Bears struggle on both ends in 84-61 loss to OSU

Wednesday, January 1

Waco, Texas

3 PM

Baylor

11-3,1-1Big 12

Oklahoma State

12-1,2-0Big 12

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Oklahoma St.	23	13	27	21	84
Baylor	15	19	13	14	61

Bears struggle on both ends in 84-61 loss to OSU

1/1/2025 5:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book (PDF)

Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

WACO, Texas – This was not exactly how Nicki Collen wanted to ring in the new year.

Hitting a season-low 32.4% from the floor while giving up season highs in points and shooting percentage (55.2%), the Baylor women struggled on both ends of the floor in a frustrating 84-61 homecourt loss to Oklahoma State (12-1, 2-0) Wednesday afternoon at Foster Pavilion.

"Nothing they did surprised us, they just did it really well," said Collen, whose team fell to 11-3 overall and 1-1 in the Big 12. "I don't know what we were worse at, offense or defense today, because they were both bad. But I think my biggest frustration and our biggest opportunity for growth is being tougher. They were the tougher, more physical team from start to finish."

Baylor struggled mightily against an OSU defense anchored by 6-6 senior center Ténin Magassa, a Rhode Island transfer that led a balanced Cowgirl attack with 16 points, six blocks and four rebounds while shooting 7-of-8 from the floor. And she affected more shots than she blocked, with the Bears missing layups and taking wild shots, anticipating foul calls.

"When you play a long post, it's really hard to get the ball up," 6-3 post Madison Bartley said. "And she was really good at blocking shots. We knew that. So, just being able to work on getting up our post moves and being able to be quicker to the basket is something we can work on, definitely moving into the next game."

Returning from an 11-day Christmas break, Baylor came back from a 10-point deficit to make it a two-point game at the half, 36-34. Yaya Felder hit a 3-pointer in a closing 9-1 run in the second quarter and scored 12 of her team-high 16 points in the first half.

"They basically face-guarded Yaya in the second half, and that's when she's got to understand how to play," Collen said. "You've got to work a little harder to get open, you've got to create on a back cut. . . . They were like, 'We're not going to let Yaya beat us' in the second half. Good adjustment by them, but that should have made it easier for us when you take one defender out of the fray and you're 4-on-4 like that."

But nothing came easy for the Bears in the second half, as they shot just 27% from the floor and were outscored 48-27. OSU shot a sizzling 77.3% in the last two quarters, the Cowgirls missing just five of their 22 shots from the field.

Creating separation in the third quarter, OSU scored 10 unanswered points and opened the period on a 19-4 run, going up 55-38 on a 3-pointer by Macey Huard.

"I think they were just physical," said senior guard Jada Walker, the Bears' only other double-figure scorer with 12 points. "We knew they were going to be physical, and we were just trying to play through fouls, play through physicality. And we just didn't do it enough. Obviously, it's something to improve on, but we just didn't do that well today."

Four other players scored in double figures for the Cowgirls, including senior guard Anna Gret Asi with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Stailee Heard added 14 points, while Huard and Alexia Smith scored 11 apiece.

OSU had another 8-0 run in the fourth and went up by as many as 25. The Bears whittled it down to a 19-point deficit on back-to-back buckets by Walker and Bella Fontleroy, but they scored just two points in the last three minutes.

Florida transfer Aliyah Matharu made her Baylor debut, going 0-for-5 from the field and scoring one point with one rebound, one assist and a turnover in 11 minutes off the bench.

"I have to get them to understand that not one of them can do it alone," Collen said. "When another team gets on a run, we have a tendency to want to do it ourselves rather than setting the screen to get somebody else a shot. That's where we have to get better. . . . We don't have selfish kids or kids that are trying to get their numbers, but I do think they're competitive enough that they want to make the play to get our team jump-started."

Baylor's two leading scorers, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs and Colorado transfer Aaronette Vonleh were a combined 6-of-22 from the field and scored almost 15 points below their scoring average. Buggs had nine points and 11 rebounds, while senior guard Sarah Andrews chipped in with nine points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Finishing off a two-game homestand, Baylor will host Colorado (10-3, 1-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Buffaloes opened a two-game Texas swing with a 63-50 loss at 11^th-ranked TCU Wednesday night after opening league play with a 65-60 upset of then-No. 14 West Virginia.