No. 10 WBB Closes Ferrell Center Era with 99-37 Win Over Delaware State

Thursday, December 14

Waco, Texas

11 AM

Baylor

8-0,0-0Big 12

Delaware State

2-8,0-0MEAC

Delaware St.

Baylor

No. 10 WBB Closes Ferrell Center Era with 99-37 Win Over Delaware State

12/14/2023 1:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

WACO, Texas – Nicki Collen is not ready to call this the final chapter for the 10^th-ranked Baylor women in the Ferrell Center. She wants to be back here in March.

After knocking off the rust of a 10-day break, Aijha Blackwell and Bella Fontleroy had double-doubles and the Bears (8-0) exploded for 62 second-half points in blowing out the visiting Delaware State Hornets, 99-37, Thursday in the Bears' final regular-season game in the Ferrell Center.

And as nice as Thursday's game might have been, Collen wants her last memory of the Ferrell Center to be Baylor hosting the first and second round of the NCAA Tournament and cutting down the nets to go to the Sweet 16.

"Our goal is to put ourselves in position to be a top-four (regional) seed and to have the opportunity to really go out the right way here at the Ferrell," Collen said. "As much as we're excited to go to the Foster (Pavilion), Foster is not ready to host four teams. So, our goal is to be back here."

Even with a season-high crowd of 9,896 that included an estimated 6,000 elementary school children in attendance for the annual Future Bears Day game, the Bears got out to a slow start and led 37-17 at the break. They missed 11 of their first 12 shots from 3-point range, blew point-blank layups and turned it over 11 times in the first half.

"I hope we were just shaking rust off," Collen said. "I would anticipate that you're going to miss some threes. That, I wasn't as frustrated by because we were badly missing them. But it was the layups. I just thought we were rushing shots at the rim and not finishing layups, and we should have been in and-one mode all day. They swarmed us, and we just didn't handle it."

The second half was a completely different story. Shooting 54.8% overall, including 7-of-15 from outside the arc, Baylor blew it open in the second half with a combined 62 points.

"We definitely pushed tempo more, and I just feel like we had that go-go-go mindset," said Fontleroy, who recorded her first double-double of the year with 14 points and 11 rebounds. "I know y'all see Nicki on the sidelines. Every time we get the ball, she's like, 'Go, go, go!' I think we really switched it into ger and were like, 'Okay, let's go. Let's push the tempo.'''

Fontleroy scored nine points in a closing 22-2 run over the last 6:06 of the game, with the Hornets (2-8) missing their last nine shots and going the last 8 ½ minutes without a made field goal.

Collen said she "yelled a lot" at halftime and told them, in no uncertain terms, "they wouldn't beat Miami if they played (like that)."

"There are two things you can control. You can control your attitude and you can control your effort, and both had to be better," she said. "We had to control the controllables and take care of the basketball, make simple decisions, finish in the lane. If they swarmed us and we wanted to kick it out for a wide-open three, be ready to step up and take and make some threes, which we really finally started to do there in the second half."

Baylor had a double-digit lead five minutes into the game, but it took a Jana Van Gytenbeek buzzer-beating heave from near midcourt to lead 21-11 after the first quarter. Holding Delaware State to six total points and 2-of-16 shooting in the second quarter, the Bears were up by 20 at halftime, 37-17.

"I think we just had to knock off a little rust, 11 days off," said Blackwell, who scored 11 points in the second half and recorded her second-straight double-double with 14 points and 11 boards. "That was huge. But I think we picked it up in the second half, especially."

Delaware State struggled all day on the offensive end, finishing with more turnovers (21) than made field goals (12) and shooting just 21.1% from the floor (12-of-57). Outside of junior forward Tyshonne Tollie, who was 5-for-6 from the floor in matching Ja'Naiah Perkins-Jackson's team-high 10 points, the rest of the Hornets were a combined 7-of-51 (13.7%).

Blackwell took over in the third quarter, going 3-for-3 from the field, hitting a 3-pointer and going 4-for-7 from the floor to score 11 of her 14 points. The Bears closed the period on an extended 21-6 run over the last 6:40 to go up 66-28.

"It was motivating," Blackwell said of the 6,000 elementary school students screaming throughout the game. "I was once those kids, sitting int eh stands watching my hometown college play. And I aspired to be like that one day. So, just to see those kids, hear those kids yell if we missed a shot, if we made a shot, if we fall on the floor and get up and run, I think it was really good to have those guys here."

In Baylor's most explosive quarter of the game, Fontleroy, Yaya Felder and Sarah Andrews combined for 23 of the Bears' 33 points as they stretched the lead out to a 62-point margin. Besides Fontleroy and Blackwell, four other Baylor players scored in double figures – Andrews (12), Felder (10), Van Gytenbeek (10) and Madison Bartley (10).

With four of Baylor's six double-figure scorers coming off the bench, the Bears' bench outscored the Delaware State reserves, 53-10. For the season, BU has had almost 200 more bench points than its opponents, 278-84.

"The leap that so many of us have made in the Ferrell Center over the past year has been huge," Fontleroy said. "You've seen two completely different teams take that stage. But just the growth as a program and as individuals, it was really cool to be in here one last time and have that much energy. And hopefully, we get to host here during tournament time."

In a quick turnaround, the Bears will face No. 24 Miami (8-0) in the Hall of Fame Series at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio. The Hurricanes, who got into the AP poll this week, beat then-No. 21 Mississippi State, 74-68, in their only previous game against a ranked or Power Six opponent.

GAME NOTES

The No. 10 Baylor women's basketball team is off to its best start since the 2018-19 campaign after taking down Delaware State, 99-37, at the Ferrell Center on Thursday.
The Bears saw six finish in double figures and four turn in double-digit rebound performances – the most in the Nicki Collen era.
The last time at least three players finished in double figures on the boards was last season at Iowa State.
Aijha Blackwell and Bella Fontleroy led the way in scoring and rebounding for the Bears, each tallying a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double. It marked the second-straight double-double for Blackwell and first of the year for Fontleroy.
Sarah Andrews notched 12 points in the outing while Yaya Felder, Jana Van Gytenbeek and Madison Bartley all added 10 points off the bench.
Baylor's bench outscored Delaware State's, 53-10, as the Bears' reserves have outscored their opponents, 278-84, this season.
Every player that saw the court scored, marking the third time that has happened this season.
Dre'Una Edwards and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs grabbed 10 rebounds apiece while Edwards and Fontleroy led BU with five offensive boards each.
Van Gytenbeek recorded a team-leading eight assists marking the third time this season the senior has dished out the most in a game.
Andrews matched a career high with five steals.
Fontleroy matched, and Lety Vasconcelos set, a career high with two blocks apiece.
The Bears scored 62 of their 99 points in the second half, marking the second time this year BU has put up 60-plus points in the last 20 minutes.
Baylor has scored 80-plus points in seven of eight games to start the year.
With the 62-point win, the Bears moved to 21-0 in the Collen era in games decided by 25-or-more points. It was the second-largest margin of victory for BU this season.