No. 14 Baylor WBB’s Win Streak is Snapped in Turnover-Plagued 70-60 Loss to West Virginia

MORGANTOWN, WV. – No. 14 Baylor women’s basketball (19-4, 8-2) lost to No. 22 West Virginia (18-5, 8-3) by a score of 70-60, with the Bears’ eight-game win streak ending on the road.

Guard Taliah Scott led the way with 18 points, but was limited to just seven field goal attempts. She made 4-of-7 field goal attempts, 1-of-2 3-point attempts and 9-of-10 free-throw attempts. Scott also added three steals

Wing Bella Fontleroy scored 14 points on 2-of-10 shooting from the field, as she made 9-of-10 free-throw attempts. She also totaled three blocks. 

Forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs scored 12 points, notably knocking down a couple of 3-point attempts. She added eight rebounds, a block and two steals.

Baylor has struggled to take care of the ball all season, and the West Virginia defense highlighted that weakness. Baylor turned the ball over an absurd 30 times, resulting in a 37.5% turnover percentage, leading to 38 points off turnovers for West Virginia. While an unhealthy amount of turnovers was expected, 23 allowed offensive rebounds was absolutely unacceptable. Baylor only gathered 22 defensive rebounds for context.

Both teams came up empty in their opening possession. Kiersten Johnson missed a good look from deep, and West Virginia’s Carter McCray was called for an illegal screen. On the next trip down the floor, Jana Van Gytenbeek found Littlepage-Buggs at the elbow, and she found two points with her mid-range jumper.

The stout Baylor defense was on full display early. Fontleroy forced an airball from McCray, and Littlepage-Buggs gathered the rebound and found Fontleroy for a catch-and-shoot transition 3-pointer, which she knocked down to give the Bears a 5-0 lead.

West Virginia’s ability to force turnovers helped it slow the Baylor momentum. Jana Van Gytenbeek extended her arm for an offensive foul, and McCray finished a layup to put the Mountaineers on the board. The basket allowed the home team to set up its full-court press, and the pressure led to a Van Gytenbeek turnover.

Johnson banked in a deep mid-range jumper to push the Baylor lead back to five points, but West Virginia scored four consecutive points off free throws to cut the Baylor lead to 7-6. Baylor entered the media timeout on a 2:42 scoring drought, and West Virginia had failed to convert a field goal for 3:26.

Fontleroy drew a foul on a drive entering the media timeout and knocked down both free throws following the first-quarter break. A Scott steal gave Baylor a chance to expand the lead, but a late pass from the guard pushed Johnson into a charge. West Virginia took advantage of the stop, with Kierra Wheeler scoring on a drop-step layup.

Littlepage-Buggs picked up her second foul on an illegal screen, causing head coach Nicki Collen to insert Yuting Deng into the lineup. A rough quarter from Van Gytenbeek caused Ines Goryanova to also enter the game in the first quarter.

Despite bringing in the two-big lineup, with Kyla Abraham and Johnson on the floor, Wheeler scored on a putback layup, sealing off Johnson for position. The basket gave the Mountaineers their first lead of the day, with a score of 10-9. Goryanova was ripped by Jordan Harrison on the ensuing possession, and she fouled Harrison on the fastbreak for two free throws, giving West Virginia a 12-9 lead.

The Mountaineers’ full-court pressure fueled a 9-0 run. Goryanova turned the ball over on the inbound pass, and Gia Cooke finished through contact from Goryanova for an and-one finish and a 15-9 lead.

Fontleroy’s five points led the Bears in the first quarter, and Littlepage-Buggs’ four rebounds further helped Baylor jump out to an early lead. The two veterans were the only Baylor players with a positive plus-minus in the first quarter, as the Mountaineers took control of the quarter when they exited the game. 10 first-quarter turnovers led to 11 West Virginia points, and the eight turnovers following Baylor’s final first-quarter field goal gave West Virginia its 6-point lead. 

The second quarter started no differently. Kayla Nelms turned the ball over while trying to execute a dribble handoff. However, Sydney Woodley was unable to finish a good look at the rim, which led to a fast break where Deng was fouled. She split her pair of free throws.

Baylor played a strong defensive possession on the next Mountaineer offensive possession, but Cooke blew by Fontleroy with the shot clock under five seconds for a layup. Fontleroy picked up her second foul and ended the Baylor possession with an offensive foul in Baylor’s next trip down the floor, and another Mountaineer blow-by, this time from Harrison, gave West Virginia another layup and a 19-10 lead.

Scott got on the board after Cooke failed to give her landing space on a 3-pointer. She knocked down all three free throws. After a stop, Scott immediately looked to hunt her own shot and found three more points on an early halfcourt pull-up 3-pointer from the left wing, rejecting a ball screen and rising into her shot.

With their lead cut down to three points, the Mountaineers went to their point guard, Harrison, who found another layup. Scott lost the ball while looking to answer, and it led to a transition layup from Woodley. Baylor did find an answer on their next possession, swinging the ball around the perimeter to find Deng for an open corner triple, cutting the West Virginia lead to 23-19. Marcayla Johnson had a good look at the rim in transition, but could not finish.

Johnson did find a basket after the media timeout. She drove to the block, pivoted, and knocked down a fadeaway jumper. Baylor forced a turnover from Loghan Johnson, and Deng was immediately fouled, putting her at the line for two more points. A 7-0 Baylor run knotted the game at 23.

Baylor broke the Mountaineer press, and it led to a mid-range pull-up from Scott. The shot found its target and put the Bears back in front. However, the Bears allowed three offensive rebounds in the same defensive possession, which led to a Woodley layup. A baseline-out-of-bounds set gave the Mountaineers another layup, and Van Gytenbeek fumbled the ball away to fully shift the momentum back in West Virginia’s favor. A quality duck-in from Jordan Thomas freed up a Harrison layup for a 29-25 Mountaineer lead.

An illegal screen from Abraham gave the Bears their 18th first-half turnover and West Virginia the final possession of the half. A putback layup from Wheeler closed the half, with the Mountaineers leading 31-25.

On one hand, trailing by just six points with a ridiculous 18 turnovers in a half is impressive, but turning the ball over 18 times in 20 minutes is absolutely sloppy and unacceptable. The Bears did shoot 40.0% from the field and 3-point range in the second quarter, but attempted 11 fewer field goals due to eight second-quarter turnovers and six allowed offensive rebounds. The Mountaineers also attempted 18 more field goals in the first half than the Bears.

Scott led Baylor with eight first-half points, all coming in the second quarter. Scott was held to just three first-half field goal attempts, with Mark Kellogg’s squad clearly making it a goal to limit the Baylor star. Deng contributed six points to help Scott. Baylor failed to score for the final 3:35 of the half, allowing West Virginia to close with an 8-0 run.

Scott curled a gut screen from Kiersten Johnson and received a pass from Van Gytenbeek. Scott rose up and knocked down a very tough mid-range jumper to open the third quarter. A bit over a minute later, Scott stepped into a passing lane and intercepted a pass, and finished a layup to open the second half with a 4-0 run by herself.

Following another Baylor turnover and a West Virginia offensive rebound, Sydney Shaw drew a foul on Van Gytenbeek as the shot clock was expiring. She split a pair of free throws, but the 5-foot-6 Harrison secured an offensive rebound. She could not finish, but Wheeler pulled down an offensive rebound, drew a foul, and knocked down both free throws. This sequence was a huge example of why Baylor was struggling to take control.

A 5-second violation on Van Gytenbeek stalled another Baylor possession, and West Virginia made the Bears pay. Cooke knocked down the first Mountaineer 3-pointer of the game, giving the hosts a 37-29 lead.

Littlepage-Buggs responded with a drive and finish, and after a stop, Baylor looked to get back into the game. However, despite a defensive rebound making it harder for West Virginia to set up its press, they forced a 10-second violation.

Shooting can be contagious, and following the media timeout, Harrison found her mark from distance. The West Virginia press forced another turnover, and it led to an open Cooke triple. She missed what would have been sure to force a Baylor timeout, but that timeout was inevitable. Another turnover and an allowed offensive rebound led to a Harrison layup, and a fourth consecutive turnover cued Collen to stop the game with the Mountaineers on an 11-2 run.

The timeout did not help. Van Gytenbeek traveled right after catching an inbound pass. After forcing a turnover, Littlepage-Buggs gave the ball right back, losing the ball after dribbling into a trap.

Baylor’s inability to limit extra opportunities continued to plague them. Four offensive rebounds eventually ended with a Wheeler bucket in the paint, and it extended the lead to 44-31. Fontleroy was able to draw a foul and knock down both free throws to limit the bleeding.

Shaw nailed a contested 3-pointer in response following a Fontleroy turnover, keeping Baylor outside of striking distance. Fontleroy was fouled after the ball was released from Shaw’s hands and knocked down both free throws.

Littlepage-Buggs closed the third quarter with a putback layup on a Van Gytenbeek miss, but the Mountaineers successfully opened the game with a 16-12 quarter. Eight offensive rebounds and nine forced turnovers covered up the 5-of-18 shooting from West Virginia in the quarter. 

Baylor shot 4-of-10 from the field, but its only offensive rebound came on the Littlepage-Buggs basket at the end of the quarter. Scott, Fontleroy and Littlepage-Buggs all scored four points for the Bears in the third quarter.

Marcayla Johnson did a good job denying a West Virginia backcut and forced a turnover at the start of the fourth quarter, but was unable to knock down an open 3-pointer to cut into the lead. Another West Virginia turnover, this time an illegal screen from Celia Riviere, gave the Bears a chance to cut the lead back to single digits, but Littlepage-Buggs traveled.

Shaw nailed a corner triple over a late closeout from Van Gytenbeek, but a technical foul was called on her celebration. Scott nailed both technical free throws to soften the blow. A 3-0 West Virginia run followed the technical free throws and gave West Virginia a 53-39 lead.

Van Gytenbeek found Littlepage-Buggs for a much-needed 3-pointer, and after a forced turnover, Littlepage-Buggs drew a foul going for an offensive rebound. Fontleroy drew a questionable foul call after catching the ball on the inbound, and the call enraged Kellogg, leading to a technical foul call on the West Virginia head coach.

Fontleroy knocked down both free throws from the initial foul, and Scott split the technical free throws to close the margin to 53-45. Scott hunted her shot off a ball screen, and Harrison failed to let her land comfortably, leading to Scott’s second trip to the line following a 3-point foul. Scott hit all three free throws, capping a 9-0 Baylor run.

Baylor’s Van Gytenbeek fouled out on a questionable call herself, and it led to two Harrison free throws. Her day ended with zero points and six turnovers.

Van Gytenbeek’s replacement, Goryanova, was ripped by Cooke and fouled Cooke after the steal. However, Baylor was able to keep West Virginia from scoring, and Fontleroy was fouled on the rebound. She split the pair of free throws to cut the lead to two possessions, with the Mountaineers leading 55-49.

A kickout 3-pointer from Shaw felt like the dagger, as the Bears failed to generate an immediate response, with Johnson taking a smothered layup. If the Shaw triple was not the dagger, the Cooke and-one finish through Goryanova a minute later was, giving West Virginia a 60-49 lead.

Fontleroy made a runner after another Wheeler basket in the paint, but Wheeler responded with another two points. The rest of the game was just for show, with the result already decided. West Virginia ended the game with a 70-60 win.

Baylor’s point guard play was an eyesore in the loss. Van Gytenbeek and Goryanova combined for zero points, nine turnovers and nine fouls in 37 minutes. The Bears clearly need more out of their point guard spot if they expect to go beyond the Sweet 16, let alone the Round of 32, when looking ahead to March. Furthermore, the Baylor five-spot totaled just two points on six attempts, while failing to limit the West Virginia points in the paint. The Mountaineers posted a 36-8 scoring advantage in the paint.

The Bears’ (19-4, 8-2) next game is against the Cincinnati Bearcats at 5:30 p.m. CT, Wednesday, Feb. 4, at the Fifth Third Arena. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.