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Baylor Women's Basketball

The 1-3-1 March Madness Edition: Baylor (19-12) vs Alabama (20-10)

March 17, 2023
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Baylor found themselves waiting longer than usual on Selection Sunday to hear their names called, and when it was the landing spot wasn’t exactly ideal. The Bears will enter their 19th consecutive NCAA Tournament trip as the seventh seed in the Seattle 3 region, which sends them to Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut.

Up first for Baylor (19-12) is 10th-seeded Alabama (20-10), in what will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Tip-off between the Bears and Tide is set for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and will be televised on ESPN 2.

The Tide are currently riding a four-game skid and finished in the middle of the pack in the SEC, as they were tied with Mississippi State and Georgia at 9-7 in conference play.

Here is the 1-3-1 on the Tide.


One Player:

Baylor will need to focus on All-SEC First Team Guard, Brittany Davis. The grad student leads Alabama in scoring with 17.3 PPG, and has scored in double figures in all but two games this season, including ten 20-point performances.

Davis (9-points, 7 boards) didn’t play up to her standards as the Tide were ousted by Kentucky 71-58 in the second round of the SEC Tournament. Expect her to come out firing against the Bears on Saturday.


Three Nuggets:

●      Baylor is making its 19th-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, which is the fifth-longest active streak in the country behind Tennessee (41), Stanford (35), UConn (34) and Notre Dame (27), and 21st appearance overall.

●      The Crimson Tide's deepest run came in 1994 with the team advancing to the Final Four.

●      The Bears are 54-17 in the Big Dance and have made 15 trips to the Sweet 16.


One Quote:

The elephant in the room, besides Big AL, is the fact that the winner of Saturday’s game between Baylor and Alabama will likely see the heavy favorite and hometown team UCONN in the second round. 

Head coach Nicki Collen knows her team is under a microscope heading into March, but if they can focus on a few basic elements of the game, then they can beat anyone on any given night.

 "People are going to say we're not Baylor anymore," Collen said. "We're not the dominant Baylor, but we're good enough to go beat anyone... From our perspective, that's who we need to be. Because we're not bigger than anyone, we're not stronger than anyone. We have to be focused on rebounding, we've got to be focused on defending and let the rest take care of itself."


News and Notables:

There have been a few roster announcements over the course of the week for Baylor, with one player hitting the portal and another returning via their Covid eligibility.

Kendra Gillespie has missed a majority of the season with “personal issues” and announced via Twitter earlier this week that she would be entering the transfer portal.

Jaden Owens let it be known before the team left Waco that she will be back next season, to which Bella Fontleroy replied “We wouldn’t let her leave anyway”. 

 

 

Discussion from...

The 1-3-1 March Madness Edition: Baylor (19-12) vs Alabama (20-10)

12,411 Views | 115 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by blueeyedbear
MrGolfguy
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Just win (Lady) Bears!
Well I ain't no greenhorn!!
Malbec
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Oklahoma State choked one away and Iowa State getting run by Toledo.
BBWCBear
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Bama a 3pt shooting team, BU's kryptonite. Long night ahead. First half of first quarter 12-zip run game already over. Playing catch up.
whitetrash
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First 5 possessions:

Clanked 3
Turnover
Charge
Clanked 3
Missed jumper

Down 9-0 less than 2 1/2 minutes in.
IowaBear
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12-0 yikes
whitetrash
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Last year we opened against SD on an 11-0 deficit. This year it's a 12-0 deficit.
Johnny Bear
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Brick, brick, brick, brick, and brick. Pathetic start - down 12-0
kbrun
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Should be able to beat this team….if we can make a bucket.
pilgrim
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12-0 Bama to start. I'll have to come back later.
RSBear
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Did they get a scouting report?!
Baylorkid
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Oh wow we suck right now! C'mon guys! Hopefully this isn't Bickle's last game as a bear!
IowaBear
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Based on?? The thought that SEC was garbage this year was ludicrous and that's proving itself in the dance. The B12 is the 5th best conferences and that's generous.
bawitdaball
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If you miss your first five shots and 3 of them are 3s - run a play to create a layup. Don't keep doing one screen and then jack up s 3 shot 10 seconds into the shot clock. I will never understand this offensive system.
IowaBear
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Have AP explain it to you… we're going to win multiple nattys win this offense
rileyroo
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We are just a shell of our former self.
whitetrash
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bawitdaball said:

If you miss your first five shots and 3 of them are 3s - run a play to create a layup. Don't keep doing one screen and then jack up s 3 shot 10 seconds into the shot clock. I will never understand this offensive system.

We've missed 2 of those too.
Johnny Bear
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We actually score!!!!
IowaBear
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DLB needs 15 shots today
Baylorkid
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IowaBear said:

DLB needs 15 shots today

Our guards need to not shoot unless they're open layups
bawitdaball
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Caitlin's inability to stay on the court will likely be a big factor in this game. 2 fouls in 5 minutes. She hasn't learned throughout the season how to not foul, and CNC continues to put her in a position where she can pick up crappy fouls. Both are to blame for not learning and adjusting. We'll see how the two freshman play together. Regardless, they have to actually make a shot. Hopefully the law of averages somewhat works in the end. But right now we are shooting like 9%
True Grit
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Bickle with 2 fouls, and we are already down by 10. I'm switching over to the Kansas/Ark game. Will check-in later...
RSBear
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This is hard to watch
Johnny Bear
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Has our coach ever heard of the concept of calling a time out when you are obviously getting boat raced?
bawitdaball
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RSBear said:

This is hard to watch
This is sadly a prime example of just how bad this offensive system is. Like, how do you stay motivated with this?
Bruiser85
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We are getting crushed. Embarrassing.
bawitdaball
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This is our coach though. Gotta remember that.
IowaBear
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4 points…. Wow
Johnny Bear
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4 points in the first quarter. Four.

Forgive me for being nostalgic for the past, but what makes this even harder to watch is realizing an average Mulkey team would probably swat this Bama squad like a bug.
rileyroo
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We are on pace to score 16 points. But….damn all of us for criticizing this coach.
pilgrim
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I'm turning the sound off and will watch part of Q2. That may be it for me for this year. Always for our team. But some things I just can't watch.
edible_waffles
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First Quarter Thoughts:

- Next season will be better!

(The less I focus on whatever that was, the more sane I will be)
74Bear
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IowaBear said:

4 points…. Wow


UCONN is probably laughing their butts off at this ineptness.
Bruiser85
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pilgrim said:

I'm turning the sound off and will watch part of Q2. That may be it for me for this year. Always for our team. But some things I just can't watch.
We understand.
Bruiser85
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74Bear said:

IowaBear said:

4 points…. Wow


UCONN is probably laughing their butts off at this ineptness.
At least we won't get crushed by UCONN now.
GarlandBear84
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Shouldn't we try to triple-team Davis or will we just let her score 50?
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