No. 18 Baylor Suffocated by No. 11 TCU, Fails to Win Share of Big 12 Title

FORT WORTH, Texas – No. 18 Baylor women’s basketball (24-7, 13-5) was smothered by the defense of No. 11 TCU (27-4, 15-3), falling on the road 65-53. The Horned Frogs clinched the outright Big 12 regular-season crown with the victory, their fifth straight win over Baylor.

Wing Marcayla Johnson was very impressive despite the outcome. The freshman scored 11 points in 22 minutes, scoring on 5-of-8 field goal attempts and finishing with a team-high +1 plus-minus.

Guard Taliah Scott led the Bears with 17 points, four rebounds, and four assists, but only scored two points in the first 29 minutes of the game. She also turned the ball over five times. The redshirt-sophomore shot 6-of-23 from the field.

Darianna Littlepage-Buggs scored seven points, gathered eight rebounds and added four assists.

Similar to the first game, TCU simply possessed more offensive firepower and made life hard for the Baylor offense. Yuting Deng and Kayla Nelms notably did not enter the game, despite Baylor’s offensive struggles.

Baylor head coach Nicki Collen adjusted the defensive gameplan from the previous showdown, shifting Littlepage-Buggs onto TCU star Olivia Miles, and switching every Miles’ ball screen, and it led to a Littlepage-Buggs steal on the opening possession. The Baylor forward’s signature motor was on display early, winning a jump ball on an offensive rebound on the Bears’ first offensive possession. The second chance gave Scott a chance to find space, and the guard was able to draw a 3-shot foul, converting on two of the attempts.

With Littlepage-Buggs on Miles, other Horned Frogs were forced to create offense, leading to a block for Kiersten Johnson. TCU was unable to find a quality look for over three minutes, with its sole basket coming from a contested Miles sidestep triple for a 3-2 lead. Marta Suarez found a good position down low, which led to a foul and two points at the line. After Johnson scored on a roll, assisted by Scott, Suarez backed down Bella Fontleroy and scored a tough hook shot.

Turnovers plagued Baylor early, leading to three turnovers before the media timeout. A driving layup from Miles added two more points for the hosts, giving TCU a 9-4 lead entering the first-quarter break.

Fontleroy found her first points on a wing triple. Scott came off a ball screen, manipulated the tag defender Miles, and found the Baylor veteran to cut the lead to 9-7, in favor of TCU. 

After hitting her first 3-pointer, Miles was unable to find the rim on her next two tries, leading to her getting a break. The Horned Frogs played through their other star, Suarez, and she found TCU shooter Donovyn Hunter, who splashed a triple. On the other end, the Baylor turnovers continued to add up. Baylor turned the ball over seven times in the first quarter, including three travels. While travels are better than live-ball turnovers, they are very avoidable.

A Suarez 3-pointer from well beyond the arc put TCU up 15-7 at the end of the first quarter. Her seven first-quarter points were a quarter-high mark. The Horned Frogs struggled inside, converting on just 2-of-8 2-point attempts, but they scored on 3-of-8 attempts from deep. Baylor attempted seven fewer field goal attempts and made just 2-of-9 field goal attempts in the first ten minutes.

Baylor continued to put Littlepage-Buggs and Fontleroy on Miles and Suarez, allowing the Bears to switch the TCU 2-player game. Suarez got to the line, driving on Fontleroy, and scored two points, but the duo made it difficult for the TCU stars to get open shots in the halfcourt.

Transition was a different story. A Marcayla Johnson turnover led to a TCU fast break, and Suarez found Miles for a routine layup. Fontleroy snapped a near-six-minute scoring drought by attacking a closeout for a mid-range pull-up jumper. Littlepage-Buggs added a mid-range jumper of her own for a 4-0 Baylor run, but TCU’s Taylor Bigby stopped the Baylor momentum by drawing a foul and making two free throws. A Miles step-back jumper off a Baylor turnover pushed the TCU lead to 23-11, and with Baylor trying to play fast, Scott tossed the ball past Kiersten Johnson for the Bears’ tenth turnover.

TCU started to stray from the two-player action with Suarez and instead used its 5-spot to set ball screens, forcing Baylor’s Johnson and Kyla Abraham to guard Miles. While switching leads to mismatches, it also prevents the need to rotate into ball screens, and the defense helped keep Baylor within striking distance.

Littlepage-Buggs scored on another mid-range jumper to cut the lead to 23-13, but Suarez’s ability to score at all three levels continued to put strain on the Baylor defense. The TCU star forward found her mark on another 3-pointer. Littlepage-Buggs looked to answer from deep, but missed. However, Abraham gathered the miss and scored on the putback attempt to make the score 26-15, in TCU’s favor, with 3:05 remaining.

Both teams failed to score for the rest of the second quarter. Isolation tends to be an inefficient style, and Miles only shot 3-of-10 in the Horned Frogs’ half-court offense, living off tough shots and trying to isolate the Baylor forwards. However, Baylor’s Scott failed to score on nine field goal attempts, as the Bears shot just 6-of-25 in the first half, including 1-of-13 from downtown. Furthermore, 11 first-half turnovers factored into Baylor scoring just 16 points in 20 minutes. For comparison, TCU shot 8-of-30 from the field and 4-of-14 from 3-point range.

The success of switching all ball screens failed to continue on the first possession, with Miles finishing over Johnson. However, Johnson answered on the other end, finding her mark from 3-point range. Suarez answered with a 3-pointer of her own. Littlepage-Buggs joined in on the party, hitting a triple to cut the lead back to 10 points, 31-21.

Baylor chose to play drop coverage on Miles on the next possession, and she attacked Jana Van Gytenbeek and scored through a foul. Miles finished the 3-point play, forcing Baylor to revert to switching ball screens with Miles as the handler. 

Abraham forced Miles to give the ball up after switching on to the TCU point guard, but a post touch sent Baylor into a double team and rotation. Bigby attacked Fontleroy’s closeout, and a hoop-and-harm extended the TCU lead to 37-21. Baylor went back to drop coverage, and Miles navigated her way to the paint with little effort. She found Hunter, who swung it to Suarez, who splashed a triple and cued a Collen timeout.

Johnson attacked off a ball screen to stop the 9-0 Horned Frogs run, scoring on a driving layup. The freshman then attacked Miles, drawing a foul and bringing energy to the Bears’ offense. However, Scott threw the ball away, and the Baylor offense continued to struggle to find a flow.

Van Gytenbeek stole the ball from Miles and was able to draw a foul, adding two points at the line. Baylor chose to blitz the ball screen on the next possession, and it led to a live-ball turnover. Van Gytenbeek looked for the open Johnson on the fast break, but the ball went through Johnson’s hands. Johnson did redeem herself on the next possession, with a tough runner falling.

Five consecutive turnovers allowed Baylor to have a sliver of life, cutting the lead to 40-27, but a defensive breakdown gave Bigby an open corner 3-pointer.

Johnson continued to play with her usual aggression, finishing another tough runner, but a free throw from Calra Silva kept Baylor at a comfortable distance. Johnson’s fearlessness was the bright spot in the quarter for the Bears. A pull-up jumper from the freshman fell, and she drew a foul in the process, cutting the margin to 12. A loose-ball foul on Kiersten Johnson gave Suarez two points at the charity stripe, but Scott answered with her first basket of the game at the end of the third quarter.

TCU entered the final quarter holding a 46-34 lead, as both offenses came to life in the third quarter. Baylor forced eight turnovers, but the Horned Frogs shot 6-of-9 from the field. Marcayla Johnson’s nine points led Baylor in the third quarter, and the Bears shot 7-of-14 from the field.

Kiersten Johnson gathered a Scott miss for a putback layup to open the final quarter, but Bigby received a kind bounce from the rim on a driving layup to respond. Fontleroy split a pair of free throws, but TCU continued to answer each Baylor point. Silva gathered her own miss for two points.

Scott cut the TCU lead back to 10 points, 50-40, driving downhill for an and-one layup. The Baylor star finally found success as a scorer, finding space for a mid-range pull-up to cut the lead to eight. A foul was called on Abraham on the ensuing possession, giving Hunter two points at the free-throw line.

Scott added another mid-range off a ball screen, but with a chance to cut the lead to two possessions, the guard threw the ball away on a pass to Abraham. The two rivals entered the media timeout with TCU leading 52-44.

Baylor blitzed Miles on a ball screen, but the TCU star found her fellow star Suarez on a pop, putting the Horned Frogs up 11. Scott quickly answered with a 3-pointer, but Miles blew by Van Gytenbeek for a 57-47 advantage. Abraham drew a foul and split a pair of free throws to make the difference nine points. Hunter split a pair of free throws in response, pushing the lead back to double digits.

Two Johnson misfires from deep took the life out of the Baylor comeback bid, as TCU went on a 6-0 run. A ridiculously tough 3-pointer from Scott cut the lead to 63-51, but the Bears gave up a quick two points. Marcayla Johnson added to her strong performance with a layup, but it was too little, as TCU downed Baylor 65-53.

The difference in this game was advantage creation. TCU has two stars who can operate as offensive hubs, while Baylor’s offense has been dependent on Scott throughout this season. Baylor struggled to generate downhill drives that led to TCU defensive rotations throughout the game.

The Bears (24-7, 13-5) will get the three seed and will now await their opponent in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament in the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.