WBB Gets 20-Point Road Win over Texas Tech

Saturday, January 28

Lubbock, Texas

2 p.m.

Baylor

14-6,5-3Big 12

Texas Tech

15-6,3-5Big 12

Baylor

Texas Tech

WBB Gets 20-Point Road Win over Texas Tech

1/28/2023 4:27:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Littlepage-Buggs and Owens led the team with 16 points each

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            LUBBOCK, Texas – Nicki Collen wants everyone to understand just how important senior forward Caitlin Bickle is to this young Baylor team.
            The "ultimate safety on defense and quarterback on offense," Bickle recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds to help the Bears (14-6, 5-3) roll over Texas Tech, 79-59, Saturday afternoon at United Supermarkets Arena.
            "Her stats were really good tonight, but 80% of what she brings is not on the stat sheet," Collen said of Bickle, who was 5-of-11 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the line, adding three assists, one block and a steal, "because it doesn't talk about her telling them how to help or when to help or to get off their player. . . . She makes their life easier because they don't have to think as much."
            Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, the reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Week, came off the bench for the first time and responded with her team-best eighth double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
            While nearly 70% of Tech's offense came from Bre'Amber Scott (22) and freshman Jasmine Shavers (19), Baylor's balanced attack had five double-figure scorers for the first time this season in Big 12 play. Jaden Owens bounced back from two-straight scoreless outings to score 16 points, while Sarah Andrews and Bella Fontleroy scored 13 and 10, respectively.
            Fontleroy got the start over Littlepage-Buggs, who was the only player on the team who had started the Bears' first 19 games.
            "I thought Buggs gave us a huge lift when she came in in the first quarter," Collen said. "Sometimes, everyone needs one of those resets. It's not because she did anything bad, it's not because we don't think she's a great player. We thought it was the right move tonight. . . . And then we talk about fourth-quarter Bella. As the game goes on, she tends to relax and she tends to be better in the fourth quarter for us."
            Clinging to a six-point lead after the first quarter, the Bears took their first double-digit lead on an Andrews jumper and made it 33-20 when Ja'Mee Asberry fed Buggs for a layup with 2:42 left in the half.
            Trailing by 10 at the break, the Lady Raiders (15-6, 3-5) opened the third quarter on a 5-0 run and pulled to within 36-31 on a three-point play by Katie Ferrell. The Bears pushed the lead back to 10 and had a comfortable 53-40 lead going into the fourth.
            "I think we stayed pretty dialed-in most of the game, knowing our personnel and what they did, who to help off of, who to stay closed down on," Collen said. "A year ago in this building, Bryn Gerlich destroyed us on ball-fake, drive left, pull-up. Destroyed us. For the most part, we stayed on her left hand, made her play over us and not around us and never let her get comfortable."
            Gerlich, who scored 22 in last year's 88-80 loss to the Bears in Lubbock, was just 1-of-10 from the floor and finished with more turnovers (4) than points (3). The league's leading scorer in conference-only games, Scott took 23 shots and was 0-for-7 from 3-point range.
            "I thought we forced her to kind of take shots, as we were switching, behind the ball screens," Collen said of Scott. "That's just not as high percentage a shot as that kind of stand-still, drive, kick type of 3. . . . Probably her most open 3 of the game was right there at the end, but we tried to stay pretty close to her most of the night."
            Baylor returns home to host Kansas (13-5, 3-4) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Ferrell Center. The Jayhawks have lost four of their last five, dropping out of the top-25, and play Kansas State at 5 p.m. Sunday in Lawrence.

NOTABLES

The Baylor women's basketball team topped Texas Tech on the road, 79-59, on Saturday afternoon.
For the first time in Big 12 play, five Bears reached double figures led by Jaden Owens and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, who each notched 16 in the win.
Sarah Andrews reached double figures for the eighth-straight game, recording a game-high 11 points in the opening half before finishing with 13 after getting into foul trouble.
Caitlin Bickle logged her 10th double digit performance of the season with 14 points while matching a career-high 12 rebounds to lead the Bears on the glass. The double-double marked her fourth of the season and third in league play.
For just the second time in conference play, Owens reached double figures, while Bella Fontleroy added 10 points in her third start of the year.
With less than a minute to play, Littlepage-Buggs secured her 10th rebound for her team-leading eighth double-double of the year.
The double-doubles by Bickle and Littlepage-Buggs marked the third time this season, and second time in Big 12 action, that Baylor has had two players post double-doubles in an outing.
Andrews led the team with four assists, while Ja'Mee Asberry tallied a game-high three steals.