No. 10 WBB Picks Up Win No. 10 over Providence, 61-36

Wednesday, December 20

West Palm Beach, Fla.

2:30 PM

Baylor

10-0,0-0Big 12

Providence

6-6,0-0Big East

Baylor

Providence

No. 10 WBB Picks Up Win No. 10 over Providence, 61-36

12/20/2023 4:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – On a day when the 10^th-ranked Baylor women didn't "look like us" and were down two starters, the Bears took a double-digit lead in the first five minutes and coasted to a 61-36 win over the Providence Friars Wednesday afternoon in the West Palm Beach Classic.

With starters Aijha Blackwell and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs both out with injuries, Ohio transfer Yaya Felder made her first start for the Bears (10-0) and responded with 10 points, a season-high nine rebounds and five assists.

But Baylor struggled to find its offensive rhythm in a game that featured a combined 41 turnovers and 40 fouls, scoring nearly 30 points below its scoring average.

"I liked our physicality, but we have to be smarter, how we do it," Baylor coach Nicki Collen said. "I think we wanted to turn them over and go shoot layups, but we just didn't rebound as well as we needed to. We didn't run with good spacing. I thought we made poor decisions in transition. We had simple plays and tried to make them complicated. I just don't think we played well today."

The Bears were dominant on the defensive end in the first half, holding the Friars (6-6) to just 3-for-20 shooting from the floor and 0-for-5 from 3-point range in taking a commanding 36-12 lead at the break.

"The first five minutes, I thought, 'Okay, we're cooking, we're moving the ball on offense, we're sharing the ball, we're getting easy baskets,''' Collen said. "And it just didn't keep on. I thought it was an ugly game to coach and an ugly game, I'm sure, for our fans to watch."

Making her second-straight start, sophomore Bella Fontleroy hit three 3-pointers and scored a game-high 14 points. Reigning ESPN National Player of the Week Sarah Andrews hit a jumper at the end of the first quarter to put the Bears up 18-6 and finished with 12 points, while Kentucky transfer Dre'Una Edwards chipped in with 10 points and eight boards.

"For the first time this season, we had some big adversity where we lose two key starters," Andrews said. "But that's what's so special about this team is it's next man up. We have people the bench that can also start, but I think it was opportunity for other people to show what they can do with (Blackwell and Littlepage-Buggs) being out. We can't wait for them to get back, but I think it was next man up today. And that's what basketball is about."

Having to play on back-to-back days for the first time this season, Collen was able to spread out the minutes, Andrews playing the most with 29. Iowa State transfer Deanae Fritz, freshman Lety Vasconcelos and Jana Van Gytenbeek got extended minutes off the bench, with Fritz hitting two 3-pointers, Vasconcelos grabbing four rebounds and Van Gytenbeek contributing four rebounds and three assists.

After building that 24-point lead in the first half, the Bears were actually outscored by Providence in the third quarter and had just a one-point edge in the second half, 25-24. Baylor forced 27 turnovers and held Providence to a season-low 36 points – the fewest by a BU opponent this season – and just 24.4% shooting from the field.

Olivia Olsen had a double-double for the Friars (6-6) with 12 points and 10 rebounds and also had two of Providence's seven blocks.

Baylor held the Friars to a season-low 36 points and 24.4% shooting from the floor and also scored 25 points off their 27 turnovers.

Playing on back-to-back days for the first time this season, the Bears will play South Florida (8-4) at 2:30 p.m. CT Thursday in the final game of the two-day tournament. The Bulls blew out IUPUI, 85-49, on Wednesday and have won three of their last four.

"Honestly, (they're) a better version of Providence. They're all international kids, probably shoot it better than this team," Collen said. "Run a lot of sets and they're going to screen and screen and screen. I thought today against IUPUI, they got in transition more than they normally do. But usually, they're going to run their staff, and they've got a freshman shooter (Vittoria Blasigh) that they run a lot of stuff for."

GAME NOTES

In the first-ever meeting between the two programs, No. 10 Baylor women's basketball picked up win No. 10 of the year with a 61-36 victory over Providence in its opening game of the West Palm Beach Classic.
The 25-point victory marks the fifth 25-plus point win for Baylor this season as it improved to 10-0 on the year.
Newcomer Yaya Felder earned her first start as a Baylor Bear, finishing with 10 points and a team- and season-high nine rebounds while adding five assists.
In her second-straight start, Bella Fontleroy contributed a team-high 14 points going a career-high 5-for-8 from behind the 3-point arc.
The Bears forced 17 turnovers by the Friars in the opening half before Providence finished with 27 for the game. That's the second-most turnovers committed by an BU opponent this season as McNeese made 30 mistakes on Nov. 24.
Baylor held Providence to 3-of-20 from the floor in the first half and 0-for-5 from range while the Bears had 11 assists on 14 made baskets, including five from 3-point territory.
The 36 points scored by Providence are the fewest points given up by the Bears this season, replacing the previous 37 points scored by Delaware State on Dec. 14.
Dre'Una Edwards and Sarah Andrews also finished in double figures, contributing 10 and 12 points, respectively. Edwards added eight rebounds and a block while Andrews went a season-high 5-for-10 from range.
Newcomers Jada Walker and Denae Fritz each finished with three steals. The three steals from Walker matched a season high while Fritz matched a career high in the category.
Freshman Lety Vasconcelos logged a season-high 15 minutes finishing with two points, four rebounds and a block.
For the first time in the Nicki Collen era, the Bears grabbed just as many rebounds as their opponent, each finishing with 39.