No. 19 WBB Charges Past UTA, 91-36

Wednesday, December 7

Waco, Texas

7 PM

Baylor

7-2,0-0Big 12

UT Arlington

5-5,0-0WAC

UT Arlington

Baylor

No. 19 WBB Charges Past UTA, 91-36

12/7/2022 9:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Bursting into the media room with the utmost bravado, Baylor junior guard Sarah Andrews boastfully proclaimed, "I'm back!" Yes, she is.
            After sitting out the last game with an ankle injury, the Baylor junior guard drained four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 20 points to lead the 19^th-ranked Bears to a 91-36 blowout of UT Arlington Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center.
            "It felt amazing just to be back on the floor," Andrews said. "I think overall, as a team, we just played ball tonight."
            UTA (5-5), which had lost to both Kansas and Oklahoma by single digits, had a three-game winning streak snapped and didn't score in double digits in a quarter until getting a late bucket in an 11-point fourth quarter.
            Baylor coach Nicki Collen said the Bears played their best defense of the season, forcing 28 turnovers and holding the Lady Mavs to 26% shooting. And that was with highly touted transfers Aijha Blackwell and Dre Edwards "still sitting on the bench."
            "I thought we could have pushed it out early if we had just made a few layups . . . but it didn't change our defensive effort," said Collen, whose team improved to 7-2 with its second-straight blowout win. "And that's the key, you can't let missed layups, missed open 3's, affect your effort on the defensive end."
            It didn't help UTA's cause that Preseason WAC Player of the Year Starr Jacobs, SMU transfer Kayla White and fifth-year senior Shyia Smith all picked up their second fouls in the first quarter.
            "I was scared to death of Starr Jacobs," Collen said. "The only thing that stopped her a year ago against us was cramps. . . . I was paranoid. I thought she would be a huge challenge for our freshman because she's so athletic going downhill."
            Jacobs finished with just four points, four rebounds and three turnovers in 19 minutes, while Taleyah Jones led the Lady Mavs with two 3-pointers and eight points.
            After falling behind 7-5, the Bears (7-2) reeled off 11 unanswered points and led 18-9 after the first quarter. Andrews and Caitlin Bickle got the scoring spree started with back-to-back 3-pointers, with UTA missing their last six shots and going more than six minutes without making a shot from the field.
            Stanford transfer Jana Van Gytenbeek made all six shots she took and scored more points (15) than she had in her previous seven games combined at Baylor (12). She provided instant offense in the second quarter with two 3-pointers and a driving layup, helping the Bears extend the lead to 40-16.
            "I think my teammates put me in really great positions to hit shots, because they were wide open," Van Gytenbeek said. "It's really fun when everything's rolling. We put in a lot of work. So, when it finally rolls, that feels good ant it motivates us even more."
            It was Andrews' turn in the third quarter, draining 2-of-3 from outside the arc and scoring 13 of her 20 points before sitting out the fourth. She added five rebounds and four assists while hitting 7-of-13 overall.
            "I thought she was aggressive, and that's the key," Collen said of Andrews. "Sometimes, she settles. She settles for jump shots, she settles for 3's. . . . The fact that she has a little more freedom than she did last year, there has to be a maturity about your freedom. Between her and the way Jana came in and shot it, I'm just super happy."
            Even with Andrews, Bickle and fifth-year senior guard Ja'Mee Asberry sitting out, the Bears still put up a 25-point fourth quarter and pulled away to win by 55 – the widest margin in the Collen era and the most since a 93-point victory against McNeese on Dec. 19, 2020.
            "I promise, I wasn't sandbagging," Collen said. "I told the team, 'I don't know if you guys have figured this out yet. But, when I'm nervous, you're going to get way more information,' because I'm looking for one more thing that I can give them to help them be successful."
            Freshman Darianna Littlepage-Buggs recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, Bickle had 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds and freshman Bella Fontleroy had 10 points and five boards. Complementing Andrews and Van Gytenbeek in the backcourt, Jaden Owens and Asberry had eight points apiece and combined for nine assists and only two turnovers.
            "When you shoot it well from the arc (11-of-21), everything opens up and it doesn't matter what they're playing," Collen said. "They wanted to play zone, we shot them out of the zone. They played man, we scored at the rim. It was an easy game to coach, you get super comfortable."
            The Bears will take a break for final exams before facing Tennessee State (4-4) next Thursday, Dec. 15, and then No. 12 Arizona (7-0) in the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge on Dec. 18 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The No. 12 Baylor men (7-2) will play Washington State (4-4) in the last game of the Coast-to-Coast Challenge at 9 p.m.

NOTABLES

The No. 19-ranked Baylor Bears downed the UT Arlington Lady Mavericks, 91-36, inside the Ferrell Center on Wednesday night.
The Bears moved to 20-3 all-time against UTA and remained undefeated at home against the Lady Mavs (14-0).
The 55-point margin of win was the largest by BU this season and the largest in the Nicki Collen era. It was the largest win by the program since recording a 93-point victory against McNeese on Dec. 19, 2020.
The victory marked the fifth time this season that the Bears have won by at least 25 points.
For the fourth time this season, Baylor recorded at least 40 points in the first half, holding UTA to just 16 at the break.
Wednesday's game marked the first time that the Bears held their opponent to single digits in three quarters this year.
Baylor's 14 steals were the most in a game since recording 15 in a win over Jackson State on March 21, 2021. Jaden Owens led the Bears in the category, matching a career high with four.
The Bears forced 28 turnovers by the Lady Mavs – the most in a game by an opponent since McNeese turned the ball over 38 times in 2020 – and it marked the fourth time this season BU forced its opponent to commit at least 20 turnovers.
Baylor's 91 points were the second-most scored this year, behind the 92-point output against Saint Louis, and the fifth time the Bears reached 90 in a game in the Nicki Collen era.
For the fourth time this season, five Bears reached double figures, led by junior Sarah Andrews' 20 points. The 20-piece marked the fourth time in her career that she has poured in at least that many. She led BU from behind the arc, going 4-for-6.
Junior transfer Jana Van Gytenbeek had a breakthrough performance off the bench, scoring a season-high 15 points – just three points shy of matching her career-best – while adding four assists and a pair of steals. She shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor and was 3-for-3 from range.
Freshman Darianna Littlepage-Buggs continued to be a threat on the boards, grabbing a team-best 10 while adding 11 points for her third double-double of the season. She has now reached double-figure rebounding and scoring in four games this year.
Fifth-year Caitlin Bickle dished out a team- and career-high seven assists in her sixth appearance this season. Baylor's 28 on the night were the most since recording 30 against Kansas State on Feb. 9, 2022.