Five players score in double figures to lead WBB to 78-59 road victory

Saturday, January 11

Tempe, Ariz.

4:30 PM

Baylor

Arizona State

Five players score in double figures to lead WBB to 78-59 road victory

1/11/2025 7:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BaylorBears.com

TEMPE, Ariz – No one player is going to replace Baylor junior forward Dariana Littlepage-Buggs. It takes a total team effort.

When the team's "engine" was ejected at the 3:24 mark in the second quarter for a fighting technical foul, along with Arizona State's Kennedy Fauntleroy, the rest of the Bears rallied and kept the Sun Devils at arm's length for a 78-59 victory Saturday at the Desert Financial Arena.

"I thought Buggs being out, it made everyone reset a little bit," said Baylor coach Nicki Collen, whose team won its third in a row in improving to 14-3 overall and 4-1 in league play, its best conference start in four years under Collen. "When lose someone like Buggs, and you have that whole situation happen, I thought Sarah (Andrews) calmed us in that third by stepping up and making shots."

Playing a "whopping 13 minutes," Littlepage-Buggs was one of five double-figure scorers for Baylor, finishing with 12 points and five rebounds and hitting 5-of-6 from the floor.

"She's a kid that we knew in a game like this, she had an advantage on the offensive glass, we knew she was going to get rim-run layups. Like, all the things that she's great at her," Collen said. "To eliminate her from the mix was tough. Obviously, they had players they needed that were eliminated, too. But any win on the road is a good win in this league."

In addition to Fauntleroy, the Sun Devils (8-9, 2-3) also lost Jyah LoVett and Heavenly Greer when they left the bench after the dust-up between Littlepage-Buggs and Fauntleroy, who scored nine points in 15 minutes.

"I was proud of Buggs for not really engaging," Collen said. "To be ejected when she really didn't engage and was in protection mode is tough. But I'm really proud of her. I'm proud of our bench for staying put, because that impacts a lot of things."

Andrews, who scored 11 of her team-high 16 points in the third quarter, said Littlepage-Buggs is "somebody that brings energy day in and day out."

"She's somebody you want on your team," said Andrews, who broke the program record with her 149^th career game played. "You want to play with her, not against her. It was the next man up. Yaya (Felder) came in and stepped up. You saw Aliyah (Matharu); you saw Kyla (Abraham). You saw so many people come together, step up and be there for Buggs."

Led by Littlepage-Buggs and Colorado transfer Aaronette Vonleh, who scored 16 of the team's first 20 points, the Bears took a double-digit lead in the first quarter and stretched it to as many as 20 early in the second.

But ASU went on a 15-2 run and got within 40-33 on a 3-pointer by Tyi Skinner with 3:14 left in the opening half. Baylor was able to push it back to a double-digit lead, 44-33, on layups by Felder and Matharu, who scored 14 after combining for just four points in her first three games in the green and gold.

"There's never been a question if she's talented enough to help us," Collen said of Matharu, the SEC's second-leading scorer last year at Florida. "Confidence sometimes comes with opportunity. Confidence comes from knowing what you're supposed to do when you're out there. And I think she's starting to get more comfortable with what we do offensively, defensively."

Obviously feeling it, Andrews knocked down three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the first 3 ½ minutes of the third quarter, pushing the lead back to a 20-point cushion, 57-37, on a trey with 6:51 left in the period.

Baylor took its biggest lead of the game, 66-45, on a Matharu 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter. ASU got within 13 before the Bears closed on a 6-0 run that included a pair of free throws by Felder and buckets by Bella Fontleroy and Vonleh, who scored eight of her 12 points in the first quarter.

Felder rounded out the Bears' double-digit scorers with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Jada Walker had five points, seven boards and six assists. Jalynn Brown had 21 points and Skinner 13 for ASU, which fell to 8-9 and 2-3.

The Bears will return home for back-to-back games at Foster Pavilion, hosting 22^nd-ranked Utah (13-3, 4-1) at 11 p.m. Tuesday and Houston (4-12, 0-5) at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17.