Friday, March 8
Kansas City, Mo.
11 AM
Baylor
vs
Texas Tech
No. 17 WBB Opens Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Friday
3/7/2024 7:14:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The fifth-seeded Bears will face 12th-seeded Texas Tech at 11 a.m. Friday
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
There was nothing subtle about Baylor coach Nicki Collen's decision to start sophomore forward Bella Fontleroy and bring senior Dre'Una Edwards off the bench with five games left in the regular season.
But that one change is what helped 17th-ranked Baylor (23-6, 12-6) reel off five-straight wins going into the Big 12 Championship that began Thursday in Kansas City with a pair of first-round games at the T-Mobile Center. The Bears will face 12th-seeded Texas Tech (17-15, 15-13), a 74-60 winner over Houston, at 11 a.m. Friday.
"I think our changes have been pretty drastic, rather than subtle," Collen said. "If you look, yeah, we changed the starting lineup, but I was playing Aijha (Blackwell) at the 3 (on the wing) for 20 games. Aijha is playing the 5 (center); she's playing it on offense, she's playing it on defense. She's always defended 5's, depending on the lineup, but you just don't see her out on the wing. We're trying to keep her closer to the basket, where she's rebounding."
In the five-game winning streak, which included road wins over West Virginia and Cincinnati, Blackwell (8.7 ppg, 8.5 rebounds) has averaged almost 11 rebounds per game. On Senior Day, the 5-11 forward scored a season-high 20 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in a 67-45 win over Oklahoma State.
"I think you've seen an uptick in Aijha's production because she is closer to the rim, and she's kind of striving there," Collen said. "She can play on the perimeter, there's no question she can, but I think she's still more comfortable playing between the lane lines. It's where we played her last year before she got hurt. Do I think she plays like a traditional 5? No, but we don't really play a traditional system, anyway."
What the move also did is allow the Bears to go with a lineup that is analytically their best defensive group. Fontleroy (9.4 ppg, 4.8 rebounds) is versatile enough to guard any position on the floor and "doesn't need the ball in her hands to be effective."
"She's our most versatile defender," Collen said. "She defended Emily Ryan (Iowa State). We were hurting when we lost her, because she was the one matchup we had for S'Mya Nichols (Kansas). She just makes us a better team, without needing a lot of touches. We just dialed in to, we are at our best when we have a defensive presence to start the game."
Moving up to a tie for fourth with Iowa State and West Virginia with the late-season surge, Baylor enters the five-day tournament in Kansas City with the league's longest winning streak and the most momentum.
"I think what turned it around is we focused on our energy and our execution more than we ever have before," said senior guard Jana Van Gytenbeek, who has averaged 10.1 points in the five-game streak while shooting 39.2% from 3-point range (11-of-28). "We weren't locking in on game plan as much as we needed to. Our coaches were really adamant on that. And we've done that. As Nicki said, our team is back."
With Edwards (12.0 ppg, 6.5 rebounds), Van Gytenbeek and Ohio transfer Yaya Felder (7.7 ppg), the Bears can also bring a dynamic offensive spark off the bench. While the team has struggled offensively at times at the start of games, "we were setting a tone in how we defend and what we do early and kind of letting the game come to us offensively," Collen said.
Edwards' minutes have been reduced slightly coming off the bench, but she's still averaging right at 12 points per game during the five-game winning streak.
"I think she's someone that can give us a great spark off the bench," Collen said of the 6-0 senior forward. "She can come in and make shots, can get a rim run. She's one of our better rim runners. I just think we have a lot more firepower now off the bench with Madison Bartley back, with Jana playing as well as she has.
"I think it sets us up to be successful in a tournament where we have to win four games in five days."
Trying to win their 12th Big 12 Championship title and first since 2021, the Bears open that run against a Texas Tech team that had lost nine in a row before beating Houston Thursday night. Baylor's five-game winning streak started with a 61-32 blowout of the Lady Raiders on the day that Brittney Griner's jersey was retired.
Sophomore guard Jasmine Shavers, Tech's leading scorer for the season at 15.3, hit four 3-pointers and went off for a career-high 29 points in the win over Houston.
"Texas Tech didn't press us much, but they've shown a lot of press over the course of the season," Collen said. "I think they were just pretty beaten down. Some of their kids that were in concussion protocol when we played them the last time just got back."
If Baylor advances, the Bears would face fourth-seeded Iowa State (18-10, 12-6) in Saturday's 11 a.m. quarterfinal. Through the quarterfinal round, all tournament games will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Tyler Denning and Andrea Lloyd calling the action, while Monday's semifinals and Tuesday's 8 p.m. championship game will be broadcast by ESPN2.
"I have great hopes for us at this tournament and the NCAA," said sophomore forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, who's averaging 10.8 points and 7.4 rebounds. "This is kind of what you work all season toward. Just the vibes in the gym yesterday were really great, and people are excited. We just have to stay on track, honestly. If we lock-in, we'll be good."
WACO, Texas – The No. 17 Baylor women's basketball team begins its quest for its 12th Big 12 tournament title on Friday when it faces off against the winner of Texas Tech/Houston at 11 a.m. in the second round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
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 and Texas Tech faced each other just once during the regular season with the Bears coming out on top, 61-32, at Foster Pavilion. The Bears have won 29-consecutive meetings with Texas Tech, with the last loss coming on Feb. 19, 2011. 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 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).
LAST TIME OUT VS. HOUSTON
Baylor swept the two-game series against Houston during the regular season. The 23-point win over the Cougars in the second game of the series on the road on Feb. 4 marked the fourth 16-plus point win by Baylor in Big 12 action.
As a team, the Bears finished with 52 rebounds, outrebounding the Cougars, 52-26. The 52 boards are still the most by BU against a Big 12 opponent this season. The 83 points scored by the Bears in the 83-60 win marked the third time in Big 12 action, and 10th time this season, that Baylor had tallied 80-plus in a game. Six Bears finished in double figures led by Dre'Una Edwards' 15-point outpouring. It marked the first time in Big 12 play that six Bears finished in double figures.
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
There was nothing subtle about Baylor coach Nicki Collen's decision to start sophomore forward Bella Fontleroy and bring senior Dre'Una Edwards off the bench with five games left in the regular season.
But that one change is what helped 17th-ranked Baylor (23-6, 12-6) reel off five-straight wins going into the Big 12 Championship that began Thursday in Kansas City with a pair of first-round games at the T-Mobile Center. The Bears will face 12th-seeded Texas Tech (17-15, 15-13), a 74-60 winner over Houston, at 11 a.m. Friday.
"I think our changes have been pretty drastic, rather than subtle," Collen said. "If you look, yeah, we changed the starting lineup, but I was playing Aijha (Blackwell) at the 3 (on the wing) for 20 games. Aijha is playing the 5 (center); she's playing it on offense, she's playing it on defense. She's always defended 5's, depending on the lineup, but you just don't see her out on the wing. We're trying to keep her closer to the basket, where she's rebounding."
In the five-game winning streak, which included road wins over West Virginia and Cincinnati, Blackwell (8.7 ppg, 8.5 rebounds) has averaged almost 11 rebounds per game. On Senior Day, the 5-11 forward scored a season-high 20 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in a 67-45 win over Oklahoma State.
"I think you've seen an uptick in Aijha's production because she is closer to the rim, and she's kind of striving there," Collen said. "She can play on the perimeter, there's no question she can, but I think she's still more comfortable playing between the lane lines. It's where we played her last year before she got hurt. Do I think she plays like a traditional 5? No, but we don't really play a traditional system, anyway."
What the move also did is allow the Bears to go with a lineup that is analytically their best defensive group. Fontleroy (9.4 ppg, 4.8 rebounds) is versatile enough to guard any position on the floor and "doesn't need the ball in her hands to be effective."
"She's our most versatile defender," Collen said. "She defended Emily Ryan (Iowa State). We were hurting when we lost her, because she was the one matchup we had for S'Mya Nichols (Kansas). She just makes us a better team, without needing a lot of touches. We just dialed in to, we are at our best when we have a defensive presence to start the game."
Moving up to a tie for fourth with Iowa State and West Virginia with the late-season surge, Baylor enters the five-day tournament in Kansas City with the league's longest winning streak and the most momentum.
"I think what turned it around is we focused on our energy and our execution more than we ever have before," said senior guard Jana Van Gytenbeek, who has averaged 10.1 points in the five-game streak while shooting 39.2% from 3-point range (11-of-28). "We weren't locking in on game plan as much as we needed to. Our coaches were really adamant on that. And we've done that. As Nicki said, our team is back."
With Edwards (12.0 ppg, 6.5 rebounds), Van Gytenbeek and Ohio transfer Yaya Felder (7.7 ppg), the Bears can also bring a dynamic offensive spark off the bench. While the team has struggled offensively at times at the start of games, "we were setting a tone in how we defend and what we do early and kind of letting the game come to us offensively," Collen said.
Edwards' minutes have been reduced slightly coming off the bench, but she's still averaging right at 12 points per game during the five-game winning streak.
"I think she's someone that can give us a great spark off the bench," Collen said of the 6-0 senior forward. "She can come in and make shots, can get a rim run. She's one of our better rim runners. I just think we have a lot more firepower now off the bench with Madison Bartley back, with Jana playing as well as she has.
"I think it sets us up to be successful in a tournament where we have to win four games in five days."
Trying to win their 12th Big 12 Championship title and first since 2021, the Bears open that run against a Texas Tech team that had lost nine in a row before beating Houston Thursday night. Baylor's five-game winning streak started with a 61-32 blowout of the Lady Raiders on the day that Brittney Griner's jersey was retired.
Sophomore guard Jasmine Shavers, Tech's leading scorer for the season at 15.3, hit four 3-pointers and went off for a career-high 29 points in the win over Houston.
"Texas Tech didn't press us much, but they've shown a lot of press over the course of the season," Collen said. "I think they were just pretty beaten down. Some of their kids that were in concussion protocol when we played them the last time just got back."
If Baylor advances, the Bears would face fourth-seeded Iowa State (18-10, 12-6) in Saturday's 11 a.m. quarterfinal. Through the quarterfinal round, all tournament games will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Tyler Denning and Andrea Lloyd calling the action, while Monday's semifinals and Tuesday's 8 p.m. championship game will be broadcast by ESPN2.
"I have great hopes for us at this tournament and the NCAA," said sophomore forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, who's averaging 10.8 points and 7.4 rebounds. "This is kind of what you work all season toward. Just the vibes in the gym yesterday were really great, and people are excited. We just have to stay on track, honestly. If we lock-in, we'll be good."
WACO, Texas – The No. 17 Baylor women's basketball team begins its quest for its 12th Big 12 tournament title on Friday when it faces off against the winner of Texas Tech/Houston at 11 a.m. in the second round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
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 enters the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship as the No. 5 seed marking just the second time the Bears have been the five seed. BU is a league-leading 48-15 (.762) all-time at the tournament.
- The Bears are a perfect 7-0 at the tournament against this year's No. 12 seed Texas Tech, while holding an 0-4 record against former Southwest Conference opponent and No. 13-seeded Houston. Baylor will face the winner of Texas Tech/Houston, who face off at 5:30 p.m. Thursday night, on Friday.
- The Bears have held their opponent to below 20% shooting from behind the 3-point arc for four-straight games. Baylor ranks fifth in the country, and first in the Big 12, in three-point percentage defense (25.5).
- In her first 47 games as a Bear, Jana Van Gytenbeek turned in just three double-figure scoring performances, and in her last eight games, she has finished in double figures five times, including three of the last four.
- Baylor is 19-1 this season when outrebounding its opponents, including 11-1 in Big 12 action. The Bears have outrebounded their opponent in five-straight heading to Kansas City.
Baylor and Texas Tech faced each other just once during the regular season with the Bears coming out on top, 61-32, at Foster Pavilion. The Bears have won 29-consecutive meetings with Texas Tech, with the last loss coming on Feb. 19, 2011. 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 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).
LAST TIME OUT VS. HOUSTON
Baylor swept the two-game series against Houston during the regular season. The 23-point win over the Cougars in the second game of the series on the road on Feb. 4 marked the fourth 16-plus point win by Baylor in Big 12 action.
As a team, the Bears finished with 52 rebounds, outrebounding the Cougars, 52-26. The 52 boards are still the most by BU against a Big 12 opponent this season. The 83 points scored by the Bears in the 83-60 win marked the third time in Big 12 action, and 10th time this season, that Baylor had tallied 80-plus in a game. Six Bears finished in double figures led by Dre'Una Edwards' 15-point outpouring. It marked the first time in Big 12 play that six Bears finished in double figures.
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 -
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballBaylor Basketball (W): Darriana Littlepage-Buggs (26 PTS) vs. Le Moyne | November 16, 2025
Sunday, November 16
Baylor Basketball (W): Bella Fontleroy (21 PTS) vs. Le Moyne | November 16, 2025
Sunday, November 16
Baylor Basketball (W): Taliah Scott (22 PTS) vs. Le Moyne | November 16, 2025
Sunday, November 16
Baylor Basketball (W): Condensed Game vs. Le Moyne | November 16, 2025
Sunday, November 16
