WACO, Texas – Sophomore Bella Fontleroy chipped in a career high 21 points to lead No. 6 Baylor women's basketball to a 71-50 rout of No. 23 TCU, its 37^th straight win over the Horned Frogs, Wednesday night in the Bears' opening game of the Paul & Alejandra Foster Pavilion. 
 
The Bears cruised to the win after trailing at halftime, 26-22, dominating the Horned Frogs in an electric second half that saw BU outscore TCU 49-24. 
 
The contest marked the first women's game played at the new Foster Pavilion, which opened on Tuesday night with a Baylor men's basketball win over Cornell. It ends a 35-year history of the Bears playing at the Ferrell Center. 
 
Baylor (13-0, 2-0 Big 12 Conference) dominated its second-straight unbeaten top-25 opponent and matched the best start to a season since 2015-16, when the Bears went 36-2. On Saturday, BU posted an 85-79 win at No. 5 Texas for its 14^th straight win in Austin. 
 
The Bears now have four top-25 wins to open the year, besting No. 4 Utah, No. 24 Miami (Fla.), the win over the Horns in Austin and the beatdown of TCU in Waco on opening night of The Foster. 
 
The win marked the 37th-consecutive win for the Bears over the Horned Frogs, stretching the series lead to 48-5, including a 23-2 mark in Waco. TCU has not beaten Baylor in Waco since the 1989-90 season. 
 
Fontleroy led the Bears with 21 points on 8-of-9 from the field, including 5-of-9 from distance. Sarah Andrews had 16 points, including four triples, while Yaya Felder had 13 points. Darianna Littlepage-Buggs finished with four points and eight boards, while Dre'Una Edwards had a team-leading 10 rebounds and added four assists. Jada Walker chipped in seven points, three boards and four assists. Aijha Blackwell added eight points and eight boards. 
 
The Bears were held to 39 percent shooting but went 13-of-25 from 3-point range. TCU shot 41 percent and was 2-for-16 from deep. BU won the battle of the boards, 39-34, had a 21-5 margin in bench points, a 13-2 mark in fast-break points and had assists on 19 of 25 made buckets. 
 
TCU (14-1, 1-1 Big 12) saw Sedona Prince lead the Frogs with 20 points on 21 shots, adding 10 rebounds. The Frogs were held to just 50 points in the BU win, 30 points shy of their average for the year. TCU had opened the year with 14-straight wins, including results over Oral Roberts, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Rice, Army, UTEP, Nebraska, Tulsa and BYU. 
 
THE RUNDOWN
TCU's Jaden  Owens opened the scoring with an elbow jumper and Littlepage-Buggs got the Bears on the board, finishing off the glass on a Jada Walker drive. Walker and Fontleroy each connected on game-tying buckets as the game went to the first media break of the first quarter even at six. 
 
Andrews sank the first 3-pointer in the Foster Pavilion for a 9-6 lead and after a TCU basket, Blackwell beat the first-quarter buzzer with a lay-in on a Felder drive and dish for an 11-8 lead. 
 
After TCU took a 13-11 lead, Felder sank a corner triple for a 14-13 lead. Walker gave the Bears a 16-14 lead with a transition finish on a speedy trip down the floor and Felder pushed the lead to 19-14 with her second 3-pointer. 
 
TCU use a 6-0 run, including two baskets from Madison Conner, to take a 20-19 lead before Fontleroy connected on a corner 3-pointer. The Frogs used a 6-0 run to close the half and take a 26-22 lead. Felder led the Bears with six points, with Edwards chipping in six boards. The Bears shot just 28 percent in the first half, with TCU shooting 12-for-26, including an 11-for-18 mark (6.1 percent) from inside the arc.  
 
Out of the break, TCU scored six of the first eight points to take a 32-25 lead. Edwards was the first Bear to appear at the free-throw line, sinking a pair to cut into the lead and Walker finished a transition and-1 to cut the lead to 32-29. 
 
Fontleroy cut the lead to 33-32 and after TCU took a 35-32 lead, the Bears spurted out on an 8-0 run to take a 40-35 lead, including corner 3-pointers from Fontleroy and Blackwell. 
 
After Prince made one free throw, the Bears got a wing 3-pointer from Andrews to take the lead to 43-36 with 90 seconds left in the third quarter. The third quarter closed on a 13-1 run, for a 45-36 BU lead, after Andrews had a steal and was fouled on a transition lay-up. 
 
Felder opened the fourth quarter with free throws and Fontleroy sank her fourth 3-pointer of the game for a 51-36 lead. Andrews then went on a 5-0 run, including a triple and a transition finish off a steal. After a TCU bucket cut the lead to 56-38, BU got a fifth 3-pointer from Fontleroy and a pair of free throws from Felder for a 61-38 lead. 
 
Fontleroy finished a drive from Edwards on the baseline for a 23-point lead with five minutes left. Andrews sank a deep trey for a 66-42 lead as the clock ticked to four minutes remaining. 
 
The lead grew in the closing minutes as the Bears continued to pull away from the upstart Frogs. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS
A native of Springfield, Mo., Fontleroy set a new career high with 21 points, eclipsing her pervious best of 19 points vs. McNeese. Her five triples marked a new career high. She had 16 points in the second half. 
 
STAT OF THE GAME
Baylor outscored TCU 49-24 in the second half after trailing by six at the break. 
 
The Bears shot just 28.1 percent in the first half while adjusting to the TCU zone but closed by making 16-of-32 shots in the second half, including 9-of-14 triples, and adding an 8-of-8 mark from the charity stripe.
 
NEXT
The Bears will return to action on Saturday, playing host to Houston (9-4, 0-2) at 2 p.m. on ESPN+. 

GAME NOTES

• Baylor's win over No. 23 TCU marked its fourth top-25 win of the season. The Bears join UConn, South Carolina and UCLA as the only four teams in the country this season with three or more AP Top-25 wins. 
• In the Nicki Collen era (since 2021-22), Baylor is tied for fourth with Indiana with 13 top-25 wins. South Carolina (20), Stanford (17) and UConn (14) lead the pack.
• The first bucket by a Baylor Bear in Foster Pavilion in a women's game was made by Darianna Littlepage-Buggs. 
• The first 3-pointer made by a women's basketball player in Foster Pavilion was by Sarah Andrews.
• Bella Fontleroy poured in a game- and career-high 21 points, going a career-best 5-for-6 from 3-point range. 
• The 21-point win was Baylor's ninth 20-plus point victory of the season. 
• The Bears matched their best start to a season since the 2015-16 campaign, moving to 13-0. 
• For the first time this season, BU went into halftime trailing, but put up more points in the third quarter than the first half combined. 
• Dre'Una Edwards grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for her fourth double-figure rebounding game of the season and 28th of her career. 
• Littlepage-Buggs dished out a career-high four assists to lead the team alongside Edwards and Jada Walker. 
• For the sixth time this season, Edwards led the Bears in steals, finishing with three. 
• Yaya Felder and Andrews each finished in double figures, finishing with 13 and 16 points, respectively.
• Felder needs just 11 points for 1,000 in her career. 
• As a team, Baylor hit 13 3-pointers marking the most in a game since draining 14 against Alabama in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last year.