By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – With three-time National Defensive Player of the Year Brittney Griner back in Waco for a pregame ceremony retiring her No. 42 jersey Sunday afternoon, Baylor coach
Nicki Collen told her players that the best way to honor BG "was to compete at the defensive end with a high level of energy."
What the 21
st-ranked Bears did was turn in one of the most dominant defensive showings in the 28-year history of the Big 12, forcing 29 turnovers and holding Texas Tech to its fewest points ever and the fourth-fewest in any conference game.
Leading for all but the first 27 seconds, Baylor (19-6, 8-6) blew out the shorthanded and outmatched Lady Raiders, 61-32, before a near-sellout crowd of 7,093 at Foster Pavilion.
"I told them that there's a reason BG was National Defensive Player of the Year, amongst many awards," said Baylor coach
Nicki Collen, whose team won its 29
th-consecutive game against Tech (16-11, 5-9), "but the best way to honor her was to compete at the defensive end with a high level of energy. And I thought that's what we did.
"We had moments where we were good offensively, we had moments where we weren't good offensively. But it didn't matter because we kept defending at a high level."
Griner became the seventh player in program history to have her jersey retired and the first to have a banner in the Foster Pavilion rafters. Tearing up as the banner was raised, Griner applauded the crowd that showed her love throughout the game.
"Just full of emotion," Griner said in an interview during the ESPN2 broadcast. "As soon as (the banner) started to go up, that's when I started to break. It just all came together at the right time. There's always a plan, and you've just got to trust in that plan."
The 6-foot-9 Griner said she "got (the Bears) pumped up and ready to go." Asked about special memories during her four-year career at Baylor (2009-13), Griner said it was "just the moments with my team, honestly."
"All the moments with the team, with the fans," she said. "When you look back at it, you start to forget about the stats. You just the remember the wins, and you remember all the other things."
Tech scored single-digit points in each of the first three quarters and didn't hit double digits, period, until the last two minutes of the first half when Kelly Mora made a bucket off a Baylor turnover to cut the deficit to 27-11.
"Our guards really struggled with their pressure on the perimeter, just to get us into anything," Tech coach Krista Gerlich said. "Obviously, we're playing a little bit shorthanded. But even then, we have handled pressure better than that. Tonight, I thought (the Bears) were exceptional at their on-ball defense."
Turning it over 17 times in the first half alone, Tech shot just 27.8% overall (5-of-18) and 1-of-5 from outside the arc. Scoring 13 unanswered points, the Bears went up 17-2 on back-to-back buckets by
Dre'Una Edwards and led 27-13 at halftime.
"We really wanted to do it for BG and bring her home and honor her the right way," said sophomore forward
Bella Fontleroy, who scored nine points and had two of the team's six blocks.
"At the same time, we know we're getting to the tail end of the regular season and the conference tournament and postseason are coming up. We really need to figure out how to lock in and consistently do these things: have energy and effort and execute game plans."
Baylor broke it open with an 18-point third quarter that included back-to-back 3-pointers by Fontleroy and
Sarah Andrews, who led the Bears with a game-high 11 points, four assists, three steals and a block.
Able to rest some of the starters in the fourth quarter, Baylor took its biggest lead of the game, 55-22, midway through the fourth quarter on a three-point play by Andrews.
Ten of the Bears' 11 available players scored in double figures, including
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs with 10 points and six rebounds, helping Baylor dominate the boards, 42-26, and outscore the Lady Raiders 34-4 on points in the paint.
"I started the group of players that analytically has been our best defensive lineup all season long," Collen said of Fontleroy replacing Edwards in the starting lineup with Andrews, Fontleroy,
Jada Walker and
Aijha Blackwell. "
Baylor's balanced attack included Blackwell with six points, a game-high 11 rebounds and three assists. Coming off the bench for the first time this season, Edwards had eight points, five rebounds and two steals.
Bailey Maupin scored seven of her team-high nine points in the fourth quarter, when the Lady Raiders finally hit double digits with 14 points.
A nine-time WNBA all-star with the Phoenix Mercury, Griner becomes Baylor's seventh player to have her jersey retired, joining Odyssey Sims (No. 0), Melissa Jones (No. 5), Nina Davis (No. 13), Suzie Snider Eppers (No. 23), Sheila Lambert No. 31) and current assistant coach
Sophia Young-Malcolm (No. 33).
"It means everything. I feel seen," Griner said. "You give so much to the organization, to the school. And then, for them to honor you and appreciate who you . . . you just feel seen."
Baylor finishes a two-game homestand with a matchup against Kansas (15-10, 8-6) at 7 p.m. Wednesday in a game pitting two of the three teams tied for fifth in the Big 12 standings. In the first half of conference play, the Jayhawks handed the Bears their worst loss of the season, 87-66, on Jan. 10 in Lawrence.
GAME NOTES
- The No. 21 Baylor women's basketball team powered past Texas Tech, 61-32, on Sunday afternoon at Foster Pavilion.
- Baylor has won 29 consecutive meetings with Texas Tech, with the last loss coming on Feb. 19, 2011, the only TTU win in the series dating back to 2006-07.
- The Lady Raiders have not won in Waco since 2004.
- Baylor retired Brittney Griner's No. 42 jersey in a pre-game ceremony on Sunday. It marks the seventh jersey retired in Baylor women's basketball history, joining Odyssey Sims, Melissa Jones, Nina Davis, Suzie Snider Eppers, Shelia Lambert and Sophia Young.
- Baylor Coach Nicki Collen is 67-26 in her third season at Baylor.
- The Bears are 38-10 at home under Collen.
- The Bears are 5-2 all-time at the Foster Pavilion, which debuted earlier in 2024.
- BU moved to 5-2 in 2023-24 in nationally televised games.
- Baylor is 17-2 in 2023-24 when leading at halftime and 62-6 under Collen.
- Baylor held Texas Tech to just 32 points, equaling the worst scoring output for the Lady Raiders in program history, also scoring 32 vs. Oklahoma in 2014.
- It was the fewest points scored by a BU opponent since Lamar on Nov. 21, 2019.
- It was the fourth-fewest points scored by a Big 12 team in league play in the history of the Big 12, behind a 26-point game from Oklahoma State (vs. Baylor) in 2006, a 29-point game from Oklahoma State in 2001 (vs. Texas Tech) and a 30-point game from Kansas State in 2019 (vs. WVU).
- The Bears are 15-1 when outrebounding their foes, including a 7-1 mark in league play. Under Collen, BU is 54-9 when outrebounding its opponent.
- BU held a 43-26 margin in total rebounds.
- Baylor held a 34-4 margin in points in the paint.
- The Bears forced 29 TTU turnovers, their second-most forced on the year, behind 30 turnovers forced against McNeese.