No. 5 Baylor Women’s Basketball Demolishes Alcorn State 94-40, Egbo Injured

WACO, Texas — No. 5 Baylor Women’s Basketball (9-1) ran past the Alcorn State Lady Braves (0-7) 94-40 Wednesday at the Ferrell Center.

Nicki Collen’s squad attack the visitors from the start with pace on offense and intensity on defense to hold the Lady Braves to 29.6% shooting from the field all game.

Pace was the primary emphasis for the Bears today, with Collen commenting after the game that she wants to push for easier buckets in transition. 

Those opportunities won’t be found without hustle, and she was pleased with what she saw from Sarah Andrews and Ja’Mee Asberry in that regard.

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Andrews finished the day with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals for an incredibly balanced performance orchestrating the Baylor offense.

Asberry took over the reins later in the game but kept up the pace well. She registered 20 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. She also shot 6-8 from 3-point range.

These outputs from the guards are a good sign that Baylor can improve on their pace of play ratings, which coach Collen said were 8th in the Big 12 and 221st nationally entering the game today.

At the other end of the floor, the Bears again focused on holding the Lady Braves to single-digit scoring in each quarter. While they were only successful art that in the 2nd quarter, the came very close in each period.

As always, NaLyssa Smith produced despite being the main focus of the opponent’s defense. She posted 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists before being pulled early in the second half. 

After the game coach Collen said that the recent injury to UCONN star Paige Bueckers was on her mind when making that decision.

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Despite the caution from coach, Queen Egbo went down in pain holding her ankle with 6:40 left in the 3rd quarter. She did not return, and Collen said it was a sprain after the game.

Collen also looked at the brightest side of the injury she could find, pointing out that they have ten days until they No. 13 Michigan here in Waco on 12/19.

One further note on the injury front, Jaden Owens has been in a boot for three weeks now to ensure that she gets back to 100% before she returns to action. 

Because the team only has ten players, walk-on Andrea Katramados played most of the 4^th quarter, along with freshman forward Kendra Gillispie.

Caitlin Bickle also netted a career-high 13 points today, making the most of her extended playing time.

It will be important for the team to be as healthy as possible when conference play starts on January 2nd at Kansas State.

Just two non-conference games are left between now and then. That is plenty of time to get healthy.