Experience leads Baylor to 71-61 win over Tech in 100th meeting

WACO, Texas — Amongst the excitement of a youth movement, it was the experience of a veteran that helped Baylor (18-10, 9-7) complete the regular season sweep of Texas Tech ( 17-12, 5-11) 71-61 on Saturday evening. 

Caitlin Bickle launched the ball the length of the court to Ja’Mee Asberry on an inbounds play, which resulted in a layup by Darianna Littlepage-Buggs to put the Lady Raiders to bed in the 100th all-time meeting between the two programs.

Bickle hit a corner three pointer early in the fourth quarter for Baylor’s first points of the second half and a 48-47 lead, but she was just getting started. The senior finished the night with a game high 21 points, of which 11 came in the fourth quarter. 

Baylor took a comfortable 38-30 lead over the Lady Raiders into halftime after a physical first half of play inside the Ferrell Center. The Bears did an excellent job of not letting Texas Tech guard Bre’Amber Scott get open looks at the basket — Scott had just three points at halftime.

Baylor’s defense went beyond shutting down Scott in the first half, it also led to forcing 8 turnovers by the Lady Raiders that resulted in 12 points for the Bears. Scott (7pts) never got rolling as she was held well under her 17.4 PPG average in Waco.

All of the momentum that Baylor generated in the first half evaporated in the third quarter as Texas Tech completely dominated the Bears. The Lady Raiders went on a 15-4 run and held a 43-42 lead over Baylor as the game entered a media timeout with 2:35 remaining. 

The onslaught would continue until the buzzer as Tech outscored the Bears 20-6, while holding Baylor to 0-12 from the field in their worst scoring quarter of the season. 

Baylor got tremendous production from their bench as well on Saturday. Catarina Ferreira (8pts) showed growth when she was called upon, as well as Kyla Abraham (4pts) and Jana Van Gytenbeek (3ast). 

Littlepage-Buggs was two rebounds shy of another double-double, but had a solid outing with 12 points and 8 rebounds. Andrews (9pts) and Asberry (7pts) continue to be in the mix, while Bella Fontleroy (4pts)  and Jaden Ownes (6pts) did most of their damage with the dirty work — Fontleroy 9 rebounds, Ownes 5 assists.

While all of the attributes are nice to reflect on, it was Baylor’s efficiency at the free throw line that won the game. The Bears went 17-18 from the charity stripe with five players finishing 2-2 — the lone miss came from Bickle who finished 7-8.

The Bears now have a short turnaround, as they head to Austin on Monday night to face Big 12 leader No. 19 Texas (22-7, 13-3) at the Moody Center starting at 6:00 p.m.