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Gameday Thread: No. 5 Baylor vs No. 1 USC - Sweet Sixteen

March 29, 2024
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PORTLAND, Ore. – The Baylor women’s basketball team continues its run in the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Saturday when it faces USC at the Moda Center. 

The Sweet 16 matchup between the Bears (26-7) and the Trojans (28-5) is set for 4:30 p.m. CT and airs nationally on ESPN with Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli 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

Baylor is playing in its 20th-straight NCAA Tournament in 2024. The Bears hold the fourth-longest active streak in the country in consecutive appearances behind Tennessee (42), Stanford (36) and UConn (35).

The Bears are making their first appearance in the Sweet 16 since 2021 and first under the direction of head coach Nicki Collen.

Baylor is 57-18 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with three national championships, four Final Four appearances, 10 trips to the Elite Eight and 16 Sweet 16 appearances. BU’s 16 Sweet 16 appearances are the third-most in the last two decades behind only UConn and Stanford.

The Bears rank ninth nationally in three-point percentage defense, holding their opponents to 26.2% from behind the arc this season. Baylor has held its opponent to below 20% shooting from 3-point range in five of the last eight games.

Baylor is an impressive 21-1 this season when outrebounding its opponents. The Bears have recorded 50-plus rebounds in six contests this season, eclipsing 60 boards in wins over McNeese (68) and Delaware State (64).

QUEENS OF THE CASSELL

No. 5-seeded Baylor outlasted the No. 4 seed Virginia Tech Hokies, 75-72, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

The win by the Bears snapped a 26-game home winning streak for the Hokies, which was a program record. Virginia Tech dropped to 32-2 at Cassell Coliseum in the last two seasons.

Jada Walker paced the Baylor offense with a career-high 28 points, going a team-leading 9-for-10 from the charity stripe. She notched 26 of her 28 points in the second half, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Additionally, she went without a turnover and dished out three assists in the outing.

Team captains Sarah Andrews (16) and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (10) joined Walker in double figures while Bella Fontleroy led the Bears on the boards for the second-straight game, grabbing nine.

FIGHTING IN THE FIRST ROUND

Baylor earned the 80-63 victory over Vanderbilt in its opening-round game on March 22.

The game marked the 100th career game for head coach Nicki Collen. She holds a 74-27 record at the helm of the Bears.

The Bears have won their opening-round game 21 times in 22 showings in the Big Dance.

Bella Fontleroy turned in her third double-double of the year, and sixth of her career, with a 19-point, 11-rebound performance to lead the Bears in both categories.

Baylor’s 80 points marked the 11th time this year that the Bears have put up at least 80 and first time since scoring 83 at Houston on Feb. 4.

Discussion from...

Gameday Thread: No. 5 Baylor vs No. 1 USC - Sweet Sixteen

30,571 Views | 212 Replies | Last: 7 mo ago by MrGolfguy
Brusinbear2001
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In reply to IowaBear • 8:07p, 3/30/24
it was mentioned in the comment i commented on that's the only reason. in the washington post article everyone is obsessed with mentions that we are falling off and i see that being the exact opposite. There is a lot of different things.None of the stuff i said i made up but like i said have a great night!!
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Guitarbiscuit
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In reply to historian • 8:07p, 3/30/24
historian said:
Iowa State MBB in Waco is almost certainly one of the 2%

I would agree with you there, but that game seemed to me to be more of an individual vendetta than some grand scheme to try to get Baylor to lose. Could be wrong though.
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Guitarbiscuit
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In reply to Brusinbear2001 • 8:08p, 3/30/24
Brusinbear2001 said:
it was mentioned in the comment i commented on that's the only reason. in the washington post article everyone is obsessed with mentions that we are falling off and i see that being the exact opposite. There is a lot of different things.None of the stuff i said i made up but like i said have a great night!!

The Ignore Button. It's a helluva drug.
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historian
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In reply to IowaBear • 8:08p, 3/30/24
IowaBear said:
Why are you ranting about Mulkey, she hasn't even been brought up in todays game thread…


I brought up Mulkey because I thought someone else had or had hinted at it. It could have been another thread. Even when Mulkey isn't mentioned, it seems like her "ghost" is lurking in a lot of threads.
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
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Brusinbear2001
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8:08p, 3/30/24
We have the women and staff for the job period point blank.
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historian
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In reply to Guitarbiscuit • 8:10p, 3/30/24
Agreed. But he wasn't the only one resorting to name calling. Sometimes it's best just to let things slide. Nothing is gained by continuing vitriol back and forth.
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
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Guitarbiscuit
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In reply to historian • 8:14p, 3/30/24
historian said:
Agreed. But he wasn't the only one resorting to name calling. Sometimes it's best just to let things slide. Nothing is gained by continuing vitriol back and forth.

I would agree. However, he is the one who started the problems. If you and he are friends, that's fine. Just make sure you leave me out.
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Dcheetah
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8:20p, 3/30/24
USC was just as athletic as us if not more. We were outsized at every position. It can be harder to hit layups in that setting. However, like multiple games this year, we missed a lot of layups and have to clean that up. There are a lot of factors to winning or losing a game. We made only 7 of 12 FTs and they made 17 of 21. TOs were about even 10-9, we won the rebounding battle but not by much 44-41. SC had 7 blocks to our 4 and certainly that caused some rushed shots inside. Finally, the refs were certainly a factor late and throughout. Anyone who says obvious calls going against you late doesn't matter, they certainly matter in taking away chances for you to score and giving more and better opportunities for your opponent to do so. When Juju absolutely mugged Bella driving to the basket (arms forward hitting her arms and body all over her - like end of UConn game several years ago) I knew we wouldnt be getting calls in our favor. They got light touch calls and we did not and if it involved Juju she was getting a call no matter what and she delivered. In a 1 pt game with less than 30 seconds, that still certainly matters despite anything that happened previously in the game.
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605Bear
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8:41p, 3/30/24
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BearFan33
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In reply to Dcheetah • 8:53p, 3/30/24
Dcheetah said:
USC was just as athletic as us if not more. We were outsized at every position. It can be harder to hit layups in that setting. However, like multiple games this year, we missed a lot of layups and have to clean that up. There are a lot of factors to winning or losing a game. We made only 7 of 12 FTs and they made 17 of 21. TOs were about even 10-9, we won the rebounding battle but not by much 44-41. SC had 7 blocks to our 4 and certainly that caused some rushed shots inside. Finally, the refs were certainly a factor late and throughout. Anyone who says obvious calls going against you late doesn't matter, they certainly matter in taking away chances for you to score and giving more and better opportunities for your opponent to do so. When Juju absolutely mugged Bella driving to the basket (arms forward hitting her arms and body all over her - like end of UConn game several years ago) I knew we wouldnt be getting calls in our favor. They got light touch calls and we did not and if it involved Juju she was getting a call no matter what and she delivered. In a 1 pt game with less than 30 seconds, that still certainly matters despite anything that happened previously in the game.



Proud of the ladies. I think we win a fairly called game.
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Dcheetah
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In reply to BearFan33 • 8:59p, 3/30/24
If we play like today I agree. Very proud of this team and can't wait to see our team taking the floor in the fall.
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Wbbfan29
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9:02p, 3/30/24
Proud of our ladies. They finished with more wins than last season, and took #1 seed to the wire. We are trending in the right direction.
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hitmanmw
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9:07p, 3/30/24
I've never jumped on you before, Iowa, but you're an idiot. That is so obtuse to say "well if we just made more shots we would've won…". Yeah, no kidding. But it's not being a loser to point out that USC repeatedly got phantom calls, mostly for Juju, and we got nothing, and the calls at the end absolutely affected the outcome. No one ever said the officiating was the ONLY reason we lost, but it damn sure contributed. Why you can't concede that is beyond me.
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LTBear19
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In reply to Jack Bauer • 9:07p, 3/30/24
Eh. I have a sneaking suspicion Geno will make sure JuJu doesn't get there.
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Guitarbiscuit
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In reply to hitmanmw • 9:14p, 3/30/24
hitmanmw said:
I've never jumped on you before, Iowa, but you're an idiot. That is so obtuse to say "well if we just made more shots we would've won…". Yeah, no kidding. But it's not being a loser to point out that USC repeatedly got phantom calls, mostly for Juju, and we got nothing, and the calls at the end absolutely affected the outcome. No one ever said the officiating was the ONLY reason we lost, but it damn sure contributed. Why you can't concede that is beyond me.


Get prepared to be called "Low IQ fan."
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chorne68
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9:16p, 3/30/24
I was very proud of our players and coaches.
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BUVA
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In reply to historian • 9:21p, 3/30/24
historian said:
BUVA said:
KIA said:
They won't swallow their whistles as much if Geno is on the other sideline.


So....do they want to give Bueckers the Natty she thinks she deserves, or keep pumping up JuJu? I'm gonna be pulling for USC because I'm way past sick of Bueckers.

What about Caitlyn Clark? It seems to me she gets a lot of attention too. I'm not sure how much compared to the others, though.


I'm referring to the Elite Eight matchup of UConn and USC...which one will the media choose?
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LTBear19
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In reply to BUVA • 9:24p, 3/30/24
Media won't have anything to do with Geno outcoaching USC.
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Dcheetah
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In reply to BUVA • 9:26p, 3/30/24
Probably more evenly called because both teams have major stars and promotions can be made either way.
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TinFoilHatPreacherBear
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In reply to Guitarbiscuit • 10:40p, 3/30/24
Guitarbiscuit said:
hitmanmw said:
I've never jumped on you before, Iowa, but you're an idiot. That is so obtuse to say "well if we just made more shots we would've won…". Yeah, no kidding. But it's not being a loser to point out that USC repeatedly got phantom calls, mostly for Juju, and we got nothing, and the calls at the end absolutely affected the outcome. No one ever said the officiating was the ONLY reason we lost, but it damn sure contributed. Why you can't concede that is beyond me.


Get prepared to be called "Low IQ fan."


Yep the purists believe refs are fair because it makes them feel better. But we all see it, in many games the refs have an agenda to help a particular team, just the way it is. The team has to be better than the opponent and the refs some nights. It's low IQ to think that the refs don't.
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TinFoilHatPreacherBear
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In reply to IowaBear • 10:48p, 3/30/24
IowaBear said:
"Low sports IQ" don't twist my words.
And yes blaming just the refs without looking at the game as a whole indicates an incredibly low sports IQ.
Sorry if that offends you


We win if the refs called this game fairly. You're low IQ if you disagree with that.
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74Bear
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6:32a, 3/31/24
Not sure it has been posted anywhere but one of the refs was blackballed by Kim years ago when you could do that. None other than Melissa Barlowe who made several game costing calls against us including in the game vs Tennessee in Norman, OK in 2004.
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whitetrash
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In reply to 74Bear • 6:58a, 3/31/24
74Bear said:
Not sure it has been posted anywhere but one of the refs was blackmailed by Kim years ago when you could do that. None other than Melissa Barlowe who made several game costing calls against us including in the game vs Tennessee in Norman, OK in 2004.
I knew I recognized her name but forgot that was where it was from.

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74Bear
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7:09a, 3/31/24
Sorry, my auto-correct changed "blackballed" to "blackmailed." Back then you could blackball an official and keep them from calling your future games.
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3rdgenbear
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8:07a, 3/31/24
Great effort by the ladies! They showed that they could compete at the highest levels. Congrats on a great year!
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Jack Bauer
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In reply to 74Bear • 8:56a, 3/31/24
74Bear said:
Not sure it has been posted anywhere but one of the refs was blackballed by Kim years ago when you could do that. None other than Melissa Barlowe who made several game costing calls against us including in the game vs Tennessee in Norman, OK in 2004.


Probably the worst call in college basketball
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blackie
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In reply to TinFoilHatPreacherBear • 11:15a, 3/31/24
TinFoilHatPreacherBear said:
Guitarbiscuit said:
hitmanmw said:
I've never jumped on you before, Iowa, but you're an idiot. That is so obtuse to say "well if we just made more shots we would've won…". Yeah, no kidding. But it's not being a loser to point out that USC repeatedly got phantom calls, mostly for Juju, and we got nothing, and the calls at the end absolutely affected the outcome. No one ever said the officiating was the ONLY reason we lost, but it damn sure contributed. Why you can't concede that is beyond me.


Get prepared to be called "Low IQ fan."


Yep the purists believe refs are fair because it makes them feel better. But we all see it, in many games the refs have an agenda to help a particular team, just the way it is. The team has to be better than the opponent and the refs some nights. It's low IQ to think that the refs don't.
I don't know if they have an actual agenda or not in the normal sense of the word. I can see however, a feeling that could be subconscious that if there is a situation that presents uncertainty that it must be the situation that the preconceived "better" team or player must be the team or player in the right. Why? Because they are the "better" team or player. They must have made the superior play. The ref may really not care which team wins, but that feeling just described affects their judgement in the moment.

This is similar to the moronic refs that believe that no female player could legitimately block another female's shot at the rim, especially if they are a bit shorter than the shooter. It hasn't been too many years where that was always called a foul because, you know, women are not athletic enough to do that without fouling. Thankfully that has seemed to pass for the most part at least with the better officials.

With the way things are done now with reviews allowed on certain plays in the last two minutes, such a sense can affect the initial call. Taking the out-of-bounds call yesterday with 5 seconds on the shot clock as an example. It certainly appeared to me that the USC player's fingers were the last to touch the ball, but the call initially was "white" ball. Was the ref that called that biased or had the sense of what I described above? Unfortunately the video replay shed some doubt on that call, but apparently didn't reach to the level of indisputable. Had the initial call gone to Baylor it also would not be overturned.

It seems to me that in those situations the initial call should carry practically no weight at all. They have the video to see the play from all angles. Make your best call based on that even when hard to tell. It is certainly more valid than some ref trying to make a call in the heat of the action and then have that call putting its finger on the scale for the final decision.
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BUGWBBear
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In reply to 74Bear • 12:26p, 3/31/24
74Bear said:
Sorry, my auto-correct changed "blackballed" to "blackmailed." Back then you could blackball an official and keep them from calling your future games.


And rightfully so. Should be a practice put back in place since most of them are now sport book corrupted.

If Kim wins another Natty, Rhodes should be drawn and quartered off the ALICO building.
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Guitarbiscuit
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In reply to 74Bear • 12:45p, 3/31/24
Good. If Mulkey had the power to blackball a bad or otherwise biased official, I'm all for it. Too bad Barlowe was there yesterday. If she weren't, we may have won, since we were the better team.


74Bear said:
Not sure it has been posted anywhere but one of the refs was blackballed by Kim years ago when you could do that. None other than Melissa Barlowe who made several game costing calls against us including in the game vs Tennessee in Norman, OK in 2004.
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historian
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In reply to Guitarbiscuit • 12:54p, 3/31/24
I know very few people on these boards personally. A few a consider friends in the casual internet sense, there is only one I know very well (meeting a few times & knowing personally are different things) and he rarely posts.
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
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historian
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In reply to hitmanmw • 12:57p, 3/31/24
I agree with just about everything except the "idiot" part. He's not an idiot but he is stubborn, as are many of us on these boards.
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
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historian
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In reply to 74Bear • 12:59p, 3/31/24
74Bear said:
Sorry, my auto-correct changed "blackballed" to "blackmailed." Back then you could blackball an official and keep them from calling your future games.

Too bad MBB cannot do that with Hartness!
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
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BU71
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In reply to Jack Bauer • 7:04p, 3/31/24
Jack Bauer said:
74Bear said:
Not sure it has been posted anywhere but one of the refs was blackballed by Kim years ago when you could do that. None other than Melissa Barlowe who made several game costing calls against us including in the game vs Tennessee in Norman, OK in 2004.


Probably the worst call in college basketball
Was that the game where Kim ran up the courl and slid on her backside? I've searched for that video several times without success.
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WacoKelly83
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7:46p, 3/31/24
That was the 0.2 sec game where Jessica Stratton was called for a foul going for a loose ball in a tie game. Should of gone to overtime. Yes. Kim lost her mind...but isn't in this video. All I can find. NCAA probably destroyed it. Lol

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Jack Bauer
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In reply to WacoKelly83 • 8:23p, 3/31/24
WacoKelly83 said:
That was the 0.2 sec game where Jessica Stratton was called for a foul going for a loose ball in a tie game. Should of gone to overtime. Yes. Kim lost her mind...but isn't in this video. All I can find. NCAA probably destroyed it. Lol


I would give Kim a full pass in this case. I would have thrown 5-6 chairs out on to the floor.

How the hell do you call a 50-50 loose ball foul with less than 1 second left in the game?
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