WBB Takes 10-Point Win Over TCU in Fort Worth, 67-57

Wednesday, February 22

Fort Worth, Texas

6:30 p.m.

Baylor

17-10,8-7Big 12

TCU

7-19,1-14Big 12

Baylor

TCU

WBB Takes 10-Point Win Over TCU in Fort Worth, 67-57

2/22/2023 8:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Bears led by freshman Fontleroy

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            FORT WORTH, Texas – On the stat sheet for Wednesday's game at Schollmaier Arena, Nicki Collen wasn't credited for nary one of Baylor's 16 assists.
            With Bella Fontleroy standing all by herself at the top of the key, Collen shouted out to the freshman forward, "Shoot it!" And she did, nothing but net.
            "Fourth-quarter Bella" showed up in a big way, scoring nine of her team-high 14 points in an 11-2 run that helped the Bears (17-10, 8-7) snap a four-game losing streak and pull out a 67-57 win over the TCU Horned Frogs (7-19, 1-14) Wednesday night.
            "I shouldn't have to tell Bella to shoot it when she's wide open from the top of the key, but she listened. That part is good," Collen said. "The 3 that she had going into halftime, plus that 3, were really, really big 3's."
            Winning its first game in 18 days, Baylor got a massive lift from the freshman duo of Fontleroy and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, who recorded her 13^th double-double of the season and ninth in league play with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
            "This is what's been expected of me," said Fontleroy, who scored in double figures for the 15^th time this season. "I feel like I've definitely shown up more, but I've known that I'm capable of it. (Coach Collen) was just joking about how she was telling me to shoot the ball. But I know I'm capable of it."
            Coupled with Texas Tech's 69-68 double-overtime win over West Virginia (16-10, 7-8), the Bears are now in fifth place in the Big 12 and just a game behind 20^th-ranked Iowa State (17-8, 9-6).
            "I don't care what your season expectations are, losing sucks," Collen said. "And winning is better. It's amazing the difference in how you feel based on one point. You can win a game by one point, you can lose a game by one point, and the way that you walk away from that is totally different."
            Trailing 39-31 at the half and still down eight going into the fourth period, TCU made it a one-possession game, 52-49, on a scoop layup by Luxy Ibeh with 6:45 left.
            After scoring just five points in the first three quarters, Fontleroy had a three-point play to start the Bears' run and then listened to her coach long enough to drain a 3-pointer for a double-digit lead, 61-51, at the 3:06 mark.
            And then, when Tomi Taiwo hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make things interesting again, Ja'Mee Asberry picked a pocket and scored on a layup and then Sarah Andrews iced it with a pair of free throws with 10.2 seconds remaining.
            "Just to get back in the (win) column and keep this momentum is really huge," Fontleroy said. "We've been working really hard in practice, and just seeing the things we've worked on come to fruition . . . this one was a little ugly, for sure, but we battled and fought to the finish."
            Using her eighth different starting lineup, Collen had Buggs and Fontleroy starting together for just the second time all year and the first since early November. With junior guard Sarah Andrews "not in our building for 48 hours" because of a stomach virus, the two freshmen started with the senior trio of forward Caitlin Bickle, Asberry and Jaden Owens.
            "There have been other times where we've had players miss, but they've been there, they've been on the sidelines," Collen said. "They knew what we're doing, they knew why we're doing it. . . . I just felt like it was better to give the guys a chance that had been practicing, to start out. On top of that, trying to limit minutes to some degree."
            Baylor led by as many as six in the opening period, but TCU shot 61.5% overall and 2-for-3 from outside the arc to go up 20-17.
            "We weren't engaged (defensively," Collen said. "I haven't had much of a voice in six weeks, but it was gone after the first. I let (assistant coach Tony Greene) run the D, but there were times I have a lot to say about defense. Our effort wasn't good, we gave up offensive rebounds. And they're really good at turning offensive rebounds into 3's."
            It didn't even look like the same defense in the second quarter, when the Bears held the Frogs to 2-of-11 from the field and doubled them up, 22-11, to take a 39-31 lead at the break.
            "The difference was that we locked in," Fontleroy said. "From the get-go, we weren't sharp defensively. But after that first quarter, we came together and we were like, 'Guys, we've got to start it now. And we've got to keep them from scoring.'''
            After scoring eight of her season-high 14 points in the first quarter, TCU's Bella Craven was just 1-of-4 from the floor over the last three quarters.
            For just the second time in Big 12 play, Baylor had five players reach double figures. Bickle, Asberry and Andrews scored 12 points apiece, with Owens had four points to go with a career-high nine rebounds and a team-high five assists.
            Taiwo and Cravens led the Frogs with 17 and 14 points, respectively. Baylor turned it over 21 times, but actually won the points off turnovers, 21-9, and finished with a dominant 41-31 edge on the boards, adding 16 second-chance points.
            In the back end of a doubleheader, the Bears host Texas Tech (17-11, 5-10) at 5 p.m. Saturday, following the ninth-ranked Baylor men vs. No. 8 Texas at 1 p.m. The Red Raiders lost their first game with Baylor, 79-59, in Lubbock and knocked off West Virginia in double-overtime, 69-68, on Wednesday.

NOTABLES

The Baylor women's basketball team broke a four-game losing skid with a 10-point victory at TCU on Wednesday night, topping the Horned Frogs, 67-57.
Since TCU joined the Big 12 ahead of the 2012-13 season, the Bears have swept the series with the Horned Frogs every year and have won 35-straight games dating back to the 1989-90 campaign.
For just the second time during league play, five Bears reached double figures led by Bella Fontleroy's 14 points.
Sarah Andrews, Ja'Mee Asberry and Caitlin Bickle each tallied 12 points, while Darianna Littlepage-Buggs added 10 points.
Andrews' 12 points pushed her to a team-leading 21 games in double figures this season. The junior guard has recorded double digits in all but two conference games.
Littlepage-Buggs registered a game-high 14 rebounds, recording her 13th double-double of the season, and ninth in Big 12 action. Her nine double-doubles are the most by a BU rookie dating back to at least the 2009-10 season.
Senior Jaden Owens grabbed a career-high nine rebounds and dished out a team-leading five assists. The guard has led the Bears in assists in 18 of 27 contests.
Baylor bested TCU on the glass, 41-30, marking the 18th time this year the Bears have outrebounded their opponent.