No. 24 WBB Gets 20th Victory of Season Against Kansas

Wednesday, February 21

Waco, Texas

7 PM

Baylor

20-6,9-6Big 12

Kansas

15-11,8-7Big 12

Kansas

Baylor

No. 24 WBB Gets 20th Victory of Season Against Kansas

2/21/2024 9:13:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Bears hold of Jayhawks to split the season series

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

WACO, Texas – Part of Stanford's 2021 national championship team, Baylor senior guard Jana Van Gytenbeek has seen her minutes and production increase dramatically over the last few weeks.

But she played arguably the biggest role of her college career Wednesday night, hitting three 3-pointers, scoring 11 points and adding five assists off the bench in helping the 24^th-ranked Bears avenge a 21-point road loss with a 69-61 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks before a Foster Pavilion crowd of 4,236.

"I just think you're starting to see Jana grow up a little bit," said Baylor coach Nicki Collen, whose team improved to 20-6 overall and tied for fifth in the Big 12 at 9-6 with its first back-to-back wins in over a month. "It's not like she's young, but just her confidence is exploding right now, which is really important to us, because she gives us another shot maker."

Teaming with senior forward Dre'Una Edwards, who matched her season high with 20 points, Van Gytenbeek helped the Baylor bench outscore the Kansas reserves, 35-0. She hit a deep 3-pointer a little over two months into the fourth quarter, stretching the Bears' lead to 61-47.

"I've just stayed consistent all of this season," Van Gytenbeek said, "and you kind of wait your turn. Nicki gave me an opportunity, so I just wanted to work as hard as I could to do that. It's also very easy to be successful when you're surrounded by people like Dre, Sarah (Andrews), (Darianna Littlepage-Buggs). You know they're going to work just as hard as me to get open."

Edwards also put together maybe her best game in a Baylor uniform, hitting 9-of-15 from the floor, 2-of-4 from distance, grabbing seven rebounds and even blocking a shot by Jayhawks' 6-6 super senior center, Taiyanna "Twin" Jackson.

After starting the Bears' first 23 games, the 6-foot senior forward has come off the bench in Baylor's first back-to-back wins since beginning the season 14-0 with a 3-0 start in conference.

"I've been off the bench before. When I was at Kentucky coming back from suspension, I was on the bench for the rest of the season," Edwards said. "So, this is nothing new to me. Whenever my team is ready for me to go out there and whenever the coaches are ready to call my name, I just have to go out and do what I do. Whether I'm starting or not starting, that doesn't really matter to me."

Baylor had missed six of its first seven shots, turned it over four times and trailed 9-3 when Edwards checked in at the 4:26 mark in the first quarter. Making an immediate impact, she grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a second-chance shot over Jackson, then scored off a turnover by Jackson.

"Dre, obviously, gives us offense," Collen said. "Sometimes, when you get to come in and you see how the game is going – and especially against a team that plays its starters a lot of minutes – you get to be fresh. I thought she made good decisions, she took good shots, she got on the glass."

After Edwards hit a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game, Baylor took its first lead, 16-15, when Aijha Blackwell made two of three free throws when she was fouled with 0.7 seconds left after a long inbounds pass from Littlepage-Buggs.

In the second quarter, Edwards and Bella Fontleroy hit 3-pointers in a 10-0 run and Van Gytenbeek drained another 3-pointer to give the Bears a double-digit lead, 31-21.

"I'm going to quote our Coach Sadie (Edwards): 'Sometimes me, sometimes you, always us,''' said Van Gytenbeek, who has scored in double figures in three of the last five games. "We're very unselfish as a team. And we know that we can trust the depth that we have on the bench. Sometimes, it's the bench's job to help us get out of a rut."

Kansas (15-11, 8-7) got back within two, 43-41, on a 3-pointer by freshman S'mya Nichols, who finished with a game-high 23 points. But the Bears responded, finishing the third quarter on a 9-2 run and pushing the lead to 54-45 on a scoop layup by Andrews.

Leading by as many as 15 in the fourth quarter, Baylor withstood another run by the Jayhawks when Zakiyah Franklin hit a quick 3-pointer off an inbounds play that made it a two-possession game. Jada Walker hit a pair of free throws to ice it, finishing 4-of-4 from the line and finishing with eight points.

After scoring a career-high 27 points and grabbing 20 rebounds in Kansas' 87-66 win, Jackson had just eight points and nine rebounds with five turnovers in the loss.

"We have been focusing on post defense," Collen said. "So, I think I will give Aijha and Dre an 'A.' Buggs got switched on her a couple times . . . and maybe even fouled her. But I'll take that all day, every day, if she's fighting. Jackson almost outrebounded us herself in the last game. So, to go from 27 and 20 against her to eight and nine with five turnovers, that was a huge step in the right direction for us when it comes to post defense."

After having to rally from an 18-point deficit to beat Alabama in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to pick up its 20^th win last season, Baylor secured its 24^th-consecutive 20-win season.

Two weeks after handing West Virginia its third loss of the year, Baylor will go on the road to face the Mountaineers (22-4, 11-4) at 1 p.m. CT Saturday in Morgantown, W. Va. The 23^rd-ranked Mountaineers lost in overtime to 10^th-ranked Kansas State, 73-64, Wednesday night in Manhattan, Kan.

GAME NOTES

The No. 24 Baylor women's basketball team picked up its 20th win of the season on Wednesday night, outlasting Kansas, 69-61.
With the win, the Bears have turned in 24-straight 20-plus win seasons which marks the second-longest streak in the country behind UConn (31).
The victory signified BU's 18th-straight win against Kansas at home. The last time the Jayhawks won in Waco was on Jan. 19, 2000.
The Bears held a 35-26 lead at the break. BU moved to 7-2 during Big 12 play, and 18-2 overall, when leading at the half.
Baylor is 17-0 this season when shooting higher than its opponent from the floor. The Bears shot 44.8% compared to KU's 36.2%.
BU outrebounded Kansas, 41-29, and are an impressive 16-1 this season when grabbing more rebounds than its opponent.
The Bears held KU's Taiyanna Jackson to just eight points and nine rebounds marking the second-straight game that the fifth-year senior failed to finish in double figures in both categories.

Baylor bench scored 35 points while the Bears held Kansas' bench to zero points marking the fourth time this season, and the third time in league play, the Jayhawk reserves have gone scoreless.
The 35 points scored by BU's bench are the most allowed by the Jayhawks this season and the second-most points scored by the Baylor reserves in a Big 12 game this year.
A trio of Bears finished in double figures led by Dre'Una Edwards' 20-point outpouring.
The 20-piece marked her second of the season and 16th of her career.
Edwards has led the Bears in 20 of 26 contests the season, the most of any Bear.
Jana Van Gytenbeek added 11 points off the bench while Darianna Littlepage-Buggs finished a rebound shy of a double-double contributing 10 points and a team-high nine boards.
For the seventh time this year, Van Gytenbeek led BU in assists as the senior guard dished out five.
Yaya Felder finished a block shy of matching a career high in the category with two stuffs. She also went a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe to lead the Bears.