By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Mired in a three-game losing streak that has dropped them to the middle of the pack in the Big 12, the Baylor women (16-9, 7-6) will try to get back to being the team that beat three ranked teams on the road and handed 22^nd-ranked Iowa State its only home loss of the year.
            Since that 76-70 win in Ames on Feb. 4 – just 14 days ago – the Bears let a double-digit lead slip away in a 98-92 overtime loss to 16^th-ranked Oklahoma and got blown out twice on the road at Oklahoma State (77-56) and Kansas State (87-68).
            Tied for fifth in the Big 12, Baylor will play the Cyclones (16-7, 8-5) at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Ferrell Center, looking for a season series sweep and a chance to move back up the Big 12 ladder.
            "Maybe we're not quite as good all the time as the team that was in Ames," second-year head coach Nicki Collen said, "and we're certainly not the team that we've been the last two games. I just don't think we've had a ton of energy in the last two games, and so it's catching up with us. We have to execute at a high level."
            The Bears did just that in the game at Iowa State, getting a double-double from freshman forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (13 points, 12 rebounds) and a combined 49 points from Sarah Andrews, Caitlin Bickle and Ja'Mee Asberry. They also held a dangerous-shooting Cyclone team to just 5-of-24 from outside the arc, including a 1-for-9 performance by Ashley Joens.
            "We're just not playing like ourselves right now," said Andrews, who's fifth in the league in scoring (15.9 ppg) and assists (4.5). "We're better than what we've shown. It's one game at a time. I think we dwelled on the last game (Oklahoma State) a little bit, which led over into the Kansas State game. But each week, we've got a chance to go 1-0. So, I think we're just looking forward to Saturday to play some more basketball."
            One of the keys is keeping Bickle (12.3 ppg, 7.5 rebounds) on the floor. Picking up two quick fouls in the first two minutes of the third quarter, the fifth-year senior played just three minutes in the second half at K-State and finished with four points and four boards before fouling out.
            "For Caitlin, it's not about how much she scores, it's about her actually being on the floor," Collen said. "It doesn't mean that she's not going to be Caitlin. But I felt like she was begging for a foul on (Serena) Sundell early in the third. . . . It's that whole idea of there's a time and a place where there's contact to fall. And there's a time and a place where there's contact, and you just hold your contact."
            While Andrews scored 30 and 27 points, respectfully, in back-to-back road wins at Oklahoma and Kansas, "we don't need any of them to suddenly be a superhero," Collen said.
            "We need their best," she said. "And that's something different for each player. . . . I don't think we're that different from the team that beat Iowa State (14 days ago). We just have to have that mentality that we know that when we're dialed-in and we do what we're supposed to do, that we're capable of beating them or anybody else."
            Iowa State snapped a three-game losing streak of its own with Monday's 66-61 win over 17th-ranked Texas, with Joens (20.2 ppg, 9.1 rebounds) scoring a game-high 24 points. Lexi Donarski (12.1 ppg) and Emily Ryan (11.1 ppg) are also averaging double figures, while 6-2 junior forward Nyamer Diew scored 25 against the Bears and had a double-double with 14 points and 14 boards in a loss at K-State.
            "You have to give respect to them that they can shoot the 3. Everybody on their team pretty much can score," Andrews said. "Ashley Joens is special, Emily Ryan, (Lexi) Donarski, they've got so many people that can go. But I think at the end of the day, it's about us being us and not trying to do anything that we don't normally do. Playing Baylor basketball is what we need to do."
            Saturday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Lincoln Rose and former Baylor men's basketball coach Jim Haller calling the action.
 

WACO, Texas – The Baylor women's basketball team returns to the Ferrell Center on Saturday when it hosts No. 22 Iowa State in its annual Play4Kay game at 5 p.m. 
 
The contest between the Bears (16-9, 7-6 Big 12) and the Cyclones (16-7, 8-5 Big 12) is available for streaming via Big 12 Now on ESPN+. A live radio broadcast is also available for fans on the Varsity Network App or locally on 1660 AM/92.3 FM. Additionally, live in-game updates will be provided via Twitter or live stats.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Baylor suffered the 87-68 setback at Kansas State on Wednesday night inside the Bramlage Coliseum. Graduate Ja'Mee Asberry led the Bears offensively, posting a season-high 21 points in her first 20-plus point game of the year and 22nd in her career. She fell a 3-pointer shy of matching a career-high in the category, connecting on a team-best five from range. Asberry also added a game- and career-high six steals to her stat line.
 
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs added 16 points off the bench, reaching double figures for the fifth time in six outings. She went a team-best 6-for-9 from the charity stripe, matching a career high with six-made free throws. Additionally, Littlepage-Buggs grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while Jaden Owens and Sarah Andrews each dished out a team-leading five assists in the effort.
 
SCOUTING IOWA STATE AND THE SERIES
Baylor holds the 33-9 advantage in the all-time series with Iowa State and the Cyclones have won just two games in Waco. In the first meeting this season on Feb. 4, the Bears handed the Cyclones their first home loss of the season, topping ISU, 76-70. Iowa State hasn't lost a game at Hilton Coliseum since.
 
The Cyclones enter Saturday's contest with a 16-7 overall record and 8-5 mark in Big 12 play. They've won just one of their last four, overcoming No. 17 Texas, 66-61, after dropping three straight. Iowa State's win over Texas snapped a seven-game losing skid against the Longhorns.
 
The Cyclones have four players in double figures led by Ashley Joens, who is averaging 20.2 points per game. Additionally, she has a team-leading 9.1 rebounds per contest.