By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
WACO, Texas – Putting themselves in pretty good company, the 14^th-ranked Baylor women (5-0) remained perfect on their five-game homestand and topped the 80-point mark in the first five games of the season for the first time in 12 years, blowing out Alcorn State, 93-47, Sunday afternoon at the Ferrell Center.
 
That 2011-12 Baylor team went 40-0 and won the second of the program's three national championships, opening the year with 80-plus points in each of its first five games, including wins over Notre Dame and UCLA.
 
"It's not about us shooting the first shot that comes open," said Sarah Andrews, one of four double-figure scorers, hitting three 3-pointers and scoring 15 points with three assists and three steals, "it's about us swinging the ball, because everybody is an offensive threat. That's beautiful basketball when we move the ball."
 
Second in the Big 12 and seventh nationally, Baylor is averaging 93.4 points per game and boasts a balanced attack with seven players scoring between 8.4 and 14.4 points per game.
 
The Bears got out to a slow start on Sunday, missing seven of their first nine shots and scoring just six points in the first 4 ½ minutes. But they went on a 19-0 run, holding the Braves (0-4) scoreless for seven minutes, and led 24-6 after the first quarter.
 
"I thought we could have been better today," Baylor coach Nicki Collen said, "but I also think it's hard when you come off a game like we did on Friday (124-44 win over McNeese State), where they wanted to shoot as quickly as we did, to the pace being really slowed down to the point where you've got to guard one side to the other.
 
"They're going to back cut and pin down, the pattern was pretty much the same, but you were defending for 18 to 25 seconds. And because of that, you get lulled into that. When you defend for 18, 20 seconds, and they get an easy shot off at the end, it's kind of deflating."
 
Andrews knocked down a 3-pointer to cap off an 11-2 run at the start of the second quarter, helping the Bears stretch the lead to 35-8. Blackwell scored eight of her 11 points and had two of her five assists in the second quarter as Baylor went into intermission up 51-20.
 
"The first game was rough, but it feels good just getting back into that rhythm, getting back to who Aijha was and just playing with my teammates," Blackwell said. "You've got amazing talent around you, so it just helps uplift you."
 
Alcorn had its best offensive showing in the third quarter, scoring on each of its first three possessions and hitting its first seven shots to go point-for-point through the first 8 ½ minutes. Baylor closed on a 5-0 run, with Denae Fritz hitting a 3-pointer and Jana Van Gytenbeek feeding Catarina Ferreira for a fastbreak layup, to stretch the lead out to 73-37.
 
"Some of those shots were tough," Collen said. "The shot clock was running down, and they were going one-on-one and hitting pull-ups over us. I think it was 9-7 that first timeout. We were scoring, but we weren't getting stops."
 
The Bears hit double-digit 3-pointers for the second-straight game, knocking down 11-of-29 from distance, after hitting a program-record 17 3-pointers in Friday's win over McNeese State.
 
Blackwell filled up the stat sheet with 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Following her career-high 12 assists in Friday's game, Van Gytenbeek had 11 points and five assists.
 
Alcorn was led by Nakia Cheatham and Zy'Nyla White with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Baylor scored 31 points off 23 turnovers and dominated the boards, 35-19, scoring 19 second-chance points off 13 offensive rebounds.
 
Baylor will go on the road for the first time to face SMU (3-3) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Moody Coliseum in Dallas. The Mustangs, coached by former Baylor assistant Toyelle Wilson, dropped their third in a row with an 80-67 loss to Harvard on Saturday at the San Diego Classic.
 
"It's part of the game. It's part of your growth," Collen said of the first road trip. "Can you prove that you can be focused on the road and be road warriors? Oftentimes, playing at home, players are more distracted versus when you get them in a hotel and they're super-focused on game plan and execution, and you eliminate all the other stuff. It can be a super good thing for a team, both from a team-bonding perspective and just a preparation perspective."


GAME NOTES

• The No. 14 Baylor women's basketball team remained undefeated and closed its five-game homestand with a 93-47 win over Alcorn State on Sunday afternoon at the Ferrell Center. 
• With the win, the Bears moved to 5-0 to start the year marking the first time since the 2019-20 campaign BU has won five-straight to begin a season. 
• Baylor has scored 80-plus in five-straight games to begin the year for just the fifth time in program history and only the second time since the turn of the century, lasting doing so at the start of the 2011-12 campaign. 
• The 93 points poured in by Baylor were the most points given up by Alcorn State this season, previously allowing 79 to Nebraska in its second game of the season. 
• The Bears moved to 20-0 in the Nicki Collen era in games decided by 25-plus points with the 46-point win over Alcorn State. 
• With the team's 11 3-pointers on Sunday, the Bears have hit 10-plus threes in two of the last three outings and have combined for 28 in the last two games after knocking down a program-record 17 from range against McNeese on Friday. 
• Baylor has recorded 20-or-more assists in three-straight games, finishing with 22 against the Lady Braves. 
• Baylor forced Alcorn State to commit 23 turnovers marking the third-straight game BU's opponents have committed 20-plus. The Bears have scored 105 of their 298 points in those three contests on opponent mistakes.
• All 13 Bears played and scored for the second-straight outing in the win over the Lady Braves. 
• Four Bears finished in double figures led by Yaya Felder's season-high 16 points in just 16 minutes of action off the bench. The junior guard added three steals and went 5-for-6 from the free throw line. 
• Sarah Andrews (15), Aijha Blackwell (11) and Jana Van Gytenbeek (11) also finished in double figures, as Van Gytenbeek's 11 points was a season-high for the senior guard and her fourth-career double-figure outing. 
• Blackwell and Van Gytenbeek dished out five assists apiece to lead the Bears, while Andrews and Van Gytenbeek each made a game-high three baskets from range.