No. 18 WBB Falls in Back-and-Forth Game at WVU

Sunday, January 15

Morgantown, W.Va.

2 p.m.

Baylor

12-5,3-2Big 12

West Virginia

12-4,3-2Big 12

Baylor

West Virginia

No. 18 WBB Falls in Back-and-Forth Game at WVU

1/15/2023 4:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Andrew scores game-high 24 points in road loss

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Even though Sarah Andrews scored a combined 57 points in back-to-back road wins over a pair of top-25 teams, the 18^th-ranked Baylor women are at their best when they get more balanced scoring.
            Andrews knocked down four 3-pointers and poured in a game-high 24 points, but West Virginia took a page from Baylor's playbook and used four double-figure scorers to rally from a 10-point second-half deficit and beat the Bears, 74-65, Sunday afternoon at WVU Coliseum.
            "We are not a team that's good when we have one big scorer. We're just not, that's not who we are," said Baylor coach Nicki Collen, whose team fell to 12-5 overall and 3-2 in the Big 12 with its second-straight loss. "We don't have NaLyssa Smith anymore.
            "We're at our best when we're sharing the ball and assisting on baskets. . . . At times, I just didn't think we played downhill well enough against them. They were better at playing downhill and the ball screen than we were."
            In a game of runs, West Virginia (12-4, 3-2) got the last one with nine unanswered points in the fourth quarter to pull away for its first homecourt win over Baylor in 10 tries.
            Tied at 59-59 through the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, the Mountaineers took the lead for good with a pull-up jumper by Madisen Smith. Kylee Blacksten followed with a layup, then came up with "as big a play in the second half as any," with a 3-pointer that made it 66-59.
            Blacksten and Jayla Hemingway, who came in averaging a combined 15.8 points, scored 16 and 15 points, respectively, to balance out the guard duo of JJ Quinerly (18) and Smith (16).
            "The reality for them, wins versus losses, they lose when Quinerly and Smith have to do too much," Collen said. "They're at their best when those guys score less and everybody else scores more. When the Hemingways and Blackstens and (Kyah) Watsons and (Danni) Nichols and those guys play above their averages, that's when this team is really dangerous."
            Freshman Darianna Littlepage-Buggs recorded her team-best sixth double-double with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, and Caitlin Bickle had 11 points, five rebounds and two assists. But, starting guards Ja'Mee Asberry and Jaden Owens were a combined 2-for-18 overall and 1-of-12 from 3-point range.
            "We're going to struggle when Jaden and Ja'Mee both play 30 minutes, and between the two of them they're 2-for-18," Collen said. "I thought Ja'Mee had some really good open looks early. We've got to get better production out of them. Because as good as Sarah was in a stretch, we can't have her take that many shots. We're just not as good when she's forced to take 23 shots to get 24 points."
            Coming out firing, West Virginia hit three of its first four from 3-point range and led 23-14 after the first quarter.
            The Mountaineers had a 7-0 run in the second period to stretch the lead out to 32-18, but Baylor responded with a 16-1 run over the last 5 ½ minutes to take a 34-33 lead at the break. Sparked by senior forward Aijha Blackwell, seeing her first game action in a month, the Bears hit five of their last eight shots to take their first lead of the game.
            "Our bench did a good job coming in and giving us energy," Collen said. "I thought we had good energy in the second quarter, and we guarded. Some of that was because Quinerly was on the bench (with two fouls). I thought she made a big difference."
            Starting the third quarter with an 11-2 run, the Bears stretched the lead to 45-35 on a layup by Andrews with 6:43 left in the period, completing an extended 23-2 run that put them up by double digits for the first time.
            West Virginia answered with a 22-12 stretch over the last 6 ½ minutes and tied it at 57-57 when Hemingway made one of two free throws at the end of the third quarter.
            The Mountaineers carried that momentum into the fourth quarter, outscoring Baylor, 17-8, and essentially shutting down the Bears' offense. Baylor scored just eight fourth-quarter points, making 3-of-16 from the floor and 0-for-6 from outside the arc.
            While the Bears won the rebounding battle 46-37, West Virginia had a 22-4 edge in points off turnovers, with Baylor turning it over seven times in the fourth quarter and 15 for the game.
            Baylor returns home to host Kansas State (12-6, 1-4) at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Wildcats have dropped three in a row, all at home, including an 85-65 loss to Texas Tech on Saturday.

NOTABLES

The No. 18 Baylor women's basketball team was unable to overcome West Virginia on the road Sunday afternoon, suffering the 74-65 setback at the WVU Coliseum.
The Bears erased a 14-point deficit heading into the locker room, closing on a 16-1 run behind Sarah Andrews' team-leading nine points to hold a 34-33 advantage.
The junior guard finished with a team-high 24 points – her fifth 20-plus point performance of the year – matching a career best with 10-made field goals.
Rookie Darianna Littlepage-Buggs recorded her team-leading sixth double-double of the season, finishing with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.
For the second-straight game, Baylor turned in season-best performances at the free throw line, shooting 83.3% (10-for-12) at the charity stripe led by Littlepage-Buggs' perfect 4-for-4 outing.
Fifth-year Caitlin Bickle reached double-figure scoring for the fourth time in the last five outings, finishing with 11 points, while adding five rebounds and a pair of assists.
As a team, the Bears outrebounded the Mountaineers, 46-37, marking the 13th time this season Baylor has outrebounded its opponent.