WBB Falls Short Against No. 25 Texas Sunday

Sunday, January 22

Waco, Texas

4 p.m.

Baylor

13-6,4-3Big 12

#25 Texas

14-6,5-2Big 12

Texas

Baylor

WBB Falls Short Against No. 25 Texas Sunday

1/22/2023 6:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Sarah Andrews had four 3-pointers to lead the team

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Lacking the kind of fight it takes to knock off a top-25 team, the Baylor women got dominated on the boards, turned it over 20 times and shot just 31% from the floor in falling to the 25^th-ranked Texas Longhorns, 68-55, Sunday at the Ferrell Center.
            The Bears (13-6, 4-3) did claw their way back from a 14-point deficit to make it a four-point game early in the fourth quarter, but missed their last eight shots and turned it over four times in the last 7 ½ minutes as Texas (14-6, 5-2) closed on a 12-3 run.
            "We came back from double-gits down against them last year. It wasn't like we were incapable of doing it," Baylor coach Nicki Collen said. "We made some shots, we got in transition, we did some good things. But then we didn't guard at the other end. We gave up 28 points in the third quarter, we gave up 24 in the first half. We weren't dialed-in, and we have to be better."
            Exploding for 28 third-quarter points after being held to 24 in the first half, the Longhorns got 13 points apiece from Sonya Morris, Shaylee Gonzales, DeYona Gaston and Rori Harmon to pick up their first win in Waco in six years.
            "I think the third quarter killed us," said junior guard Sarah Andrews, who hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 19 points. "At the end of the day, we've got to fight. We've got to be better on both ends of the floor, but it starts with our defense."
            Both teams struggled to score in the first half, combining for 23 turnovers and shooting below 30%. Tied 12-12 after the first quarter, Texas went up for good with a Gaston jumper and held a precarious 24-22 lead at the break when Harmon made one of two free throws with 0.1 seconds left in the half.
            "I don't think did anything special for us to . . . I don't even know. I think we got in our own head," said Ja'Mee Asberry, who was 2-of-5 from outside the arc and scored 13 points.
            The Longhorns used an 8-0 run to take its largest lead, 49-35, on another Gaston jumper. Baylor answered with nine unanswered points and got back within 49-44 on a 3-pointer by Jana Van Gytenbeek, but Gonzales knocked down a buzzer-beating trey from the top of the key to push UT's lead to 52-44.
            "I couldn't be more proud of my team today," said Texas coach Vic Shaefer, whose team has won three of its last four to move into a second-place tie and just a game behind frontrunning Oklahoma. "I just thought they showed tremendous fight and toughness."
            Baylor got on a roll at the start of the fourth quarter, hitting three of its first four shots and whittling the deficit to four points, 56-52, when Asberry knocked down a 3-pointer. But Morris hit back-to-back jumpers to push the lead back to double digits as the Bears went more than seven minutes without a field goal and scored just three points in the last 7 ½ minutes.
            Despite being outrebounded, 48-34, and having one more turnover (20-19), Baylor was actually plus-four combined in second-chance points and points off turnovers.
            "They just made a lot of plays," Collen said. "I thought Gaston was really good for them, and I thought our guards needed to be more aggressive."
            The Bears had only two double-figure scorers with Andrews and Asberry, but Caitlin Bickle just missed a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds and was fouled eight times.
            "She drew eight fouls, that's a lot, but she's got to have help from her teammates," Collen said. "Caitlin does probably the best job on the team of blocking out, but there are times when she's guarding someone five, six inches taller than her. She's pushing back to the best of her ability. And I'm not suggesting it's over the back, it probably is sometimes, but it doesn't get called. That's where our guards have to tip on the backside. They have to consistently be more on the glass."
            Gaston recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards, while Taylor Jones added 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks before fouling out. Harmon, who had a solid all-around game with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists, had to be helped off the court with an apparent leg injury with 3:35 left in the game.
            "(Darianna Littlepage-Buggs) and Bella (Fontleroy) didn't defensive rebound enough," Collen said. "Bella played 22 minutes, all in the post, and got one defensive rebound. And she's someone that's physically cable of doing it. . . . We just have to pursue the ball better across the board, from our guards to our forwards."
            After a midweek bye, Baylor will go back on the road to face Texas Tech (15-5, 3-4) at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, in Lubbock. The Red Raiders had a two-game winning streak snapped with a 67-57 loss at West Virginia on Saturday but are 10-3 this year at home.

NOTABLES

The Baylor women's basketball team was unable to overcome No. 25 Texas on Sunday, falling 68-55 inside the Ferrell Center.
The Bears scored 22 points off the Longhorns' 19 turnovers, marking fifth time in Big 12 play BU has forced its opponent to turn the ball over at least 15 times.
A pair of Bears – Ja'Mee Asberry and Sarah Andrews – finished in double figures.
Asberry's 13 points was highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers, which marks the eighth-straight game the graduate has connected from range.
Andrews reached double digits for the seventh-straight outing with a game-high 19 points.
Caitlin Bickle grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, marking the second-straight game, and fourth time in five outings, the fifth-year has reached double figures in the category.
Jaden Owens and Andrews led the Bears with three assists apiece. Owens and Andrews have combined to lead BU in the category 14 times this season.
Asberry tallied a season-high four steals, falling a swipe shy of matching a career best.