rebounds) is the only starter from that team that's still around.
            Barnes reloaded with transfers, adding 6-2 senior forward Esmery Martinez (12.2 ppg, 9.e rebounds) from West Virginia, 5-9 senior guard Lauren Fields from Oklahoma State and 5-11 fifth-year senior Jade Loville (13.0 ppg) from Arizona State. One of just four holdovers from that 2021 NCAA runner-up team after starting her career at Oklahoma, 5-8 guard Shaina Pellington is averaging a team-high 13.6 points.
            "Arizona is really different," Collen said. "Three of their five starters weren't even at Arizona a year ago. . . . I've seen them enough to know that we've got to take care of the basketball. If you give them one shot and you don't turn it over, you've got a really good chance to win. If you're giving them second and third opportunities and giving them points in transition off turnovers, then you're in for a long night."
            Sunday's game will be broadcast on ESPN2, with Pam Ward and Debbie Antonelli calling the action.


DALLAS – The No. 18 Baylor women's basketball team (8-2) will take on its fourth top-25 opponent of the season on Sunday when it faces No. 20 Arizona (8-1) in the second annual Pac-12 US LBM Coast-to-Coast Challenge at American Airlines Center. 
 
Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. and airs nationally on ESPN2. A live radio broadcast on ESPN Central Texas (1660 AM/92.3 FM) is also available for fans, as well as live in-game updates via Twitter or live stats. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
Baylor posted a 93-27 win over Tennessee State inside the Ferrell Center on Thursday afternoon, holding the Tigers to just eight points in the final 20 minutes. The contest marked the second time this season, and second game in a row, that the Bears held their opponent to single digits in three of the four quarters. 
 
BU saw four Bears reach double figures, led by freshman Darianna Littlepage-Buggs' 30-point performance. She added a team- and game-high 11 rebounds for her fourth-career double-double. After missing the last month due to injury, senior Aijha Blackwell added 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench in just 10 minutes of action. 
 
BUGGS MAKES BIG STATEMENT
With her 30-point, 11-rebound outing against Tennessee State, Littlepage-Buggs became the first Division I player in the country to outscore a Division I opponent by herself this season. Additionally, she became just the fourth in the Big 12 to do so since the turn of the century. 
 
With her performance, Littlepage-Buggs became the first Big 12 and Baylor freshman to outscore an opponent by herself since Brittney Griner did so in 2009-10. The reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Week is just the third in the league to notch 30 points in a game this year and she's the only rookie in the country averaging over nine boards a contest (9.3). 
 
BALANCED EFFORT
Nine of the 13 players on BU's roster have posted double figures in at least one contest this year, and five of them have recorded double-digit points in five or more games. Baylor is the only women's team in the country with seven players averaging double figures led by Sarah Andrews and Aijha Blackwell, who are each averaging 13.3 points per contest. Andrews has posted double figures in all but two games this season, while Bella Fontleroy has notched double digits in six-straight games and eight out of 10 in 2022-23. 
 
WINNING BIG
The 66-point margin of win over the Tigers on Thursday was the largest by BU this season and largest in the Nicki Collen era. The 93 points put up by the Bears were the most scored this season behind the 92-point output against Saint Louis (Nov. 25) and 91 outpouring against UT Arlington (Dec. 7). Additionally, it was the sixth time BU reached 90 in a game in the Collen era. The Bears currently rank first in the Big 12 and 10th nationally in scoring margin at 26.0. 
 
SCOUTING ARIZONA
Arizona enters Sunday's contest with an 8-1 overall record, suffering its only loss to Kansas, who jumped into the AP Top 25 Poll after the 77-50 victory over the Wildcats on Dec. 8. The game will be just the second neutral site contest for Arizona this season, as the Wildcats grabbed an 81-63 victory over Cal Baptist on Nov. 25 in San Diego, California. 
 
The Wildcats rank T-10th nationally in scoring, averaging 84.0 points per game and are 12th in the country in scoring margin at 24.8. Arizona is the lone team in the Pac-12 with four players averaging at least 12.0 points per game. Shaina Pellington (13.6), Jade Loville (13.0), Esmery Martinez (12.2) and Cate Reese (12.1) are scoring in double figures.
 
COAST-TO-COAST CHALLENGE SCHEDULE
Session 1
Game 1 - Stanford vs. No. 7 Texas (men) - 12:00 p.m. CT
Game 2 – RV USC vs. RV Texas (women) - approx. 2:30 p.m. CT
 
Session 2
Game 3 – No. 20 Arizona vs. No. 18 Baylor (women) - 6:30 p.m. CT
Game 4 – Washington State vs. No. 11 Baylor (men) - approx. 9 p.m. CT