Bears Keep Rolling, Extend Win Streak To Five Games and Beat Houston, 70-51

WACO, Texas – Baylor women’s basketball (16-3, 6-1) extended its winning streak to five games with a swift 70-51 victory over Houston (5-13, 1-6) on Friday night at Foster Pavilion.

Forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (Jr.) returned from her one-game suspension following an incident with Arizona State’s Kennedy Fauntleroy (Sr.) last weekend and led the Bears with 16 points and six rebounds against the Cougars.

Center Aaronette Vonleh (Sr.) scored a team-high 18 points and closed the contest one rebound shy of her third double-double of the season in just 21 minutes of action.

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Baylor out-scored Houston, 52-to-16, in the paint in Friday’s victory.

In the victory, Baylor out-rebounded Houston, 51-to-31. Despite struggling from beyond the arc (3-for-21), the Bears took advantage of the mismatches down low and out-scored the Cougars, 52-to-16, in the paint.

“It’s been a big emphasis recently to play through the paint from all positions,” Vonleh said afterward. “I think that’s when we get our best results, so we’ve been focusing on that and doing a good job of it recently.”

Minutes into the contest, Vonleh collected two quick personal fouls, and Baylor’s offense struggled to find an early rhythm without its star center.

The Bears started 2-of-13 from the floor and had three offensive fouls before closing the first quarter with makes in four of their final five shots.

With Vonleh in foul trouble and Madison Bartley (Sr.) missing her second consecutive game with an injury, forward Kayla Nelms (Fr.) got significant minutes for the second straight contest and scored six points on 3-of-3 shooting.

“She’s a really smart basketball player; she’s a really skilled basketball player,” head coach Nicki Collen said of Nelms. “The speed of the game is starting to slow down a little bit for her. Being ready in the last game and getting an opportunity helped her today.”

Meanwhile, Houston had its own offensive struggles and shot 30% (9-of-30) from the floor in the first half while getting out-rebounded 28-to-13.

Guard Sarah Andrews (Sr.) and Baylor picked up the pace in the second quarter and took a 34-23 lead going into the halftime locker room. Andrews had an all-around game and finished with seven points, six assists and six rebounds.

“Sarah has been really solid,” Collen said. “Against Utah, they made the decision to take her out of the game. … She’s comfortable and confident. She didn’t make shots today, or she would have a really good [stat] line. She was solid defensively.”

In the third quarter, Vonleh played through foul trouble and made a significant impact, scoring 10 of her 18 points in the period.

Baylor out-scored the Cougars, 36-to-28, in the second half. Guard Aliyah Matharu (Sr.) came off the bench and scored seven of her 10 points in the fourth quarter.

The Bears (16-3) will take a quick break from conference play on Monday, Jan. 20, for a highly anticipated matchup against the No. 1 UCLA Bruins (16-0) in the Coretta Scott King Classic. Tipoff from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT and will be televised on FOX.