Saturday, February 10
Waco, Texas
2 PM
Baylor
vs
West Virginia
No. 18 WBB to Face No. 22 West Virginia at Home Saturday
2/9/2024 1:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The outing is the first of two between the two programs during the 2023-24 regular season
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Even in a stretch that has seen her shoot just 24% from beyond the arc (12-of-50), Baylor senior guard Sarah Andrews knows that the answer isn't to stop shooting.
"I think you've seen in some games, some shots that I may have taken, I've passed up because I haven't seen the ball go in," Andrews said. "And that's the wrong way to go about it. I've got to continue to shoot the ball and get in the gym, and I'll get out of this slump sooner or later."
As Andrews has struggled, averaging just 7.6 points in the last eight games, so have the 18th-ranked Bears (17-5, 6-5). Ranked as high as fourth nationally in the polls after a 14-0 start, Baylor has lost five of its last eight and fallen to sixth place in the Big 12 standings and four games out of first place.
Coming off a 78-66 road loss at BYU, the Bears return home to face a hot 22nd-ranked West Virginia team (20-2, 9-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Foster Pavilion. The Mountaineers have won seven in a row since back-to-back double-digit losses to Texas and Iowa State.
"The reality is, we've most likely taken ourselves out of position to win a regular-season conference championship," third-year head coach Nicki Collen said. "But that doesn't mean that we can't win a conference tournament championship. It doesn't mean we can't be playing our best basketball in March. It doesn't mean we can't make a deep run in the tournament."
But it likely starts with Andrews, the rudder that steers this ship. Still averaging 11.5 points and 3.8 assists per game for the year, she averaged 15.3 points and shot 54.5% from 3-point range (12-of-22) in the Bears' 3-0 start in conference.
"We always want Sarah to shoot the ball," said senior guard Jana Van Gytenbeek, who hit a season-high three 3-pointers and scored 10 points in the BYU loss. "Sarah is a great player, she's a great leader. When she's rolling, we're rolling. And even if she's not making shots, when she's leading us, we're unstoppable."
Ranked second all-time in program history with 217 made 3-pointers, Andrews said it's just a matter of "me believing the next one is going to go in."
"I think that's been the struggle right now," she said, "because I think it's hard for anybody when you don't see the ball go in for a while to be like, 'Oh, the next one is going to go in.' But I think it's my job to step up and be a leader every night when the ball is not going in. That's the role that I'm going to have to take on and be a better leader for this team."
More the way guards Yaya Felder (8.7 ppg) and Jada Walker (8.2 ppg, 3.5 assists) attack, Collen wants to see Andrews "get downhill" and either get fouled or get to the rim.
"When she gets first point of contact right now, she's crossing it back and moving it instead of burying her shoulder into them and playing downhill," Collen said. "When your 3-point shot isn't falling, you get to the foul line. And Sarah is more than capable of doing that.
"And it's not just getting to the foul line, it's getting downhill, it's putting pressure on the rim. She's the best passer on our team. So, if she puts pressure on the rim, she's going to create for teammates."
In this one, though, Andrews and the other guards will have their hands full against a pressing West Virginia team that ranks second nationally in turnovers forced with 24.6 per game. The Mountaineers are also second in the Big 12 in scoring defense, allowing just 56.0 points per game.
"The way they play, you're not going to eliminate turnovers," Collen said. "They turn everybody over, even in their losses. They turned Iowa State over a lot, they turned Texas over a lot. It's who they are, it's their identity. In the most complimentary way, it's a little Kamikaze, it's very chaotic."
Against BYU, the Bears' post defense also continued to struggle. Lauren Gustin, the Cougars' 6-1 forward, had a double-double with 23 points and 16 rebounds, helping BYU dominate the boards (45-32) and points in the paint (38-24).
With 6-3 forwards Madison Bartley and Kyla Abraham – "two of our bigger, stronger post defenders" out – "if (teams) have the ability to play through the paint to a post, they're certainly doing that against us," Collen said.
"Gustin is 6-foot-1, she's not 6-5," Collen said. "So, it's about leverage, it's about getting to them early, it's about our ball pressure being good enough that we don't allow them to get the ball where they want it when they want it."
Under first-year head coach Mark Kellogg, who led SFA to six-consecutive postseason appearances, West Virginia is very guard-oriented. Junior JJ Quinerly is fourth in the Big 12 with 19.8 points per game, while sophomore Jordan Harrison is averaging 13.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.1 rebounds after following Kellogg from SFA.
Harrison played at Oklahoma City Classen High School with Baylor sophomore forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, who is averaging 11.1 points and 7.2 rebounds.
Collen said 5-10 junior guard Kyah Watson (8.1 ppg, 6.0 rebounds) is "probably one of my favorite players in the league."
"She's a Caitlin Bickle-type," Collen said, comparing Watson to Baylor's versatile 6-1 forward from last year. "She does all the dirty work. She doesn't score the most, she doesn't get the most rebounds. But she's such a glue player for them."
Saturday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Lincoln Rose and former Baylor men's basketball coach Jim Haller calling the action.
WACO, Texas – The No. 18 Baylor women's basketball team returns home to host No. 22 West Virginia at Foster Pavilion on Saturday.
Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and the game is available for streaming via the Big 12 Now on ESPN+. A live radio broadcast will be available on ESPN Central Texas (1660 AM/92.3 FM) and live in-game updates will be provided via Twitter and live stats.
STARTING FIVE
Baylor leads the all-time series with West Virginia, 22-5, and the Bears are 11-2 at home against the Mountaineers. The Mountaineers swept the two-game series with the Bears last season. Saturday's game marks the first of two meetings between the two programs this season. Prior to BU's pair of losses during the 2022-23 campaign, the Bears had won 11-straight dating back to the 2017-18 season.
To stay up to date on all things Baylor women's basketball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorWBB.
Baylor Bear Insider
Even in a stretch that has seen her shoot just 24% from beyond the arc (12-of-50), Baylor senior guard Sarah Andrews knows that the answer isn't to stop shooting.
"I think you've seen in some games, some shots that I may have taken, I've passed up because I haven't seen the ball go in," Andrews said. "And that's the wrong way to go about it. I've got to continue to shoot the ball and get in the gym, and I'll get out of this slump sooner or later."
As Andrews has struggled, averaging just 7.6 points in the last eight games, so have the 18th-ranked Bears (17-5, 6-5). Ranked as high as fourth nationally in the polls after a 14-0 start, Baylor has lost five of its last eight and fallen to sixth place in the Big 12 standings and four games out of first place.
Coming off a 78-66 road loss at BYU, the Bears return home to face a hot 22nd-ranked West Virginia team (20-2, 9-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Foster Pavilion. The Mountaineers have won seven in a row since back-to-back double-digit losses to Texas and Iowa State.
"The reality is, we've most likely taken ourselves out of position to win a regular-season conference championship," third-year head coach Nicki Collen said. "But that doesn't mean that we can't win a conference tournament championship. It doesn't mean we can't be playing our best basketball in March. It doesn't mean we can't make a deep run in the tournament."
But it likely starts with Andrews, the rudder that steers this ship. Still averaging 11.5 points and 3.8 assists per game for the year, she averaged 15.3 points and shot 54.5% from 3-point range (12-of-22) in the Bears' 3-0 start in conference.
"We always want Sarah to shoot the ball," said senior guard Jana Van Gytenbeek, who hit a season-high three 3-pointers and scored 10 points in the BYU loss. "Sarah is a great player, she's a great leader. When she's rolling, we're rolling. And even if she's not making shots, when she's leading us, we're unstoppable."
Ranked second all-time in program history with 217 made 3-pointers, Andrews said it's just a matter of "me believing the next one is going to go in."
"I think that's been the struggle right now," she said, "because I think it's hard for anybody when you don't see the ball go in for a while to be like, 'Oh, the next one is going to go in.' But I think it's my job to step up and be a leader every night when the ball is not going in. That's the role that I'm going to have to take on and be a better leader for this team."
More the way guards Yaya Felder (8.7 ppg) and Jada Walker (8.2 ppg, 3.5 assists) attack, Collen wants to see Andrews "get downhill" and either get fouled or get to the rim.
"When she gets first point of contact right now, she's crossing it back and moving it instead of burying her shoulder into them and playing downhill," Collen said. "When your 3-point shot isn't falling, you get to the foul line. And Sarah is more than capable of doing that.
"And it's not just getting to the foul line, it's getting downhill, it's putting pressure on the rim. She's the best passer on our team. So, if she puts pressure on the rim, she's going to create for teammates."
In this one, though, Andrews and the other guards will have their hands full against a pressing West Virginia team that ranks second nationally in turnovers forced with 24.6 per game. The Mountaineers are also second in the Big 12 in scoring defense, allowing just 56.0 points per game.
"The way they play, you're not going to eliminate turnovers," Collen said. "They turn everybody over, even in their losses. They turned Iowa State over a lot, they turned Texas over a lot. It's who they are, it's their identity. In the most complimentary way, it's a little Kamikaze, it's very chaotic."
Against BYU, the Bears' post defense also continued to struggle. Lauren Gustin, the Cougars' 6-1 forward, had a double-double with 23 points and 16 rebounds, helping BYU dominate the boards (45-32) and points in the paint (38-24).
With 6-3 forwards Madison Bartley and Kyla Abraham – "two of our bigger, stronger post defenders" out – "if (teams) have the ability to play through the paint to a post, they're certainly doing that against us," Collen said.
"Gustin is 6-foot-1, she's not 6-5," Collen said. "So, it's about leverage, it's about getting to them early, it's about our ball pressure being good enough that we don't allow them to get the ball where they want it when they want it."
Under first-year head coach Mark Kellogg, who led SFA to six-consecutive postseason appearances, West Virginia is very guard-oriented. Junior JJ Quinerly is fourth in the Big 12 with 19.8 points per game, while sophomore Jordan Harrison is averaging 13.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.1 rebounds after following Kellogg from SFA.
Harrison played at Oklahoma City Classen High School with Baylor sophomore forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, who is averaging 11.1 points and 7.2 rebounds.
Collen said 5-10 junior guard Kyah Watson (8.1 ppg, 6.0 rebounds) is "probably one of my favorite players in the league."
"She's a Caitlin Bickle-type," Collen said, comparing Watson to Baylor's versatile 6-1 forward from last year. "She does all the dirty work. She doesn't score the most, she doesn't get the most rebounds. But she's such a glue player for them."
Saturday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Lincoln Rose and former Baylor men's basketball coach Jim Haller calling the action.
WACO, Texas – The No. 18 Baylor women's basketball team returns home to host No. 22 West Virginia at Foster Pavilion on Saturday.
Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and the game is available for streaming via the Big 12 Now on ESPN+. A live radio broadcast will be available on ESPN Central Texas (1660 AM/92.3 FM) and live in-game updates will be provided via Twitter and live stats.
STARTING FIVE
- Sophomore Darianna Littlepage-Buggs tallied 15 of her team-leading 17 points at BYU on Wednesday in the second half while adding 12 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. She has reached double-figure scoring 11 times this year and three of the last four games.
- Graduate senior Aijha Blackwell eclipsed 1,000 career rebounds in BU's win at Houston last weekend. She has led the Bears on the boards 10 times this season and has reached double figures on the glass in three of the last five contests.
- Senior Sarah Andrews has 217 career 3-pointers and needs 44 more to break Odyssey Sim's record of 258. The senior guard has hit at least two from range in 17 of 22 games this year.
- The Bears have shot 50% or better from the floor in eight games this season. Baylor is 267-2 all-time when shooting 50% or higher from the field. The Bears went 33-of-59 (55.9%) from the floor in their 83-60 win at Houston (Feb. 4) and six players finished in double figures led by Dre'Una Edwards' 15 points.
- The 23-point win over the Cougars marked the fourth 16-plus point victory by Baylor in Big 12 action this season. The 83 points scored by the Bears marked the third time in conference play, and 10th time this season, that Baylor has tallied 80-plus in a game.
Baylor leads the all-time series with West Virginia, 22-5, and the Bears are 11-2 at home against the Mountaineers. The Mountaineers swept the two-game series with the Bears last season. Saturday's game marks the first of two meetings between the two programs this season. Prior to BU's pair of losses during the 2022-23 campaign, the Bears had won 11-straight dating back to the 2017-18 season.
To stay up to date on all things Baylor women's basketball, follow the team on its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorWBB.
- BaylorBears.com -
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