Sunday, January 28
Stillwater, OK
1 PM
Baylor
at
Oklahoma State
No. 13 WBB Travels to Stillwater to Face Cowgirls Sunday
1/27/2024 8:39:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The game is set to air nationally on ESPNU at 1 p.m.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Nicki Collen isn't revealing any top-secret information about her No. 13/15 Baylor women's basketball team but says she would "play a zone until we solve it."
That's the part of the puzzle the Bears (15-3, 4-3) haven't been able to solve – at least to this point - dropping three of their last four games while struggling against zone defenses prior to Sunday's 1 p.m. game at Oklahoma State (11-8, 4-4).
In Monday's game, fourth-ranked Kansas State rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit by switching to the zone midway through the second quarter and allowing only 16 second-half points in handing Baylor its first loss at the new Foster Pavilion, 58-55.
"Kansas State was 99.9% man (defense) until we played them," Collen said. "In the second quarter, when they were struggling to get our man, they went zone. And that's what we saw, outside of baseline out-of-bounds (plays), the rest of the game.
"There's a common denominator there. Certainly, I'm not saying every opponent is going to put in a zone for us if they don't have one. But if they have a zone, I anticipate we'll see it."
With five days between games, Baylor went back to the classroom – actually, it was the gym – to try and get a better handle on how to attack zone defenses.
"You don't have to reinvent the wheel," Collen said. "It's not about having perfect zone offense, it's about understanding where the holes are in the zone and being able to find them and move into open space and get good angles. And understand where the two-on-one is when you start shifting the ball."
The problem against Kansas State, she said, was "the ball stuck when it needed to move and moved when it needed to stick."
"You've got to give your posts a chance to flash and not swing it while they're flashing," Collen said, "and then you miss the opportunity to hit them. . . . I think they understand ball-screen offense and their reads and when teams do certain things to us. But being able to be better at moving and cutting against the zone and what they're looking for."
One of the keys to a zone offense is finding the right person at the high post that can find the holes, pass to the cutters or swing the ball to the opposite side. Senior forwards Aijha Blackwell and Dre'Una Edwards have both had their shots at it, but nothing has really clicked.
"It seems so simple, but it's not," Collen said. "What we did a poor job of against Kansas State is whatever way we flashed from, we wanted to throw it that direction. So, that kept the ball on one side of the floor. Versus, if we square up, usually it's going to (be passed to the low block) or kicked to the opposite direction."
One player, in particular, who has struggled against the zone defenses is senior guard Sarah Andrews. Over the last four games, she has shot 18.4% from the field overall (7-for-38) and 15.4% from 3-point range (4-for-26), while seeing her scoring average drop from 13.8 to 12.2 per game.
"I don't think there's any doubt, Sarah wears it. I don't think she hides (her frustration)," Collen said. "She still impacts the game, whether she's making shots or not.
"We're in this business of looking for X factors and what's the difference between wins and losses with our opponents, what's the difference in wins and losses with us. In our wins, she's shooting over 40%; in our losses, she's shooting around 20%. That's pretty significance, the difference. And it shows how important she is to us."
Baylor faces a balanced Oklahoma State team that features five double-figure scorers. Freshman guard Stailee Heard leads the way with 14.4 points and 6.3 rebounds, while 6-5 junior center Hannah Gusters is averaging 13.9 points per game after stops at Baylor (2020-21) and LSU (2021-22).
The Bears have dominated the all-time series, 48-13, but OSU swept the two games last season under first-year head coach Jacie Hoyt.
"Stillwater has been bad to us," Collen said. "This will be the third time. The first time was the snowstorm, and we got stuck up there. We played horribly but found a way to win. But it was bad. Ask anyone on that team. They tell stories of that halftime talk."
Sunday's game will be broadcast by ESPNU, with Brenda VanLengen and former Texas Tech All-American Sheryl Swoopes calling the action.
WACO, Texas – The No. 13 Baylor women's basketball team hits the road for its first of two meetings with Oklahoma State on Sunday.
Tip-off from Gallagher-Iba Arena is set for 1 p.m. on ESPNU with Brenda VanLengen and Sheryl Swoops on the call. A live radio broadcast will be available on ESPN Central Texas (1660 AM/92.3 FM) and live in-game updates will be provided via Twitter and live stats.
STARTING FIVE
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and WBCA announced this week that Sarah Andrews and Dre'Una Edwards are top-10 candidates for the Nancy Lieberman Award and Katrina McClain Award, respectively. Andrews is the only individual from the Big 12 represented on the Nancy Lieberman Award list and Edwards is one of just two from the league on the power forward list.
Andrews, who earned a spot on three preseason watch lists, including the Nancy Lieberman Award, has started all 18 games for the Bears this season. Edwards has also started all 18 games for the Bears this season and she has reached double-figure scoring in a team-leading 15 of 18 games this season.
SCOUTING THE SERIES WITH OKLAHOMA STATE
Baylor leads the all-time series against the Cowgirls, 48-13, and the Bears are 16-9 in Stillwater. Sunday's contest marks the first of two meetings between the two programs during the 2023-24 regular season.
Oklahoma State swept the two-game series last season, putting up 70-plus point in both contests. Prior to the pair of losses last season, Baylor won 13-straight against the Cowgirls had won 28 of the last 30 dating back to the 2009-10 campaign.
To stay up to date on all things Baylor women's basketball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorWBB.
Baylor Bear Insider
Nicki Collen isn't revealing any top-secret information about her No. 13/15 Baylor women's basketball team but says she would "play a zone until we solve it."
That's the part of the puzzle the Bears (15-3, 4-3) haven't been able to solve – at least to this point - dropping three of their last four games while struggling against zone defenses prior to Sunday's 1 p.m. game at Oklahoma State (11-8, 4-4).
In Monday's game, fourth-ranked Kansas State rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit by switching to the zone midway through the second quarter and allowing only 16 second-half points in handing Baylor its first loss at the new Foster Pavilion, 58-55.
"Kansas State was 99.9% man (defense) until we played them," Collen said. "In the second quarter, when they were struggling to get our man, they went zone. And that's what we saw, outside of baseline out-of-bounds (plays), the rest of the game.
"There's a common denominator there. Certainly, I'm not saying every opponent is going to put in a zone for us if they don't have one. But if they have a zone, I anticipate we'll see it."
With five days between games, Baylor went back to the classroom – actually, it was the gym – to try and get a better handle on how to attack zone defenses.
"You don't have to reinvent the wheel," Collen said. "It's not about having perfect zone offense, it's about understanding where the holes are in the zone and being able to find them and move into open space and get good angles. And understand where the two-on-one is when you start shifting the ball."
The problem against Kansas State, she said, was "the ball stuck when it needed to move and moved when it needed to stick."
"You've got to give your posts a chance to flash and not swing it while they're flashing," Collen said, "and then you miss the opportunity to hit them. . . . I think they understand ball-screen offense and their reads and when teams do certain things to us. But being able to be better at moving and cutting against the zone and what they're looking for."
One of the keys to a zone offense is finding the right person at the high post that can find the holes, pass to the cutters or swing the ball to the opposite side. Senior forwards Aijha Blackwell and Dre'Una Edwards have both had their shots at it, but nothing has really clicked.
"It seems so simple, but it's not," Collen said. "What we did a poor job of against Kansas State is whatever way we flashed from, we wanted to throw it that direction. So, that kept the ball on one side of the floor. Versus, if we square up, usually it's going to (be passed to the low block) or kicked to the opposite direction."
One player, in particular, who has struggled against the zone defenses is senior guard Sarah Andrews. Over the last four games, she has shot 18.4% from the field overall (7-for-38) and 15.4% from 3-point range (4-for-26), while seeing her scoring average drop from 13.8 to 12.2 per game.
"I don't think there's any doubt, Sarah wears it. I don't think she hides (her frustration)," Collen said. "She still impacts the game, whether she's making shots or not.
"We're in this business of looking for X factors and what's the difference between wins and losses with our opponents, what's the difference in wins and losses with us. In our wins, she's shooting over 40%; in our losses, she's shooting around 20%. That's pretty significance, the difference. And it shows how important she is to us."
Baylor faces a balanced Oklahoma State team that features five double-figure scorers. Freshman guard Stailee Heard leads the way with 14.4 points and 6.3 rebounds, while 6-5 junior center Hannah Gusters is averaging 13.9 points per game after stops at Baylor (2020-21) and LSU (2021-22).
The Bears have dominated the all-time series, 48-13, but OSU swept the two games last season under first-year head coach Jacie Hoyt.
"Stillwater has been bad to us," Collen said. "This will be the third time. The first time was the snowstorm, and we got stuck up there. We played horribly but found a way to win. But it was bad. Ask anyone on that team. They tell stories of that halftime talk."
Sunday's game will be broadcast by ESPNU, with Brenda VanLengen and former Texas Tech All-American Sheryl Swoopes calling the action.
WACO, Texas – The No. 13 Baylor women's basketball team hits the road for its first of two meetings with Oklahoma State on Sunday.
Tip-off from Gallagher-Iba Arena is set for 1 p.m. on ESPNU with Brenda VanLengen and Sheryl Swoops on the call. A live radio broadcast will be available on ESPN Central Texas (1660 AM/92.3 FM) and live in-game updates will be provided via Twitter and live stats.
STARTING FIVE
- Baylor is seeking its second conference road win of the season at Oklahoma State on Sunday. The Bears are 2-2 in true road games this year after picking up a non-con victory at SMU and conference-opening win at Texas and dropping a pair of Big 12 games at Kansas and Iowa State.
- Graduate senior Aijha Blackwell is the only player on the roster with more than 800 career rebounds and needs just 34 boards to reach 1,000. She's finished in double figures on the glass in four of the last five games.
- Sarah Andrews has 209 career 3-pointers and needs 50 more to break Odyssey Sim's record of 258. The senior guard has hit at least one from range in 16 of 18 games this year.
- In Baylor's 77-74 win over UCF on Jan. 20, the Bears shot 50% (27-of-54) from the floor as a team and moved to 18-1 in the Nicki Collen era when shooting 50% or better from the field. Additionally, Baylor is 266-2 all-time when shooting at least 50% from the floor.
- Sunday's nationally televised game on ESPNU marks the fifth national broadcast of the season for the Bears and second-straight contest aired on the big screen. Baylor's home game against No. 10 Texas on Thursday will be the third-straight nationally televised game for the Bears and first one of the year on ESPN.
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and WBCA announced this week that Sarah Andrews and Dre'Una Edwards are top-10 candidates for the Nancy Lieberman Award and Katrina McClain Award, respectively. Andrews is the only individual from the Big 12 represented on the Nancy Lieberman Award list and Edwards is one of just two from the league on the power forward list.
Andrews, who earned a spot on three preseason watch lists, including the Nancy Lieberman Award, has started all 18 games for the Bears this season. Edwards has also started all 18 games for the Bears this season and she has reached double-figure scoring in a team-leading 15 of 18 games this season.
SCOUTING THE SERIES WITH OKLAHOMA STATE
Baylor leads the all-time series against the Cowgirls, 48-13, and the Bears are 16-9 in Stillwater. Sunday's contest marks the first of two meetings between the two programs during the 2023-24 regular season.
Oklahoma State swept the two-game series last season, putting up 70-plus point in both contests. Prior to the pair of losses last season, Baylor won 13-straight against the Cowgirls had won 28 of the last 30 dating back to the 2009-10 campaign.
To stay up to date on all things Baylor women's basketball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorWBB.
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