WBB Escapes Kansas on Wednesday, 77-73

Wednesday, February 1

Waco, Texas

7 p.m.

Baylor

15-6,6-3Big 12

Kansas

14-6,4-5Big 12

Kansas

Baylor

WBB Escapes Kansas on Wednesday, 77-73

2/1/2023 9:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Andrews scores game-high 23, including nine in closing stretch

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Sometimes, Sarah Andrews doesn't even look at the score. The Baylor junior guard is "just having fun with basketball, honestly."
            Maybe it's for the best.
            After Kansas whittled a double-digit deficit to two, Andrews hit back-to-back layups and scored nine of her game-high 23 points in the last 1 ½ minutes to lift the Baylor women to a 77-73 victory over the Jayhawks Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center.
            Rather than running some clock with a four-point lead, Andrews put her head down and scored on a fast-break layup that put the pressure on Kansas (14-6, 4-5).
            "It was right in that time as a coach when you're playing with a lead and you start looking at how much time is left and should we be running clock?" said Baylor coach Nicki Collen, whose team won its second-straight in improving to 15-6 overall and 6-3 in the Big 12.
            "But I like that she got downhill, and that put the pressure on them the rest of the way, creating that two-possession, needing 3's. That was a big key in the game."
            Freshman Bella Fontleroy said Andrews "almost gave me a heart attack" on that second layup with 1:11 left in the game.
            "I was like, 'No, Sarah!' And then, you had it," Fontleroy told Andrews in the postgame press conference.
            "All of a sudden, I got a burst of energy, if we're being honest," said Andrews, who added eight assists, three blocks and three steals. "I don't know, I had some jets that turned on. . . . Jaden (Owens) threw me the ball, and I was like, "I'm about to put it in the hole.'''
            When the Jayhawks pulled back within two on a 3-pointer by Sanna Strom and a Zakiyah Franklin layup, Andrews iced it with a pair of free throws with 9.6 seconds left. She became the first player in NCAA Division I to have at least 20 points, eight assists, three steals and three blocks in a single game since 2019 and just the fourth since 2009-10.
            "Are you kidding me?" Fontleroy said of playing with Andrews. "I haven't met very many other players that can do what Sarah does. She creates space so easily. She's so crafty, she gets to the rim and finishes. All I've got to do is follow (her) and rebound, just in case. But most of the time, I don't have to do that."
            Because of the freezing rain and icy roads in Waco, the game was in doubt and could have been moved to Thursday. But Collen said, if both teams and the officials could make it in, "that it was worth playing tonight."
            "The alternative was to push the game a day, which then puts us in a three-games-in-five-days (situation), having to go to Iowa State the next day and play (Oklahoma) on Tuesday," Collen said. "Iowa State's not an easy one-day prep."
            Both teams struggled out of the gates, combining to hit just one of their first 13 shots and scoring two points apiece through the first five minutes. Kansas went on a 7-0 run to take a 12-6 lead, but the Bears finished the opening quarter with a bucket by Darianna Littlepage-Buggs and tied it just 14 seconds into the second period when Andrews drained a 3-pointer.
            Capped by a pair of Andrews baskets, the Bears reeled off eight unanswered points and had a 30-28 lead at the break.
            After some icy-cold shooting in the first half (11-of-32), Baylor came out on fire at the start of the third quarter, hitting its first seven shots and taking a double-digit lead, 47-36, when Littlepage-Buggs hit a jumper off a feed from Owens.
            "I think we just got locked-in," Andrews said. "You've always got to be better coming out of (halftime). They went into the locker room and probably talked about what they needed to work, and we talked about what we needed to do. We needed to play downhill, get them in foul trouble, and that's what we did."
            Bickle, one of four double-figure scorers for the Bears with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists, gave Baylor a 51-43 lead going into the fourth with a second-chance layup off an offensive rebound and assist by LIttlepage-Buggs.
            Kansas pulled back within two when Baylor went scoreless for right at two minutes, but Andrews' back-to-back layups gave the Bears the cushion they needed.
            "Anybody can go off on any given night, and we're at our best basketball when we're sharing the ball," Andrews said of the Bears assisting on 22 of the team's 29 made baskets. "When we go from good to great, it's amazing."
            Littlepage-Buggs, who has won the last two Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors, recorded her second-straight and team-high ninth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Fontleroy made her second-straight start and chipped in with 14 points, while Ja'Mee Asberry scored all nine of her points in the second half.
            Holly Kersgieter had 20 points and seven rebounds, helping the Jayhawks dominate the boards, 44-32. Taiyanna Jackson just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Wyvette Mayberry and Franklin had 13 points apiece.
            Looking to extend its two-game winning streak, Baylor will go on the road to face 12^th-ranked Iowa State (15-5, 7-3) for the first time. The Cyclones lost at Kansas State, 78-77, Wednesday night and fell a game behind 24^th-ranked Texas (17-6, 8-2).

NOTABLES

The Baylor women's basketball team outlasted the Kansas Jayhawks, 77-73, Wednesday night inside the Ferrell Center.
The victory over the Jayhawks marked the ninth-consecutive season BU has swept the season series.
The Bears earned their 10th win of the season at the Ferrell Center and moved to 25-5 at home with Nicki Collen at the helm.
Baylor forced 20 turnovers by Kansas marking the seventh time this season the Bears have forced their opponent to turn the ball over at least 20 times.
Four Bears reached double figures led by junior Sarah Andrews who turned in her sixth 20-plus point performance of the season, finishing with 23. She has reached double digits in the scoring column in all but three games this season and nine straight after Wednesday's outing.
Per Her Hoop Stats, Andrews became just the fourth player in NCAA Division I since 2009-10 to earn at least 20 points, eight assists, three steals and three blocks in a single game and is the first to do so since 2019.
Reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Week Darianna Littlepage-Buggs logged her second-straight double-double, and ninth of the season, finishing with 12 points and 10 boards.
Per Her Hoop Stats, Littlepage-Buggs joined Brittney Griner (8x) and Nina Davis (7x) as the only Baylor freshman since 2009-10 to earn five double-doubles in league games.
Fifth-year Caitlin Bickle finished with 16 points – her second-highest output in a Big 12 game this season – while rookie Bella Fontleroy added 14 in her second-straight start.
Ja'Mee Asberry joined Andrews with three steals of her own marking the fourth-straight outing the graduate has recorded a swipe.