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Baylor Women's Basketball

Gameday Thread: No. 13 Baylor vs. No. 12 Texas

January 31, 2024
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WACO, Texas – The No. 13 Baylor women’s basketball team will face No. 12 Texas for the final time in the regular season as a Big 12 opponent on Thursday.

Tip-off from Foster Pavilion is set for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN with Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe on the call. A live radio broadcast will be available on ESPN Central Texas (1660 AM/92.3 FM) and live in-game updates will be provided via Twitter and live stats. 

STARTING FIVE

A win over the Longhorns on Thursday would move Baylor to 5-1 against ranked opponents this season and it would be the Bears’ second ranked win over Texas this year. Other top-25 wins include Utah, Miami and TCU.

Graduate senior Aijha Blackwell is the only player on the roster with more than 800 career rebounds and needs just 15 boards to reach 1,000. She’s finished in double figures on the boards in three-straight contest and five of the last six.

Senior Sarah Andrews has 211 career 3-pointers and needs 50 more to break Odyssey Sim’s record of 258. The senior guard has hit at least one from range in 17 of 19 games this year.

The Bears had a different leading scorer in their first six games to start the year. In Big 12 play, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Bella Fontleroy and Dre’Una Edwards have each led Baylor in scoring twice.

Thursday’s nationally televised game on ESPN marks the sixth of the season for the Bears and third-straight contest aired on the big screen. Baylor is 4-1 in nationally televised games this season and 11-7 in the Nicki Collen era.

SCOUTING THE SERIES WITH THE LONGHORNS

Texas leads the all-time series against Baylor, 60-50, and the Bears are 24-25 at home against the Longhorns. Prior to the 2021-22 postseason, the Bears had won 13-straight meetings, including twice in the regular-season. Last year’s series split with Texas marked the first time Baylor lost a regular season game to the Longhorns since the 2009-10 campaign when the Bears lost both contests.

In the unbalanced Big 12 schedule this year, the Bears have the opportunity for their first series sweep of the season on Thursday. The Bears have won four of the last five meetings in Waco.

LAST TIME VS. TEXAS

Baylor’s 85-79 conference-opening win at Texas on Dec. 30 marked the 14th-straight win in Austin for the Bears. The win marked the Bears’ second top-five win of the year after a non-con victory over then-No. 4 Utah. The last time Baylor picked up two top-five wins in the regular season was during the 2012-13 campaign, beating No. 3 UConn and No. 5 Notre Dame on the road.

Baylor forced Texas to commit 23 turnovers - the most in a game by the Longhorns this season and the most in a Big 12 game since turning the ball over 24 times at Oklahoma on Jan. 29, 2022. Baylor’s nine 3-pointers were the most given up by the Longhorns this year. Senior Sarah Andrews went a team-best 4-for-8 from deep and moved into second all-time at Baylor in made 3-pointers. Five Bears finished in double figures led by Jada Walker’s season-high 19-point outburst. The newcomer added four steals while Dre’Una Edwards finished with 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds and six assists.

Discussion from...

Gameday Thread: No. 13 Baylor vs. No. 12 Texas

14,953 Views | 114 Replies | Last: 8 mo ago by drahthaar
SirBearALot
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Booker her Dano !!
bawitdaball
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BearFan33 said:

Booker shoves off a lot
To be fair, they all shove off. It will be an issue come tournament time. Think football, but with holding.
thales
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this matchup is on the front page of espn

not the NCAAW section but the main page

RSBear
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Our defense is terrible at times. We need to get Lety or another post involved.
Big12Bear
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Did our coach just finally actually call a timeout when we were on offense and Booker is begging to be subbed out?? Really
SirBearALot
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we throw the ball around the outside and no one inside to rebound
bawitdaball
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Baylorbearwbb said:

Thsts cool and all im happy for sarah but these turnoves hurt so much

Oh, don't get me wrong, we don't have a solid ball handler on the team. And I've said it since the season started, you can't survive college basketball without height. We are 7-27 from 3. Just unfortunate to watch. We're likely on our way to a below .500 conference record. Hope I'm wrong, but the trajectory isn't ideal.
BearFan33
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Jeez Booker bodies our driver no call

We touch Booker with body and foul called
pilgrim
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We don't run Texas.
bawitdaball
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BearFan33 said:

Jeez Booker bodies our driver no call

We touch Booker with body and foul called
Officials haven't been the issue tonight. The leaders on the sideline did not have their team prepared. Out coached and outplayed. Will be interesting to see how CNC excuses this performance. The mighty have fallen far.
IowaBear
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Will finish above .500 in league play. Way too many patsies not too. I think will likely split with WV and lose at OU. We should win the rest
BearFan33
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Edwards drives within 5 feet of the bucket with no defender and kicks it out? Take the 2
bawitdaball
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Also - note that Texas is not at full strength. With Rory this game is a a run away. It's practically a run away as it is currently. Wish better for these ladies. Also, what has happened with Biggs? Just not effective and her minutes have decreased dramatically over the last several weeks. Did an injury happen that I'm not aware of outside of the face guard?
bawitdaball
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IowaBear said:

Will finish above .500 in league play. Way too many patsies not too. I think will likely split with WV and lose at OU. We should win the rest
I hope you're right. Our near loss to UCF has me questioning almost all of it.
BearFan33
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The secret is out

Go zone vs BU and watch them miss 3 shots.
Bears09
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No urgency with this team. Don't seem to care that we're down by 10 and don't show any fire. All talk for the socials nothing but a distraction at this point.
BearFan33
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Terrible at free throws tonight
bawitdaball
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BearFan33 said:

Terrible at free throws tonight
The "terrible" column is a lot longer than just free throws.
RSBear
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Very disappointing performance. Not sure how far we can go in the post season.
BearFan33
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Texas is a more talented team for sure.
bawitdaball
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RSBear said:

Very disappointing performance. Not sure how far we can go in the post season.
Right now we're a first weekend team that isn't hosting. I was told two weeks ago when I said we wouldn't host that I was crazy. There are a lot of teams playing a lot better basketball than what the Lady Bears have put on the floor since the TCU game.
Cove Dawg
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bawitdaball said:

RSBear said:

Very disappointing performance. Not sure how far we can go in the post season.
Right now we're a first weekend team that isn't hosting. I was told two weeks ago when I said we wouldn't host that I was crazy. There are a lot of teams playing a lot better basketball than what the Lady Bears have put on the floor since the TCU game.


When we beat Texas in Austin many said I didn't know what what I was talking about when I said that UT not having Jones on the floor had a big impact on the game. The proof just played out, check the points in the paint.
edible_waffles
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Has jones not been injured in the first game, we likely would've been swept.

This team is regressing incredibly fast
ImABearToo
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Too late to move back into the Ferrell?
“Life is short, eat desert first!”
Gametime
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Coach is doing such a great job. Looks to be the right coach. Last year was great too.
Gametime
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6 th place last year. And this year. Nice job.
MrGolfguy
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The tiny arena is not working.
Gametime
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Hard for kids to get tickets. My daughter has been successful getting tickets once total. For both mens and women's.

rileyroo
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I drove from Austin to see the game tonight. It was absolute garbage. I have no idea what Nikki and her staff were doing in the 2nd half. I love Nikki as a person, but she is in over her head. Everyone kept saying "just wait until she has her players". Well, she has the players now. We have two all SEC transfers, last year's Big 12 freshman of the year, multiple all Americans, a senior point guard, and one of the top rebounders in the country. We are now in 6th place in the Big 12. Is that acceptable!?

We lost to a bad Kansas team by 20+
We lost to an ISU team who lost 9 players
We lost to a KSU team without their star (in Waco)
We lost to an avg Texas team w/o their star PG

We were exposed as a team who can't play against the zone. What did the coaches do to address this? Not a dang thing apparently.

Gametime
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rileyroo said:

I drove from Austin to see the game tonight. It was absolute garbage. I have no idea what Nikki and her staff were doing in the 2nd half. I love Nikki as a person, but she is in over her head. Everyone kept saying "just wait until she has her players". Well, she has the players now. We have two all SEC transfers, last year's Big 12 freshman of the year, multiple all Americans, a senior point guard, and one of the top rebounders in the country. We are now in 6th place in the Big 12. Is that acceptable!?

We lost to a bad Kansas team by 20+
We lost to an ISU team who lost 9 players
We lost to a KSU team without their star (in Waco)
We lost to an avg Texas team w/o their star PG

We were exposed as a team who can't play against the zone. What did the coaches do to address this? Not a dang thing apparently.




Great post. Coach is a super nice person. She is not a top and college coach. 3 years and it isn't working.

Go back to the WNBA. Won with Kim's players and losing with hers? Recruiting and or coaching isn't acceptable.
DEDD1969
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If you look at the stats she's probably one of the best defensive players on the team! Her shooting has been off from the 3, but hasn't been stopped when driving in! Led Iowa State last year in blocked shots! Actually had multiple blocked shots against Baylor last year!
Eball
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That was a hard game to watch neither team looked worthy of their ranking to me. I think Texas is a top 25 team but not a top 16 team. Vic as a coach gets the most out of them whether you like him or not. BU does not look good right now they just don't. Not sure what happened other than everyone running a zone against them. We are just not a top 25 team right now.
BUatbirth
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Gametime said:

rileyroo said:

I drove from Austin to see the game tonight. It was absolute garbage. I have no idea what Nikki and her staff were doing in the 2nd half. I love Nikki as a person, but she is in over her head. Everyone kept saying "just wait until she has her players". Well, she has the players now. We have two all SEC transfers, last year's Big 12 freshman of the year, multiple all Americans, a senior point guard, and one of the top rebounders in the country. We are now in 6th place in the Big 12. Is that acceptable!?

We lost to a bad Kansas team by 20+
We lost to an ISU team who lost 9 players
We lost to a KSU team without their star (in Waco)
We lost to an avg Texas team w/o their star PG

We were exposed as a team who can't play against the zone. What did the coaches do to address this? Not a dang thing apparently.




Great post. Coach is a super nice person. She is not a top and college coach. 3 years and it isn't working.

Go back to the WNBA. Won with Kim's players and losing with hers? Recruiting and or coaching isn't acceptable.
You are so right…Nicki can't shoot the 3 ball to save her life…her free throw shooting is atrocious. She is always turning the ball over…fire her! PLEASE
Gametime
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BUatbirth said:

Gametime said:

rileyroo said:

I drove from Austin to see the game tonight. It was absolute garbage. I have no idea what Nikki and her staff were doing in the 2nd half. I love Nikki as a person, but she is in over her head. Everyone kept saying "just wait until she has her players". Well, she has the players now. We have two all SEC transfers, last year's Big 12 freshman of the year, multiple all Americans, a senior point guard, and one of the top rebounders in the country. We are now in 6th place in the Big 12. Is that acceptable!?

We lost to a bad Kansas team by 20+
We lost to an ISU team who lost 9 players
We lost to a KSU team without their star (in Waco)
We lost to an avg Texas team w/o their star PG

We were exposed as a team who can't play against the zone. What did the coaches do to address this? Not a dang thing apparently.




Great post. Coach is a super nice person. She is not a top and college coach. 3 years and it isn't working.

Go back to the WNBA. Won with Kim's players and losing with hers? Recruiting and or coaching isn't acceptable.
You are so right…Nikki can't shoot the 3 ball to save her life…her free throw shooting is atrocious. She is always turning the ball over…fire her! PLEASE



outside of Andrew's who recruited the players? Who recruited 1 post in 3 years? Remind me who suppose to make in game adjustments. Remind me who coached the team to 6th place last year, and backing it up with another 6th. You are blind or not watching what has and is transpiring over the past two seasons.
This isn't one game or even 2 game response.

If you are ok with how coach is coaching great I'm not. 6th isn't acceptable. Or how she is recruiting, again looks to have recruited wrong players for her system. Or is her system outside of two first round wnba players in Queen and Smith is to finish in the middle???

I understand the players playing part. But, 2 years with different players same result is on the coach.
BUatbirth
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All the 3s that were falling which aren't. Bunnies that are now being missed. Free throw percentage now sinking.
Uncharacteristically high turnovers. No, you don't understand
Just 3 years following a HOF coach…top 10 team before this cold shooting streak. Yea, her recruiting sux too.
I'm not saying we don't have some real needs to fill…but let's fire Nicki? Keep trolling
 
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