Thursday, November 30
Dallas, Texas
7 PM
Baylor
at
SMU
No. 13 WBB Travels to Dallas for First Road Test of Season
11/29/2023 2:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The game between Bears, Mustangs will air nationally on ESPNU
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
After a 5-0 season-opening homestand that included back-to-back blowout wins over McNeese and Alcorn State, the 13th-ranked Baylor women go on the road for the first time to play SMU (3-3) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Moody Coliseum in Dallas.
Last year, the Mustangs had a 13-1 fourth-quarter run and took the game down to the wire in a 58-55 loss to Baylor at the Ferrell Center.
"They're a veteran team, a team that's not going to be intimidated by us, based on what they came in here and did last year," Baylor coach Nicki Collen said. "There's a lot of things that are different about our team from last year to this year, as well, when you look at who was out on the floor in key moments in the game last year. But I think we need to go play on the road."
In the Bears' last two games, all 13 players scored in home-court routs of McNeese State (124-44) and Alcorn State (93-47). Averaging 93.4 points per game, Baylor's balanced attack is led by transfers Dre'Una Edwards (14.4 ppg, 6.2 rebounds) and Aijha Blackwell (11.8 ppg, 6.4 rebounds) and senior guard Sarah Andrews (13.6 ppg, 3.8 assists).
"We have so much talent down the line," said sophomore forward Bella Fontleroy, who's averaging 9.4 points and 4.6 rebounds. "When any one of us have an off night, there's going to be somebody else who steps up and is ready to go . . . 1 through 13. I think we're also finding our defensive identity, which has helped us to create offensive opportunities. I think those combined are going to be things that you continue to see from this group."
Other than an 84-77 upset of then-No. 4 Utah, Baylor's closest game came against Harvard, when all five starters scored in double figures in an 81-71 win. The Crimson defeated SMU, 80-67, on the second day of the San Diego Classic after the Mustangs lost to Toledo, 74-73.
"Honestly, I thought of all their games, Harvard wasn't really them," Collen said. "I don't know if that was because they had no prep time. . . . Were they struggling with the five-out motion? Why were they struggling? I think playing against them last year gives us a feel for what they thought they could do to us. They played us a lot of zone last year. I think we've been more productive against zones this year."
It's hard for defenses to zone a team that ranks sixth nationally with 10.2 made 3-pointers per game and fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (41.46). Ten of Baylor's 13 players have hit 3-pointers through the first five games, led by Andrews with 12 and Edwards and Fontleroy with seven apiece.
"We certainly weren't going to zone Utah," Collen said of a Utes team that is first nationally with 14.3 treys per game. "I think when you put four and five people on the floor that can make threes, you're not going to stay with (the zone) if a team makes them. One of the messages I keep preaching is, we don't want to settle early. We want to get a piece of the paint."
SMU, coached by former Baylor assistant Toyelle Wilson, has three double-figure scorers and two other players averaging higher than nine points per game. Houston transfer Tiara Young, a 5-9 guard who started her career at LSU, is averaging 21.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.5 steals.
Chantae Embry, a 6-1 forward that transferred from Texas Tech, is averaging 9.5 points and a team-best 6.5 rebounds per game and also leads the Mustangs with nine 3-pointers. TK Pitts, a 6-1 sophomore guard, brings energy off the bench, "she's good defensively and can guard multiple positions," Collen said.
"Honestly, she's a really, really good defensive player," Fontleroy said of Pitts, "and she creates a lot of her offensive opportunities off her defense and how in your face she is. But I would say that's their whole team. I think they're really physical and they're going to try to play a little bit of bully ball and body us. We just have to stay poised and maintain our composure."
Thursday's game will be broadcast on ESPNU, with Angel Gray and Helen Williams calling the action.
The Bears return home to host Oregon (4-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday in another nationally televised game on FS1.
DALLAS, Texas – The No. 13 Baylor women's basketball team travels to Dallas this Thursday to take on the SMU Mustangs at 7 p.m. at the Moody Coliseum.
The contest is available nationally on ESPNU and a live radio broadcast on ESPN Central Texas (1660 AM/92.3 FM) is also available for fans. Live in-game updates will be provided via Twitter and live stats.
STARTING FIVE
SMU is 3-3 to start the season, rattling off three straight wins at home before recording their first loss of the season to No. 5 Colorado. The Mustangs then traveled to California for the San Diego Classic, where they found two more losses including a 67-80 setback to Harvard – a team the Bears had beaten, 81-71, six days prior.
SMU finished the 2022-23 season 17-13, making their second-straight WNIT appearance and holding opponents to an American Athletic Conference second-best 58.3 points per game. The Mustangs are led in scoring by Tiara Young, the Houston transfer and unanimous 22-23 AAC Sixth Player of the Year, averaging 21.0 points per game, and Tamia Jones, averaging 10.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
To stay up to date on all things Baylor women's basketball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorWBB.
Baylor Bear Insider
After a 5-0 season-opening homestand that included back-to-back blowout wins over McNeese and Alcorn State, the 13th-ranked Baylor women go on the road for the first time to play SMU (3-3) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Moody Coliseum in Dallas.
Last year, the Mustangs had a 13-1 fourth-quarter run and took the game down to the wire in a 58-55 loss to Baylor at the Ferrell Center.
"They're a veteran team, a team that's not going to be intimidated by us, based on what they came in here and did last year," Baylor coach Nicki Collen said. "There's a lot of things that are different about our team from last year to this year, as well, when you look at who was out on the floor in key moments in the game last year. But I think we need to go play on the road."
In the Bears' last two games, all 13 players scored in home-court routs of McNeese State (124-44) and Alcorn State (93-47). Averaging 93.4 points per game, Baylor's balanced attack is led by transfers Dre'Una Edwards (14.4 ppg, 6.2 rebounds) and Aijha Blackwell (11.8 ppg, 6.4 rebounds) and senior guard Sarah Andrews (13.6 ppg, 3.8 assists).
"We have so much talent down the line," said sophomore forward Bella Fontleroy, who's averaging 9.4 points and 4.6 rebounds. "When any one of us have an off night, there's going to be somebody else who steps up and is ready to go . . . 1 through 13. I think we're also finding our defensive identity, which has helped us to create offensive opportunities. I think those combined are going to be things that you continue to see from this group."
Other than an 84-77 upset of then-No. 4 Utah, Baylor's closest game came against Harvard, when all five starters scored in double figures in an 81-71 win. The Crimson defeated SMU, 80-67, on the second day of the San Diego Classic after the Mustangs lost to Toledo, 74-73.
"Honestly, I thought of all their games, Harvard wasn't really them," Collen said. "I don't know if that was because they had no prep time. . . . Were they struggling with the five-out motion? Why were they struggling? I think playing against them last year gives us a feel for what they thought they could do to us. They played us a lot of zone last year. I think we've been more productive against zones this year."
It's hard for defenses to zone a team that ranks sixth nationally with 10.2 made 3-pointers per game and fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (41.46). Ten of Baylor's 13 players have hit 3-pointers through the first five games, led by Andrews with 12 and Edwards and Fontleroy with seven apiece.
"We certainly weren't going to zone Utah," Collen said of a Utes team that is first nationally with 14.3 treys per game. "I think when you put four and five people on the floor that can make threes, you're not going to stay with (the zone) if a team makes them. One of the messages I keep preaching is, we don't want to settle early. We want to get a piece of the paint."
SMU, coached by former Baylor assistant Toyelle Wilson, has three double-figure scorers and two other players averaging higher than nine points per game. Houston transfer Tiara Young, a 5-9 guard who started her career at LSU, is averaging 21.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.5 steals.
Chantae Embry, a 6-1 forward that transferred from Texas Tech, is averaging 9.5 points and a team-best 6.5 rebounds per game and also leads the Mustangs with nine 3-pointers. TK Pitts, a 6-1 sophomore guard, brings energy off the bench, "she's good defensively and can guard multiple positions," Collen said.
"Honestly, she's a really, really good defensive player," Fontleroy said of Pitts, "and she creates a lot of her offensive opportunities off her defense and how in your face she is. But I would say that's their whole team. I think they're really physical and they're going to try to play a little bit of bully ball and body us. We just have to stay poised and maintain our composure."
Thursday's game will be broadcast on ESPNU, with Angel Gray and Helen Williams calling the action.
The Bears return home to host Oregon (4-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday in another nationally televised game on FS1.
DALLAS, Texas – The No. 13 Baylor women's basketball team travels to Dallas this Thursday to take on the SMU Mustangs at 7 p.m. at the Moody Coliseum.
The contest is available nationally on ESPNU and a live radio broadcast on ESPN Central Texas (1660 AM/92.3 FM) is also available for fans. Live in-game updates will be provided via Twitter and live stats.
STARTING FIVE
- Baylor is on a hot streak to start the season, opening a perfect 5-0 at home including an 84-77 win over the then-No. 4 Utah Utes on Nov. 14. It was most points scored against a top-five opponent in the regular season since netting 94 against No. 2 Notre Dame on Nov. 20, 2011.
- The team has risen in the AP Top-25 Poll for the second-straight week after wins over McNeese and Alcorn State. Baylor now rests at No. 13 in the AP Top-25 and No. 16 in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll.
- Many records were nearly met or surpassed against McNeese as the Bears combined for a school-record 17-made threes, posted the second-most assists in school history (43), and for the fifth time in program history, seven players score in double-digits, the first time under head coach Nicki Collen.
- The Bears' 93-47 win over Alcorn State marked the first time that the Bears have surpassed the 80-point mark in the first five games of the season since the 2011-12 campaign, when Baylor recorded a perfect 40-0 season en route to a national championship title.
- Thursday's matchup with SMU will be the 40th all-time meeting between the Bears and the Mustangs, a series that SMU controls 22-17. The two teams met last year in Waco to a 58-55 result in favor of the Bears and it marked the first meeting since 1996.
SMU is 3-3 to start the season, rattling off three straight wins at home before recording their first loss of the season to No. 5 Colorado. The Mustangs then traveled to California for the San Diego Classic, where they found two more losses including a 67-80 setback to Harvard – a team the Bears had beaten, 81-71, six days prior.
SMU finished the 2022-23 season 17-13, making their second-straight WNIT appearance and holding opponents to an American Athletic Conference second-best 58.3 points per game. The Mustangs are led in scoring by Tiara Young, the Houston transfer and unanimous 22-23 AAC Sixth Player of the Year, averaging 21.0 points per game, and Tamia Jones, averaging 10.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
To stay up to date on all things Baylor women's basketball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorWBB.
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