Littlepage-Buggs drops double-double; Baylor ends skid 69-48
WACO, Texas -- Baylor (13-5, 4-2) found themselves in unfamiliar territory on Wednesday night, as they hosted their first game in the Ferrell Center as an unranked team since 2004. Despite one of the ugliest starts to a basketball game that you could ask for, the Bears were able to right the ship and secure a 69-48 victory over K-State (12-7, 1-5).
Baylor closed out the first half on a 16-4 run to take a 30-18 lead heading into halftime. Ja’Mee Asberry led the charge with 11 first half points, while Bella Fontleroy dropped 9 points. Defensively, the Bears held the Wildcats in check as they connected on just 8-of-34 attempts for 23%.
One of the biggest differences early on compared to their previous loss in Morgantown was points off the bench. The Bears had just 9 points off the bench against WVU, but they had 12 points in the first half alone against K-State, but were only able to finish the night with 14 points from their bench.
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs set the tone in the second half for the Bears, as she scored 6 points on the first two possessions out of the locker room. Aijah Balckwell made her presence known with just over one minute remaining in the third, as she came away with a steal along the baseline and found Asberry for an uncontested layup.
Blackwell was able to dry a charge out of the gate in the fourth quarter, but Baylor wasn’t able to capitalize on the offensive end of the court. Sarah Andrews was able to give the Bears a 20 point lead 56-36 on a shot from downtown with 7:17 remaining in the game.
K-State would swing the momentum in their favor, as they put together an 8-0 run, while holding Baylor scoreless for 2:39, which closed the gap to 56-44 heading into a media timeout. The Wildcats continued to claw their way back into the game out of the timeout as Sarah Shematsi drew a foul on Bickle and went 1-2 from the charity stripe.
Bickle would finish the night 6 points to go along with 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Andrews had a slow night offensively compared to her past few outings, as she finished with 12 points. Asberry did the majority of her damage in the first half, but finished the night with 18 points.
The player of the game for the Bears was freshman sensation Littlepage-Buggs, who earned her seventh double-double of the season behind a team high 19 points and 11 rebounds. Fellow freshman counterpart Fontleroy was held scoreless in the second half, but her 9 points were crucial.
Baylor went to a mass substitution with just over a minute remaining in the game, which led to Blackwell finding the bottom of the net to give the Bears their largest lead of the game. The Bears would dribble out the clock to a standing ovation from the crowd to put an end to their two-game skid.
The Bears will be back in action at the Ferrell Center on Sunday afternoon for a 4:00 p.m. tip against in-state nemesis Texas (13-6, 4-2), who fell to Texas Tech (15-4, 3-3) 68-64 Wednesday night in Lubbock.