12/12 BAYLOR BEARS (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas  Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Nicki Collen (Marquette, 1998) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)	12/12 BAYLOR (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. INCARNATE WORD CARDINALS (0-1, 0-0 SLC) Nov. 7, 2024 • 7 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Foster Pavilion (7,500)  LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN+ Talent: John Morris (pxp), Jim Haller (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Media Network via FOX Sports Radio 93.9FM in Central Texas and worldwide at centexsportsfan.com Talent: Derek Smith (PBP), Lori Fogleman (Analyst) Baylor Social Media:
	INCARNATE WORD CARDINALS (0-1, 0-0 SLC) Location: San Antonio, Texas Conference/Affiliation: SLC Head Coach: Jeff Dow (Oregon, 1989) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
WACO, Texas – After a 100-39 blowout of an NAIA Langston team, the 12^th-ranked Baylor women will tip things off for real when the Bears host Incarnate Word (0-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Foster Pavilion.
 
"I'm not sure if you ever know if you really got what you needed," fourth-year Baylor head coach Nicki Collen said, "but you certainly checked some boxes off. And hopefully, we got the jitters out of playing in front of people. . . . You get a little bit of everything this time of year, and you just have to figure out what your strengths are and what your weaknesses are once you start playing against different defenses."
 
With more returning players than newcomers on the roster for the first time in her career at Baylor, Collen said "we pick up stuff a little quicker."
 
The Bears return eight of their top 10 scorers, including senior point guard Sarah Andrews (11.4 ppg, 3.9 assists) and junior forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (10.5 ppg, 7.2 rebounds), and brought in 6-3 center Aaron Vonleh from Colorado, 6-1 freshman forward Kayla Nelms and two-time NJCAA All-American guard Waiata Jennings.
 
"We pull along our new players," Collen said. "Netty (Vonleh) is new, but she's played in multiple systems, so she picks things up pretty quickly. . . . Sometimes, you don't need anything more than two-man and three-man action and understanding what your reads are. But we now get to put a few more wrinkles. We didn't really use them in the exhibition game, but I feel like we can get to some things."
 
Even with "okay" depth, Collen said she finds it hard "to take Buggs off the floor." The 6-1 forward, who had five double-doubles last season and scored in double figures 18 times, tallied 25 points and 11 rebounds in Sunday's win over Langston.
 
"That's always my greatest challenge," Collen said, "because the tempo that (Buggs) creates when she plays makes us better. She's one that we have subs for, but it's hard, her energy just changes the game."
 
The preseason Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Year after earning All-Pac-12 honors last season at Colorado, Vonleh gives the Bears the kind of physical presence they haven't had since 6-3 Queen Egbo on Baylor's last Big 12 championship team in 2022 in Collen's debut season.
 
Vonleh scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting versus Langston, but "we have to do a more consistent job of finding her when she's open," Collen said.
 
"She also has to be somebody that demands the ball and not just when we run a play for her, but in the midst of all of our actions," Collen said. "Are you sealing when you have opportunity? And I think from that perspective, we can be better all the way around. I don't care what team we play, I don't care what style, I don't care if they're in man or zone, there are ways for us to get her the ball, there are ways for her to impact the game."
 
Baylor has depth at the guard positions with Andrews, Jada Walker, Yaya Felder and Jana Van Gytenbeek, but 5-8 freshman Ines Goryanova from Bulgaria is out with an injury and the 5-9 Jennings "is just figuring things out at this level.
 
"I think eventually, she's going to be really, really good for us," Collen said of Jennings, "but I think it's going to take her time to understand this level."
 
Even more backcourt depth is on the way with the addition of 5-7 guard Aliyah Matharu from Florida, who finished second in the SEC in scoring last season with 19.0 points and 2.7 steals per game. After finishing the fall semester in Gainesville, Matharu could be cleared to play as early as the Big 12 opener on Dec. 21 at Kansas.
 
"I think her production per minute might have been the best in the country last year. When you think about almost 20 points a game and 24 minutes a game, that's pretty significant contribution," Collen said. "She has a tendency to get in foul trouble, which might keep her minutes down. But at 2.7 steals a game, she's someone that's going to give us another really elite pressure guard."
 
One of two returning starters for Incarnate Word, 5-11 junior forward Jorja Elliott scored a team-high 10 points in the Cardinals' 78-48 loss to Texas Tech in Monday's season opener.
 
Two years ago, Baylor had a single-digit halftime lead on Incarnate Word before blowing it open with a 24-point third quarter in a 71-42 victory at the Ferrell Center in the only previous matchup of the two teams.
 
"They've had some key injuries that looked like they were down a little bit against Texas Tech," Collen said. "But they're a Princeton team, they're going to run elbow actions, they're going to run some dribble drive. And we want to show that we can defend good actions."
 
Thursday's game will be streamed on ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and former Baylor men's basketball head coach Jim Haller calling the action.
 
Playing three of its first four games on the road, Baylor will face Oregon (2-0) at 9 p.m. CT Sunday in Eugene, Oregon, in a game that will be televised by the Big Ten Network. The Ducks, coming off a down year at 11-21, defeated California Baptist, 93-63, on Monday and Nevada, 76-58, on Wednesday.



Story lines
• The Bears are looking for their 15th-straight season-opening win on Thursday night, last beating Southern 85-53 in 2023. The last loss to open the season was in 2009, when the Bears fell to Tennessee, 74-65, in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic in Knoxville.
• A win against Incarnate Word would be BU's 20th-consecutive home-opening victory, dating back to 2005-06. 
• Baylor opens the season ranked 12th in the nation by the Associated Press. The Bears' ranking in the AP poll is the 20th consecutive appearance in the preseason release. Among Big 12 schools, BU lands second in four league foes in the top 25. Baylor also enters the season 12th in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.
• The Big 12 coaches picked the Bears to finish third in the conference with two first-place votes.
• Thursday's game is the second against the Cardinals in program history, with Baylor taking the first-ever matchup 71-42 in 2022.
• UIW opened the season on Monday night at Texas Tech, falling 78-48. 27 of their points came from the charity stripe, shooting 75% from the line.
• Junior guard Jorja Elliott was Incarnate Word's lone double-digit point scorer, tabbing 10 points in 28 minutes on the court.
• Incarnate Word ended the 2023-24 season 19-11 in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament and went 0-3 against Power Four schools (TCU, Texas Tech, Arkansas).
• Baylor holds the 1-0 all-time advantage over UIW, beating them at the Ferrell Center for the first and only meeting on Nov. 10, 2022.
• Baylor returns four 10+ game starters to the court in 2024 with Sarah Andrews, Bella Fontleroy, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs and Jada Walker.
• The Bears defeated Langston 100-39 in an exhibition game on Sunday afternoon.
• For the first time in the Nicki Collen era, Baylor's roster will feature more returners than newcomers. 80% of last season's scoring returns for 2024-25, up from 56% in Year Three and 57% in Year Two.
• Baylor's roster holds four student-athletes that have eclipsed the 1,000-career point mark at the Division I level. BU's four ties the nations' best among power conferences with Illinois and Notre Dame.
• Sarah Andrews (1,378 pts - all at BU), Yaya Felder (1,110 pts - 247 at BU), Madison Bartley (1,052 pts - 51 at BU) and Jada Walker (1007 pts - 284 at BU).
• NJCAA transfer Waiata Jennings scored 1,227 career points in a two-year stint at Collin College, upping the total to five across collegiate competition.
• Aaronette Vonleh is on record watch, only 41 points away from 1,000.
• Baylor landed three players on four preseason watch lists, announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
• Sarah Andrews earned spots on the Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year watch list and the Ann Meyers-Drysdale watch list for the best shooting guard in the country.
• Andrews is one of nine watch list members from the 16-team Big 12 Conference. Iowa State and Kansas State each are represented by two student-athletes on the list.
• Darianna Littlepage-Buggs took her second-straight spot on the preseason list from the Katrina McClain Award for power forwards.
• Aaronette Vonleh landed among the top 20 for the Lisa Leslie Award for the best center in the nation.
• Jada Walker and Yaya Felder also received votes for the Naismith Starting 5 awards, but did not rank in the top 20.
 
Baylor women's basketball is presented by Central National Bank, a family-owned, independent bank headquartered in Waco, Texas, that provides uniquely personal service while simultaneously embracing the latest developments in banking technology.
 
To stay up to date, follow the team on its official Facebook, X and Instagram accounts: @BaylorWBB.