No. 23 WBB Opens Big 12 Play with TCU Saturday

Saturday, December 31

Waco, Texas

2 p.m.

Baylor

TCU

Tickets

No. 23 WBB Opens Big 12 Play with TCU Saturday

12/30/2022 2:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Baylor Game Notes Buy Tickets

Saturday’s contest tabbed annual Go Gold game at the Ferrell Center

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Even with four teams ranked and six projected to make the NCAA Tournament, Baylor coach Nicki Collen says the Big 12 "is a little underappreciated."
            "I watch a lot of basketball, and I just think our league is a little underappreciated," said Collen, whose No. 22/23 Bears (9-3) open league play with a matchup against TCU (6-5) at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Ferrell Center.
"I know we have four ranked teams, and I know none of them are in the top 10 anymore. But I just think the league is really good, and we want to start it out right."
            While Baylor has won 12-consecutive regular-season conference championships, Iowa State (8-2) was the preseason favorite and is first among Big 12 teams in the Associated Press poll at No. 15. Oklahoma (10-1) and Kansas (10-1) are 20^th and 22^nd, respectively, with BU at No. 23, while Texas, Kansas State and Texas Tech are among others receiving votes in the polls.
            "I think the uniqueness of the Big 12 is you have a ton of different styles," Collen said. "We've got a lot of teams with a lot of veterans that had good years last year and are very much in run-it-back mode. . . . You've got a lot of teams that know who they are."
            With seven seniors or graduate students, TCU is one of those veteran teams, but coach Raegan Pebley has pretty much an all-new roster with nine transfers and four freshmen. Senior guard Tara Manumaleuga (5.6 ppg) is the lone returning player in the Horned Frogs' rotation.
            "Honestly, it's no different than playing a non-conference game," Collen said of playing TCU. "There are some similarities, posts who like to face up. But they don't run a single play that that they ran a year ago. Last year, they ran a lot of elbow action, kind of like Princeton stuff, and this year they're very set-driven with staggers."
            Playing two freshmen significant minutes, Baylor is one of the Big 12 teams still trying to figure out who they are. The Bears have used six different starting lineups, with Caitlin Bickle (11.4 ppg, 6.1 rebounds) and Aijha Blackwell (11.0 ppg, 5.8 rebounds) both missing games and never starting together.
            "Last year, we kind of knew who we were," Collen said of her debut season, when she had a seven-player rotation. "I think by nature of the way our non-conference (schedule) has gone, we're still trying to figure that out. And I hate saying that, because I don't want to be in that situation. But you're not quite sure if Aijha is going to get back and we weren't sure if Dre (Edwards) was going to get eligible. All these different things that were going on, you're still trying to figure it out."
            What it's created, though, is a team that's hard to scout. Five players are averaging double-digit points, led by junior guard Sarah Andrews (13.0 ppg, 5.1 assists), with senior guard Ja'Mee Asberry (9.7 ppg) and freshman forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (9.5 ppg, 8.9 rebounds) knocking on the door.
            "It's an adjustment, but I feel like each day everybody has an opportunity to step up," said senior guard Jaden Owens, who's averaging 10.9 points and 6.4 assists. "If I'm out, Jana (Van Gytenbeek) can step up. I think that makes the team better at the same time because everyone's like, 'Oh, this can be my time to show what I'm capable of.'''
            On the other end of that spectrum is a TCU team that has only one double-figure scorer in 5-10 guard Tomi Taiwo, a grad transfer from Iowa who is averaging 14.5 points per game and shooting 36.7% from 3-point range. Taiwo is the only player who has started every game, with eight others rotating in and out of the lineup.
            "They're pretty athletic defensively and pretty interchangeable," Collen said. "The kid they started at the point more recently, they started at power forward to start the season. Now, Roxanne (Makolo) is running the point for them and they bring (Emily) Fisher, the American (University) transfer, off the bench. Just interchangeable lineups where we have to constantly be communicating what position are they, who are we guarding them with, who their shooters are."
            The Bears are trying to avoid the slow start they had last year, when they lost road games at Kansas State and Oklahoma before a miracle comeback in an 82-79 win at Kansas.
            "I don't really want to talk about getting punched in the mouth," Collen said. "We certainly have talked about how what we've done so far is not good enough to put a championship in '23 at the end of that one that one that's up in the practice gym for '22."
            Instead of thinking about last year, Owens said the key for Baylor is "focusing on ourselves, of what we need to do."
            "Everything that happened in the past is in the past," she said. "I feel like this is kind of a new start, a fresh start. We've had our bumps in the road, we've hit our obstacles. That's all lessons, and we just take everything as a step-by-step process."
            To that end, Collen "does a really good job of keeping us present," Van Gytenbeek said, "like, be where your feet are."
            "The game in front of us is the most important thing at that time," she said. "We always have the right focus and energy put into what we need it to be put into."
            Saturday is part of Baylor's "Go Gold" initiative, where fans are encouraged to wear gold in the conference home opener for each team. Baylor Athletics has created official "Go Gold" apparel that can be published online and in person at the Baylor Bookstore.
            The game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Dallas broadcaster Mike Leslie and former Baylor men's basketball coach Jim Haller calling the action.

WACO, Texas - The No. 23 Baylor women's basketball team (9-3) returns to action and wraps up the 2022 calendar year on Saturday when it hosts TCU (6-5) in the Big 12 opener at 2 p.m. inside the Ferrell Center.

The contest is available for streaming via Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and a live radio broadcast is also available for fans. Live in-game updates will also be provided via Twitter or live stats.

Saturday's contests, presented by Astound, will serve as BU women's basketball's annual Go Gold game. Fans are encouraged to wear gold, and can pick up free gold rally towels, poms and Beat TCU buttons from the marketing table on the concourse. Single game tickets are still available and may be purchased in advance.

LAST TIME OUT
Baylor jumped back in the win column, wrapping up non-conference play with a 73-52 win over Long Beach State at the Ferrell Center on Dec. 21. The 21-point victory marked the seventh 20-plus point win for Baylor this season and sixth on its home court.

Junior Sarah Andrews fell one point shy of a triple double, recording her first-career double-double against the Beach. The guard finished with a career-high 14 assists and 12 rebounds, posting double figures in each category for the first time in her career.

SCOUTING TCU AND THE SERIES
Baylor is an astounding 45-5 all-time against TCU and hold a 21-2 record against the Horned Frogs at home. The Bears have won 33-straight games against the Horned Frogs, dating back to the 1990-91 season, and since the turn of the century, BU has averaged a 23.9 margin of victory over TCU.

The Horned Frogs enter Saturday with a 6-5 overall record, and are led by Tomi Taiwo, who is averaging 14.5 points per game. TCU welcomed six athletes via the transfer portal this season and four of them came from Power 5 schools.

FOSTER PAVILION
As a reminder, you must be a current season ticket holder to qualify for season tickets in the Paul & Alejandra Foster Pavilion, which is scheduled to open in January 2024. The deadline to purchase season tickets for the current year is Dec. 31, 2022. Those interested in purchasing new tickets in the Ferrell Center can purchase online. For those interested in the Baylor basketball seat selection process, visit here.

- BaylorBears.com -