No. 7 WBB Sweeps Series with Horned Frogs

Saturday, February 19

Fort Worth, TX

1 PM

Baylor

20-5,11-3Big 12

TCU

6-17,2-12Big 12

Baylor

TCU

No. 7 WBB Sweeps Series with Horned Frogs

2/19/2022 3:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Bears win 78-59 over TCU on Saturday afternoon in Schollmaier Arena

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            FORT WORTH, Texas – With a three-guard lineup, the seventh-ranked Baylor women give up a little on the glass at times, but more than make up for it by simply holding on to the ball.
            For the third-straight game, the Bears had single-digit turnovers (eight) and got another big night from 6-4 senior All-American NaLyssa Smith with 23 points and eight rebounds in completing the season sweep of TCU, 78-59, Saturday afternoon at Schollmaier Arena.
            "It's hard to lose basketball games when you're in the single digits for turnovers," said Baylor coach Nicki Collen, whose team matched its season high with its sixth-straight win, improving to 21-5 overall and tied for first in the Big 12 at 11-3. "You've got to shoot a horrific, horrific percentage to lose games when you don't turn the basketball over."
            Beating the last-place Horned Frogs (6-17, 2-12) for the second time in four days, the Bears followed the same blueprint that carried them to an 80-55 victory Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center.
            Behind the hot hand of Okako Adika, who hit three 3-pointers and scored 13 of her 23 points in the first half, TCU trailed by just three at halftime, 32-29, when Aja Holmes knocked down a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left off an offensive rebound.
            "We knew coming out of halftime, we had to be better," Collen said. "We had a play there at the end of the half where it was almost a shot-clock violation, they get the offensive rebound. And that's just not Baylor basketball. I really challenged them in the halftime, and they responded in a huge way."
            After a back-and-forth first half that saw neither team up by more than six, Baylor quickly stretched it to double digits, 41-31, when Sarah Andrews buried a 3-pointer three minutes into the third quarter.
            "You've just got to keep shooting. Shooters shoot," said Andrews, who scored seven of her 12 points in the third quarter, hitting 3-of-4 shots. "You miss one shot, you might make the next one. Just keep shooting. We work on our shots each and every day in the gym. I don't think we ever get down because we know the work we've put in."
            Smith hit buckets on three-straight possessions, pushing the lead to 52-36, and the Bears were up 58-42 going into the fourth quarter. They outscored the Horned Frogs, 26-13, in the third and shot a sizzling 64.3% from the floor (9-of-14).
            "We played with better pace in the second half," Collen said. "We played inside-out. We got way more offensive rebounds. And that was starting the third quarter without NaLyssa Smith. Really proud of how we regrouped and shared it and really competed on the defensive end early in the third."
            Baylor's inside duo of Smith and Queen Egbo had to deal with foul trouble most of the game. Egbo picked up a technical foul late in the third quarter and fouled out midway through the fourth, while Smith had three fouls by halftime and played a total of 24 minutes.
            Smith was an efficient 5-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the line, scoring 13 of her game-high-tying 23 points in the second half.
            "My challenge to her in the last game was not to not shoot them, but to catch it ready to shoot, rather than hesitate," Collen said of Smith, who recorded her 91^st double-figure scoring game. "Nobody shoots well when they hesitate. I just thought from the beginning, she aggressively searched that shot, she got some in transition and she got some stuff on the boards."
            Egbo did record her 59^th career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Andrews and Jordan Lewis both hit two 3-pointers and scored 12 points apiece. Lewis moved to second all-time in NCAA history, appearing in her 156^th career game, and will tie UConn's Kalana Greene for the record with her next game.
            Sophomore guard Jaden Owens also had one of her best games in a Baylor uniform, hitting 3-of-4 from the field and finishing with seven points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 25 minutes off the bench.
            "I thought she gave us a huge lift in the first half, and then was just super-solid in the second half," Collen said. "The better she plays, the more rest I can get for that starting group. We need that, she's capable of that. And I knew she'd want to play well. This is home, just like it's home for Sarah. It was really good to see her take care of the ball, get a couple steals and knock down a couple shots."
            With the win, Baylor keeps pace with sixth-ranked Iowa State (22-4, 11-3), which blew out 15^th-ranked Oklahoma, 89-67. The Bears and Cyclones are a game ahead of Kansas and two up on the Sooners.
            "We've just got to keep competing," Collen said. "Our goal is to go 1-0. We're back in control of our own destiny. We went from last to first, after starting 0-2. And we did that by going 1-0."
            The Bears go back on the road to play Oklahoma State (8-14, 3-10) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Stillwater. OSU will play Kansas State at 3 p.m. Sunday in Manhattan, Kan.