Thursday, February 1
Waco, Texas
7:30 PM
Baylor
16-4,5-4Big 12
55
vs
67
Texas
20-3,7-3Big 12
1
2
3
4
F
Texas
13
14
22
18
67
Baylor
15
8
17
15
55
No. 13 WBB Falls to No. 12 Texas
2/1/2024 10:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Bears kept Longhorns close but couldn't capitalize
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Baylor coach Nicki Collen is a fan of trading three for two, especially when the other team has a frontline that rotates 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 and 6-1.
"We're going to struggle to score in the lane against them when they're double-big," Collen said.
But part of trading three for two is making the 3's. Shooting just 23.3% from outside the arc – 7-for-30 – the 13th-ranked Baylor women couldn't keep up with the No. 12 Texas Longhorns, falling 67-55 Thursday night in front of a crowd of 6,015 at Foster Pavilion.
"I thought a lot of those threes were open, and I think it is what they gave you," Collen said of the Texas defense. "When they're as big as they are, we're going to struggle to score in the lane against them. . . . I thought the ball stuck a lot, way too much. And then, I thought there were times (when the ball movement) was really good and we got good shots. And we missed them."
The Longhorns (20-3, 7-3) "kept ramming it at us," Collen said, outscoring Baylor, 38-18, on points in the paint. Texas' foursome of 6-4 Taylor Jones, 6-1 Aaliyah Moore, 6-4 Amina Muhammad and 6-2 DeYona Gaston combined to go 16-of-30 and score 41 of the Longhorns' 67 points.
"If you had told me we'd stay within four on the boards with them playing Jones and Moore as many minutes as they were able to tonight, I would have told you we had a really good chance to win," said Collen, whose team fell to 16-4 overall and 5-4 in conference. I "just didn't think we did a good enough job of taking advantage of Jones at the defensive end. She's a really tough cover for us."
Baylor also struggled to contain 6-1 freshman point guard Madison Booker . . . again. Booker, who scored 25 points in an 85-79 loss to the Bears 33 days ago in Austin, scored a game-high 22 points and started a pivotal 11-2 run at the end of the third quarter with a 3-pointer from the corner.
"If there's another freshman in the country doing what Madison Booker is doing for our team right, you're welcome to point her out," Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. "The kid is special. There's another player at Texas that wore No. 35 a while back on the men's side (Kevin Durant) that was a pretty good player, that's still playing.
"If he was better than her as a freshman, I'd like to see some film. I've coached a long time, 39 years, I've had some really good players, some really good freshmen. Between her and Rori Harmon in her freshman year, there's not two better freshmen that I've ever coached."
In a game filled with scoring runs, Texas delivered the biggest blow at the end of the third quarter, outscoring the Bears, 11-2, and going up 49-40 on a pair of jumpers by Booker and Jones.
The Longhorns got out to an 11-2 lead in the first six minutes of the game and was up 13-5 before the Bears reeled off 15-straight points feeding over into the second quarter. Iowa State transfer Denae Fritz capped it with an offensive rebound and putback that gave Baylor its biggest lead of the night, 20-13.
"Our main goal coming into the game was to get in transition," said Jada Walker, who scored nine points, but was 0-for-2 from 3-point range and just 3-of-6 from the line, "because that did work doe us the last time we played them. But honestly, just being smart with the ball and making smarter decisions when we do have two-on-one (fast) breaks and we can just get easy buckets."
Continuing the back and forth, Texas scored 14 in a row before Sarah Andrews drained a 3-pointer that made it a four-point game, 27-23 at the half.
The Bears scored six points at the start of the third quarter and tied it up at 38-38 when Bella Fontleroy drained a 3-pointer. But Booker's answering 3-pointer from the corner kicked off a closing 11-2 run that put the Horns up by nine, 49-40.
Aijha Blackwell, who had double-digit rebounds for the sixth time in the last seven games with 11 boards, said it was Baylor's post defense and accountability.
"Me and (Dre'Una Edwards), I just think we have to be better," she said. "I'm battling with them . . . Me and Dre are definitely going to watch the film and be better in that area. That's the area they really tried to get at us. So, we just have to be better."
Sarah Andrews was the Bears' lone double-figure scorer with 11 points, hitting 3-of-9 from outside the arc. Blackwell had another double-digit rebounding game with 11 boards, but scored only seven points and had four of Baylor's 19 turnovers for the night.
Baylor had an extended 15-0 run to go up 20-13 early in the second quarter, but Texas answered with 14-straight points of its own and was up 27-23 at halftime. And then, after Bella Fontleroy tied it up at 38-38 with a 3-pointer, the Longhorns outscored the Bears, 11-2, over the last 3:40 in a stretch when Baylor did not hit one field goal.
The Bears will go back on the road for their next two games, facing Houston (12-9, 3-7) at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Fertita Center and BYU (12-10, 2-7) at 8 p.m. next Wednesday at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah. As part of a 14-0 start to the season, Baylor defeated Houston, 87-58, on Jan. 6 in the second game at Foster Pavilion.
GAME NOTES
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Baylor coach Nicki Collen is a fan of trading three for two, especially when the other team has a frontline that rotates 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 and 6-1.
"We're going to struggle to score in the lane against them when they're double-big," Collen said.
But part of trading three for two is making the 3's. Shooting just 23.3% from outside the arc – 7-for-30 – the 13th-ranked Baylor women couldn't keep up with the No. 12 Texas Longhorns, falling 67-55 Thursday night in front of a crowd of 6,015 at Foster Pavilion.
"I thought a lot of those threes were open, and I think it is what they gave you," Collen said of the Texas defense. "When they're as big as they are, we're going to struggle to score in the lane against them. . . . I thought the ball stuck a lot, way too much. And then, I thought there were times (when the ball movement) was really good and we got good shots. And we missed them."
The Longhorns (20-3, 7-3) "kept ramming it at us," Collen said, outscoring Baylor, 38-18, on points in the paint. Texas' foursome of 6-4 Taylor Jones, 6-1 Aaliyah Moore, 6-4 Amina Muhammad and 6-2 DeYona Gaston combined to go 16-of-30 and score 41 of the Longhorns' 67 points.
"If you had told me we'd stay within four on the boards with them playing Jones and Moore as many minutes as they were able to tonight, I would have told you we had a really good chance to win," said Collen, whose team fell to 16-4 overall and 5-4 in conference. I "just didn't think we did a good enough job of taking advantage of Jones at the defensive end. She's a really tough cover for us."
Baylor also struggled to contain 6-1 freshman point guard Madison Booker . . . again. Booker, who scored 25 points in an 85-79 loss to the Bears 33 days ago in Austin, scored a game-high 22 points and started a pivotal 11-2 run at the end of the third quarter with a 3-pointer from the corner.
"If there's another freshman in the country doing what Madison Booker is doing for our team right, you're welcome to point her out," Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. "The kid is special. There's another player at Texas that wore No. 35 a while back on the men's side (Kevin Durant) that was a pretty good player, that's still playing.
"If he was better than her as a freshman, I'd like to see some film. I've coached a long time, 39 years, I've had some really good players, some really good freshmen. Between her and Rori Harmon in her freshman year, there's not two better freshmen that I've ever coached."
In a game filled with scoring runs, Texas delivered the biggest blow at the end of the third quarter, outscoring the Bears, 11-2, and going up 49-40 on a pair of jumpers by Booker and Jones.
The Longhorns got out to an 11-2 lead in the first six minutes of the game and was up 13-5 before the Bears reeled off 15-straight points feeding over into the second quarter. Iowa State transfer Denae Fritz capped it with an offensive rebound and putback that gave Baylor its biggest lead of the night, 20-13.
"Our main goal coming into the game was to get in transition," said Jada Walker, who scored nine points, but was 0-for-2 from 3-point range and just 3-of-6 from the line, "because that did work doe us the last time we played them. But honestly, just being smart with the ball and making smarter decisions when we do have two-on-one (fast) breaks and we can just get easy buckets."
Continuing the back and forth, Texas scored 14 in a row before Sarah Andrews drained a 3-pointer that made it a four-point game, 27-23 at the half.
The Bears scored six points at the start of the third quarter and tied it up at 38-38 when Bella Fontleroy drained a 3-pointer. But Booker's answering 3-pointer from the corner kicked off a closing 11-2 run that put the Horns up by nine, 49-40.
Aijha Blackwell, who had double-digit rebounds for the sixth time in the last seven games with 11 boards, said it was Baylor's post defense and accountability.
"Me and (Dre'Una Edwards), I just think we have to be better," she said. "I'm battling with them . . . Me and Dre are definitely going to watch the film and be better in that area. That's the area they really tried to get at us. So, we just have to be better."
Sarah Andrews was the Bears' lone double-figure scorer with 11 points, hitting 3-of-9 from outside the arc. Blackwell had another double-digit rebounding game with 11 boards, but scored only seven points and had four of Baylor's 19 turnovers for the night.
Baylor had an extended 15-0 run to go up 20-13 early in the second quarter, but Texas answered with 14-straight points of its own and was up 27-23 at halftime. And then, after Bella Fontleroy tied it up at 38-38 with a 3-pointer, the Longhorns outscored the Bears, 11-2, over the last 3:40 in a stretch when Baylor did not hit one field goal.
The Bears will go back on the road for their next two games, facing Houston (12-9, 3-7) at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Fertita Center and BYU (12-10, 2-7) at 8 p.m. next Wednesday at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah. As part of a 14-0 start to the season, Baylor defeated Houston, 87-58, on Jan. 6 in the second game at Foster Pavilion.
GAME NOTES
- The No. 13 Baylor women's basketball team was unable to overcome No. 12 Texas at Foster Pavilion on Thursday night, falling 67-55.
- For the fourth-straight game, and sixth time in Big 12 play, Aijha Blackwell finished in double figures on the glass, securing 11 rebounds to lead the Bears.
- Blackwell is just four rebounds shy of 1,000 career boards.
- Sarah Andrews finished with 11 points to lead all BU scorers.
- Andrews has reached double figures in the point column in 15 of 20 games this season.
- The senior guard fell an assist shy of securing a double-double, dishing out a game-high nine dimes. Andrews has led the Bears in the category in six contest this season.
- Darianna Littlepage-Buggs tallied a team- and season-high three steals.
- Andrews drained a team-high trio of 3-pointers and now has 214 in her career. She is 47 shy of breaking the BU program record.
- Yaya Felder contributed eight of Baylor's 16 points off the bench.
Team Stats
UT
Baylor
FG%
.474
.351
3FG%
.143
.233
FT%
.667
.533
RB
38
34
TO
18
19
STL
10
10
Game Leaders
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballG
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