By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            DALLAS – Through the first 9 ½ minutes of Sunday night's Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge, Baylor and Arizona were in a back-and-forth battle, trading buckets and swapping leads.
            But, a fluke play at the end of the first quarter seemed to turn the game in favor of the 20^th-ranked Wildcats (9-1), who pulled away in the second half for a 75-54 win over the 18th-ranked Bears (8-3) in the third game of the unique showcase event at the American Airlines Center.
            Working for the final shot of the opening period, junior point guard Sarah Andrews slipped near midcourt and lost the ball, with Arizona's Shaina Pellington turning it into an easy layup on the other end and pushing the lead to 19-16.
            "I thought we took care of it until the end of the first quarter when Sarah lost it," said Baylor coach Nicki Collen, whose team fell to 1-3 versus ranked teams this season. "Not a good way to go into the next quarter. But, we actually handled their traps early, got some easy shots, some layups, some open 3's. Didn't make them all, but I thought we handled it until they got out of it. They got out of their blitzing, their trapping."
            At that point, the Bears had only turned it over three times, with the Wildcats turning them into five points. That ballooned to 19 turnovers by the end of the game, with Arizona dominating points off turnovers, 25-2.
            "I really feel like it was just us," said senior guard Jaden Owens, who hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 of her team-high 15 points in the first half. "A lot of our turnovers weren't forced by them. It was simply us making a mistake or trying to make a home-run pass and not staying composed. Yeah, they sped us up a little bit, but me, Sarah, the guards, we adjusted. We just didn't take care of the ball."
            One of the few holdovers from Arizona's 2021 Final Four team, fifth-year senior forward Cate Reese had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Pellington finished with a game-high 18 points and eight assists, while Jade Loville was 4-of-5 from 3-point range and chipped in with 16 points for the Wildcats.
            Arizona built a double-digit lead in the second quarter with a 10-0 run, Loville draining a corner trey to make it 31-19 and forcing Collen to call a timeout. Owens fed Andrews for a 3-pointer in the last minute of the half to make it a 10-point game, and then Caitlin Bickle blocked a driving layup by Pellington.
            But, with a chance to cut the deficit to single digits and have all the momentum going into halftime, freshman Darianna Littlepage-Buggs missed a layup and Pellington hit a bucket that pushed it to 43-31 at intermission.
            "They were tougher than us," Collen said. "It's the first time we've been punched like that. Our other two losses were close. Big environment here, two fifth-year senior post players who were just tougher than us to begin with. They put a lot of veterans out there, whether they were transfers or otherwise. I think that was the difference-maker."
            Andrews had 12 of her 14 points in the second half, giving Baylor its second double-digit scorer, while Bickle had seven points, 11 rebounds, two steals and a block.
            Jaden Owens had 15 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Bears, who fell to 1-3 versus Top-25 teams and 8-3 overall. Sarah Andrews added 14 points and four boards, while Caitlin Bickle had seven points and 11 rebounds.
            Dominated on the boards early, Baylor actually finished with a 41-35 edge and matched the Wildcats in second-chance points, 10-10. Senior forward Aijha Blackwell, in her second game back from a leg injury, sat out the second half after getting two points and two boards in eight minutes in the first half.
            Baylor returns home to finish pre-conference play, hosting Long Beach State (5-4) at 3 p.m. Wednesday. After an extended Christmas break, the Bears will open conference against TCU (5-5) for a New Year's Eve matchup at the Ferrell Center.

NOTABLES

• In the second-ever meeting with Arizona, the Bears fell to the Wildcats, 75-54. 
• The game marked the fourth top-25 matchup of the year for BU, which was the most in an 11-game span since the 2016-17 slate. 
• All three setbacks this season have been to top-25 opponents. 
• The Bears outrebounded the Wildcats, 41-35, marking the 196th time in the last 209 outings that BU has bested its opponent on the boards.
• Junior Sarah Andrews and senior Jaden Owens led the Bears offensively, finishing with 14 and 15 points, respectively. The 14 points by Andrews marked the ninth time this season that the guard has reached double figures. 
• For the ninth time in 2022-23, Owens led the team in assists, finishing with a team- and game-high eight.
• Fifth-year Caitlin Bickle finished a rebound shy of matching a career best in the category, grabbing a team-high 11 boards. She also fell a minute shy of matching a career high, seeing action for 33 minutes. 
• Owens logged a career-high 40 minutes, becoming the first Bear this season to play the full contest.