19/22 BAYLOR BEARS (23-5, 13-2 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas  Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Nicki Collen (Marquette, 1998) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)	19/22 BAYLOR (23-5, 13-2 Big 12) vs IOWA STATE CYCLONES (19-9, 10-5 Big 12) Feb. 22, 2025 • 1:30 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Foster Pavilion (7,500)  LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: FOX Talent: Sloane Martin (pxp), Elise Woodward (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Media Network via FOX Sports Radio 93.9FM in Central Texas and worldwide at centexsportsfan.com. Talent: Derek Smith (pxp), Lori Fogleman (analyst) Baylor Social Media:
	IOWA STATE CYCLONES (19-9, 10-5 Big 12) Location: Ames, Iowa Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Bill Fennelly (William Penn, 1979) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)

Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
WACO, Texas – Last month, when Darianna Littlepage-Buggs was suspended for a game, all Baylor coach Nicki Collen had to do was put her backup power forward into that spot.
 
Now, with Littlepage-Buggs (14.3 ppg, 10.3 rebounds) out indefinitely with a knee injury, 6-0 junior forward Bella Fontleroy (9.8 ppg, 5.8 rebounds) is the obvious choice again to slide into the "4" position from the wing spot she usually occupies when the 19^th-ranked Bears (23-5, 13-2) host Iowa State (19-9, 10-5) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Foster Pavilion.
 
Fontleroy had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the Bears' 70-61 win over Utah on Jan. 14 and then hit six 3-pointers and scored 21 points in 22 ½ minutes in Wednesday's 84-62 blowout victory at Colorado.
 
"I've always known that if more is needed from me, there's always more that I can give in terms of a scoring perspective or rebounding," Fontleroy said. "I just feel like we all balance each other out really well. So, if one of us is gone, or we need someone to step up, everyone has it in them to get it done."
 
Collen, in fact, calls the "4" Fontleroy's natural position.
 
"I've said this before, I'm not surprised that Bella has thrived the two games she's played it," Collen said. "It's her natural position. It's both their natural positions right now. We just kind of utilize them differently, playing them together. And because of Bella's 3-point shooting (49-of-149), she plays on the perimeter a little more than Buggs.
 
"But both are at their best in the middle third and in between the lane lines. Bella loves to trail (on the fast break) and hit 3's. She likes to pick and pop. I think, for her, it's actually very comfortable to play the 4. It's just not comfortable for me to not have the luxury of having Buggs and all the things that she does for us."
 
After stringing together seven consecutive wins, Baylor goes into the final three-game stretch tied for first with 10^th-ranked TCU (25-3, 13-2) and a game up on No. 12 Kansas State (24-4, 12-3). And in a schedule-maker's dream scenario, the Bears' last two games are K-State at 6 p.m. Monday in Manhattan and the Horned Frogs at 5:30 p.m. next Saturday in Waco.
 
"We want to win a conference championship, and we've put ourselves in a position where we're in control of that," Collen said. "Now, does that also mean you're two losses away from not having a double bye (for the Big 12 Tournament)? Yes. That's the reality of this league and the quality of teams top to bottom in this league, but also the strength at the top right now. It makes me not sleep at night, but someday I'll retire."
 
For now, though, Collen gets the chance to match wits and strategy with longtime friend and coaching mentor Bill Fennelly. The dean of Big 12 coaches, Fennelly is in his 30^th year at Iowa State, compiling a 630-322 record, making 22 NCAA Tournament appearances with the Cyclones and winning the last four matchups with Collen and the Bears (4-3 since 2021-22).
 
Led by the "big three" of 6-3 sophomore center Audi Crooks (22.6 ppg, 7.6 rebounds), 6-2 sophomore forward Addy Brown (14.9 ppg, 7.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists) and 5-11 senior guard Emily Ryan (9.4 ppg, 6.3 assists), Iowa State has reeled off four-straight wins and six of its last eight to move up to seventh in the league and just three games out of first place.
 
"Bill is a really, really elite play-caller," Collen said of Fennelly, a groomsman when Nicki and Tom Collen were married. "Last year, we just couldn't shoot them out of the zone. They started in kind of a box-and-one up there, and they got out of it really quickly.
 
"We made some shots and had leads in both games coming down the wire, but we just didn't make enough shots to ever break the game open. They never really had to play us man, which keeps Crooks around the Big 12 logo or lower all game. If you can't move her around, she's really, really effective defensively protecting the paint."
 
Baylor can at least counter size-on-size this year against Crooks with 6-3 Colorado transfer Aaronette Vonleh, who is averaging 13.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Playing limited minutes against her former team, "Nettie" was 4-for-6 from the floor and finished with 10 points and eight boards.
 
"I think at this point, everybody knows how Nettie wants the ball," Fontleroy said. "I think we've done a better job of letting her settle for a second. There are some passes where we were coming off ball screens and were like, 'Okay, Nettie, go get this and go finish.' But I think we've put her in better positions to be able to make a play and go score."
 
This is also Baylor's "Play4Kay" Pink Out game, with fans encouraged to wear pink. Cancer survivors will be recognized at halftime.
 
Saturday's game will be broadcast on FOX, with Sloane Martin and former University of Washington basketball player Elise Woodard calling the action.
 


Game notes-

• Baylor returns to Foster Pavilion for the second-to-last home game of the season against Iowa State. Tipoff, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT, marks the first national women's broadcast from the Banks of the Brazos this season and is the first of two straight (the TCU game on March 2 is on FS1).

• The Bears are the winners of their last seven games in a league-best streak that began January 29 at UCF. Included in the seven is a ranked upset over then-No. 18 West Virginia.

• Eying her final home stretch of collegiate hoops, Sarah Andrews broke the Big 12 Conference record for career games played on Saturday afternoon at Texas Tech. The new record of 160 (and counting) bests Iowa State's Ashley Joens, who took the top spot after the 2023 season.  

• The Bears remain the leading rebounding team in the Big 12 Conference, averaging 42.79 per game, enough for 10th in the NCAA, and hold an average margin of 10.1 boards over their opponents. 

• Back in the AP Top 25, the Bears reentered the rankings on Monday, February 10. Placed at No. 19 in its sixth appearance of 2024-25, BU received votes in eight editions while being left out twice. 

• Entering the 47th all-time meeting between the Bears and the Cyclones, Baylor holds the series lead at 33-13, but has dropped the last four contests in the last two seasons. 

• Baylor dropped its regular season bout against Iowa State last year by one possession before another blow-for-blow game at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship quarterfinal. 

• Iowa State enters at 19-9 on the season on a four-game win streak against Cincinnati, Colorado, Kansas and Houston. 

• It will be the Cyclones' first trip to Waco since February 18, 2023, and their first trip to Foster Pavilion. 

• Audi Crooks (22.6) and Addy Brown (14.9) lead the scoring efforts for ISU and hold the lead in boards at 7.6 per game. 

• Through games on Feb. 20, Baylor is ranked 18th in the NET, going 2-4 against Quad 1 programs and 4-1 over Quad 2. 

• BU's highest-ranked NET win is over No. 12 West Virginia. The Bears upset the Mountaineers, 75-65, led by 21 points from Aaronette Vonleh and 13 rebounds from Darianna Littlepage-Buggs. 

• Remaining in the Big 12 slate, BU is set to face two Q1 teams and Iowa State in Q2.

• Iowa State enters the contest at No. 40, with a NET-best, 16-point win over No. 51 Middle Tennessee. 

• Baylor's roster has produced five double-digit scoring performances in 11 games this season, five coming in rugged Big 12 Conference play. Most recently, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (19 pts), Yaya Felder (15 pts), Jada Walker (14 pts), Aaronette Vonleh (12 pts) and Aliyah Matharu (11 pts) were all over 10 points at Houston on February 5. 

• Among the top 20 scoring programs in the country, Baylor is one of three schools with five averaging doubles figures, joining Tennessee and SFA. 

• BU is also one of three Power Four programs that average five in double figures: Baylor, Tennessee and Kentucky. 

• As the second-highest scoring offense in the Big 12, Baylor is the only school with five averaging 10 or more points per game, ahead of K-State's four and seven programs with three (TCU, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Utah, Colorado, UCF and Houston).

• The Bears took a big win in their first win in Boulder since 2011, 84-62, against the Colorado Buffaloes in the fifth of six league home-and-home series games. 

• Playing three strong quarters until managing playing time in the fourth quarter, the Bears had a game-high 38-point lead at the end of the third quarter before being outscored 24-8 in the fourth. 

• Bella Fontleroy led the scoring efforts for Baylor with six 3-pointers for 21 points, marking the third 20-point game of her career, in just 23 minutes of playing time.

• Fontleroy joined Aaronette Vonleh in surpassing the 500 career rebounds mark against the Buffaloes, as Vonleh made her homecoming to CU Events Center for the first time since transferring last summer. The center had eight boards and 10 points in 18 minutes. 

• Jada Walker, who went down early in the first, returned for 17 points that included a first-quarter buzzer-beater from half court.