Baylor
TCU
No. 17/18 WBB Readies for No. 10/8 TCU in Big 12 Title Tilt at Foster Pavilion
3/1/2025 12:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Tipoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m. will be live on FS1 and the Baylor Sports Media Network
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17/18 BAYLOR BEARS (25-5, 15-2 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Nicki Collen (Marquette, 1998) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
17/18 BAYLOR (25-5, 15-2 Big 12) vs 10/8 TCU HORNED FROGS (27-3, 15-2 Big 12) March 2, 2025 • 5:30 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Foster Pavilion (7,500) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: FS1 Talent: Elise Woodward (pxp), Madison Hock (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:    |
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10/8 TCU Horned Frogs (27-3, 15-2 Big 12) Location: Fort Worth, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Mark Campbell (Hawaii, 2004) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Nicki Collen likes the fact that her 17th-ranked Baylor women have a "chip on our shoulder."
That's exactly the attitude the fourth-year Baylor head coach hopes her Bears (25-5, 15-2) take going into a winner-takes-all matchup against 10th-ranked TCU (27-3, 15-2) for the Big 12 championship at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at Foster Pavilion.
"We got here because we took it one game at a time," said Collen, whose team has strung together a nine-game winning streak since an 80-75 loss at TCU on Jan. 26.
"We had to grind through a really tough stretch to put ourselves in this position. We haven't led from the front all season long. So, I think we still have to have that underdog mentality. I don't care what the (betting) line is, I don't care that TCU beat us last time and they're ranked in the top 10 in the country. We've done better with a chip on our shoulder."
This is the first time in the 29-year history of the Big 12 that the championship will be decided in a head-to-head matchup on the final day of the regular season and just the fourth time it's happened in a major conference since the 1999-2000 season.
Sarah Andrews (11.2 ppg, 5.0 assists), one of six seniors who will be recognized prior to the Senior Night game, said this "was God's plan."
"We were kind of the underdog all season," said Andrews, who will break Suzie Snider Epper's 48-year-old program record when she plays in her 163rd career game on Sunday. "I think TCU should be a little more nervous than us, because there's a lot of pressure on them, honestly. They're ranked higher than us, and we're the underdog going into the game."
Ranked in the top 10 since early-season wins over Notre Dame and North Carolina State, TCU dominated the first 25 minutes of the earlier showdown with the Bears in Fort Worth. The Horned Frogs went up 55-33 at the 5:07 mark in the third quarter on a three-point play by 6-7 center Sedona Prince, who had a game-high 24 points and 14 rebounds.
But over the last 15 minutes, the Bears outscored the Frogs, 42-25, and made it a one-possession game twice in the last 30 seconds before Andrews missed a 3-pointer with six seconds left that would have cut it to a one-point deficit.
It was TCU's first win over Baylor since 1990, when they were both in the Southwest Conference, snapping the Bears' 37-game winning streak.
"I hope that everyone that is an alumni watched tonight and is proud and happy that we could do it," said Prince, who is averaging 17.7 points and 9.1 rebounds in her seventh year of eligibility after previous stops at Texas and Oregon. "This is for us, but it's for them, too. I hope they know it's a shifting of kind of the power and this dynamic in the Big 12. It's historic, and it means a lot to men, genuinely."
In addition to Andrews, the Baylor seniors recognized before the game will be Colorado transfer Aaronette Vonleh (13.7 ppg, 5.4 rebounds), guards Jada Walker (11.0 ppg, 5.7 assists), Yaya Felder (10.4 ppg) and mid-year Florida transfer Aliyah Matharu (7.6 ppg) and former Belmont transfer Madison Bartley. The 6-3 Bartley only played 15 games this season before medically retiring with a back injury.
"I actually feel bad that our fans didn't get to the Belmont Madison Bartley," Collen said of Bartley, who scored over 1,000 points and averaged 11.6 points in three years at Belmont. "I don't know how many people, when she committed to us, were like, 'Wow, that's a great get!' Because you see the big names, the kids that were McDonald's All-Americans, move. But her value in that space, we didn't get her just to be a role player.
"Each of these players is really different in terms of why they chose Baylor, but ultimately, they've all been a big part of our success."
Sunday's game will be broadcast by FS1, with Elise Woodward and former Belmont University basketball player Madison (Blevins) Hock calling the action.
Game notes-
• Baylor is prepped for the regular season finale at Foster Pavilion on Sunday evening at 5:30 against the TCU Horned Frogs. Coverage will be live on FS1 and the Baylor Sports Media Network.
• The Bears are the winners of their last nine games in a league-best streak that began January 29 at UCF. Included in the nine are a pair of ranked upsets over then-No. 18 West Virginia and No. 14 Kansas State.
• In her final home regular season game, Sarah Andrews will set the Baylor program record for games played at 163, a record held by Suzie Snider Eppers since 1977.
• The Bears remain the leading rebounding team in the Big 12 Conference, averaging 42.13 per game, enough for 15th in the NCAA, and hold an average margin of 9.2 boards over their opponents.
• Back in the AP Top 25, the Bears reentered the rankings on Monday, February 10. Placed at No. 17 in its seventh appearance of 2024-25 (week of Feb. 10), BU received votes in eight editions while being left out twice.
• For the first time in Big 12 women's basketball history, a winner-take-all game falls on the final day of the regular season.
• It's also the first for a major conference since the 2021 SEC regular season title was decided between Texas A&M and South Carolina and the fourth for a major conference to be decided on the last day since the 1999-2000 season.
• A win on Sunday would give Baylor its 25th overall Big 12 Conference Championship and 14th regular season title.
• 13 regular season titles are already the most in the conference held by a single team, with former member Oklahoma next up at seven. Texas Tech's three conference titles are the second-most among active members, dating back to their last in the 2000 season.
• Baylor and TCU are facing off for the 54th time in a series that dates back to the 1975-76 season.
• Once crosstown rivals, TCU and Baylor were both Waco-based universities from 1895-1910.
• Baylor was the winner of 37-straight over the Horned Frogs until the two teams met up on January 26th in Fort Worth and TCU prevailed, 80-75.
• In Game One, TCU led by as many as 22 points in the third quarter before the Bears pulled within three points with just over 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter. For BU, Sarah Andrews led with 21 points and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs led on the boards with 14. For the Frogs, Sedona Prince's 24-point, 14-rebound double-double was one of two with a 20-piece, joining Madison Conner's 21 points.
• TCU's roster features Hailey Van Lith and Prince both at 17.7 points, while Conner comes in with 15.1 per game. Prince also averages 9.1 rebounds per game.
• Through games on Feb. 27, Baylor is ranked 16th in the NET, going 3-4 against Quad 1 programs and 5-1 over Quad 2.
• BU's highest-ranked NET win is over No. 8 Kansas State. The Bears upset the Wildcats, 79-62, led by 24 points and 12 rebounds from Aaronette Vonleh.
• TCU enters the contest at No. 9, with a NET-best win over No. 4 Notre Dame.
• 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 California (as of Feb. 25).
• 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 eight programs with three (K-State, TCU, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Utah, Colorado, UCF and Houston).
• The Bears have five players with at least 300 points scored this season, tied with California for the most such players in DI. If Bella Fontleroy scores 11 more points, Baylor would be the first Big 12 team this century to have six players score 300+ in a single season.
• Baylor's defense has held all but two of its Big 12 opponents below their season scoring averages. Most recently, the Bears held K-State, the top scoring offense in the league with 80.8 points per game entering the contest, to just 62.
• Only five opponents this season have netted a positive assist-to-turnover ratio after playing BU.
• The Bears have held opponents to 20.7 percent from 3-point range during the nine-game win streak, the lowest allowed by a Big 12 team over a nine-game span since Texas Tech in the 2002-03 season.
• Jada Walker has a steal in 13 straight games, the third-longest active streak in the Big 12 behind Kyah Watson (38) and JJ Quinerly (16). Walker is on track to become the first Baylor player to average 1.5 steals in consecutive seasons since Niya Jackson (2014-15, 2015-16).
• BU holds a nine-game winning streak, the best in the Big 12 and second-best among major conferences (Texas leads with 12 straight), entering the contest with TCU.
• In those nine games, Aaronette Vonleh leads the consistent scoring efforts with an average of 14.4 points per game. Bella Fontleroy (12.1), Jada Walker (10.2) and Sarah Andrews (10.0) all average double-figures in that stretch.
• Walker's six assists per game lead the pack with Vonleh's 1.3 blocks and Andrews' two steals at the top of the stat sheet.
• Fifth-year senior Sarah Andrews, who has spent all five years in a Baylor uniform, is will break the record for career games played when she takes the court against TCU.
• Andrews will break a 48-year old record claimed by Suzie Snider-Eppers when her career ended after the 1977 season. The fifth-year senior has played 14 more games in the NCAA era than Nina Davis' 149 that were posted from 2013-17.
• Andrews already holds the Big 12 Conference record for career games played, a milestone that was surpassed in BU's game at Texas Tech on February 15.
• Baylor got its first win in Manhattan under Nicki Collen in a 79-62 upset of the No. 14 Wildcats on Big Monday.
• Holding the highest-scoring team in the Big 12 to just 62 points, Serena Sundell and Kennedy Taylor combined for 36 of K-State's points and the denial Bear defense held a red-hot 3-point shooting team to their lowest output of the season at 13.3%, going 2-of-5 from deep.
• Aaronette Vonleh recorded her third double-double of the year in a 24-point, 12-rebound performance at K-State, shooting 10-of-15 from the field with three blocks.
• Yaya Felder (15 points), Sarah Andrews (12 points) and Aliyah Matharu (15 points) rounded out the double-digit scoring for BU, while Jada Walker put up an 11-assist game with eight points.
• BU sunk 11 triples, marking the 10th game this season with 10 or more.
