Jerry Hill
BaylorBears.com
 
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – At least in this case, the third time was the charm.
 
Eliminated by Iowa State at each of the last two Big 12 Tournaments, the 17^th-ranked and second-seeded Baylor Bears survived a fourth-quarter rally and escaped with a 69-63 win over the Cyclones in Friday's quarterfinal at T-Mobile Center.
 
"This seems to be an annual thing, Baylor and Iowa State in Kansas City," said Baylor coach Nicki Collen, who picked up her 100^th career win (100-34). "They've all been nail-biters, and and it just feels good to be on the 'W' side of it this year. This is clearly a home away from home for them. I know they refer to it as Hilton South, but that crowd travels and they really provide their team a lift."
 
Baylor (26-6) looked like it would run away with this one early, scoring the first 10 points of the game and going up 16-2 on a Sarah Andrews 3-pointer with 4:17 left in the opening period. But the Cyclones (22-1) closed the first and second quarters on 9-0 runs and trailed by just five at the half, 38-33.
 
"You get frustrated as a coach when you build leads and teams come back," Collen said, "but the reality is everybody is good at this time of the year. And you knew they weren't going to quit playing. We were making everything we threw up to start the game. Our defense was super aggressive and on point. And then, the fouls started to take their toll."
 
Iowa State sophomore post Audi Crooks, who scored a game-high 32 points and hit 14-of-18 from the floor, said Baylor's defense is "handsy, they're very physical, they play with a lot of grit. And defensively, they're in your face."
 
Calling a timeout a little over two minutes into the game, with his team facing a 10-0 deficit, Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said it was for "everyone to take a breath."
 
"When we play some of these teams that are ultra-physical, when you get punched in the mouth, they either knock you out, or you hang on. And sometimes, you've got to lay on the ropes and protect yourself, and (then) let 'em punch and come back."
 
A night after scoring 41 points in the Cyclones' 96-88 second-round win over Arizona State, Iowa State's Addy Brown was just 2-of-11 from the floor and had six points and seven fouls before fouling out. She also had nine of her team's 22 turnovers, hounded all night by Big 12 All-Defensive Team pick Bella Fontleroy
 
"Obviously, you saw last night what she is capable of," said Fontleroy, one of the Bears' four double-figure scorers with 12 points, six rebounds, two blocks and a pair of steals. "She scores at all three levels. But not only her ability to score, but her play-making and finding her teammates when they're open. Ball pressure on her was a big emphasis. But she is a heck of a player and a heck of a person."
 
Crooks, who scored 17 second-half points, hit a bucket in the final seconds of the third quarter that cut Iowa State's deficit to 55-52 going into the final period. Most of her points came when 6-3 Colorado transfer Aaronette Vonleh was on the bench with foul trouble.
 
"The main thing with her is just to keep her from getting deep seals," said Vonleh, who fouled out with 3:22 left, finishing with 12 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks, "make her get touches away from the basket, so she has to do something else that she's not comfortable with."
 
Trailing for all but 85 seconds, the Cyclones took their first lead of the game, 59-58, on a 3-pointer by Arianna Jackson with 5:29 left in the game. After a layup by Vonleh, Crooks got loose again to put Iowa State on top again, 61-60.
 
"Honestly, we just showed a lot of grit and tenacity," Crooks said. "We know Baylor has a tendency to go on hot streaks, but to our credit, we continued to fight back and chip away, and eventually took the lead."
 
The last 4 ½ minutes proved to be Jada Walker time. Including a corner 3-pointer off an inbounds pass from Sarah Andrews, Walker scored seven of her team-high 18 points down the stretch.
 
Baylor missed four-consecutive free throws with a chance to extend the lead, but Yaya Felder hit a floater, and Walker made a pull-up jumper and a pair of free throws to finally put the game away.
 
"I definitely love March," said Walker, who scored a career-high 28 points in the Bears' second-round win over Virginia Tech last year that got BU to the Sweet 16. "I feel like I'm just a better playmaker, more locked in. . . . But there's something that really just kicks in when it's win or go home."
 
Fontleroy chipped in with 12 points, six boards, two steals and two blocks, while Florida transfer Aliyah Matharu scored 12 of the Bears' 14 bench points.
 
"She knows her stuff," Walker said of Collen. "She's eager to beat that man (Fennelly) every year. I' so glad that we got the win. I feel like she's a great coach, and this is good for her, that we can go out and perform and execute what she writes on that board every time."
 
Baylor advances to face 21^st-ranked Oklahoma State (25-5), which held on to beat 14^th-seeded Texas Tech, in Saturday's 5:30 p.m. semifinal. Eighth-ranked and top-seeded TCU (29-3) got by Colorado, 69-62, and will face 16^th-ranked West Virginia (24-6) in the other semifinal at 3 p.m. Saturday.