You got that right Jack Mac
No. 15 Baylor Dominates No. 7 Iowa State 87-61 in Statement Win
The No. 15 Baylor Women’s Basketball team (13-4, 3-2) blew out the No. 7 Iowa State Cyclones (16-3, 5-2) by 26 points on Sunday.
The dominating performance by Nicki Collen’s squad should put the Big 12 on notice that the conference still runs through Waco.
Jordan Lewis led the Bears with 24 points and 6 assists, but perhaps the most impressive performance was Queen Egbo’s 14 points and 21 rebounds including 9 offensive boards.
Sarah Andrews scored 18 points NaLyssa Smith added 17 of her own to round out Baylor’s
double-digit scorers.
The game started slowly with a 13-12 first quarter. Iowa State hit two threes at the end of the quarter to nab a 1 point lead, but the Cyclones shot just 33% from the field for the period.
Baylor’s defense was solid all afternoon, but ISU did create good looks in the first quarter. After that though, the Bears locked down, and the Cyclones stayed cold. Baylor started the second quarter on a 14-3 run and did not look back.
Lewis poured in 13 first-half points, Egbo grabbed 14 of her 21 rebounds before the break, and Smith scored 8 in the half despite good ball denial by ISU.
With a halftime lead of 39-28, one might have expected Iowa State to come out strong in the second half. Baylor was ready, and after 6 minutes of back and forth at the start of the third quarter, the floodgates opened.
Lewis hit back-to-back threes then hit Andrews for a three to kickstart a 19-0 run for the Bears.
From there, Baylor stayed hungry and grew the lead to as much as 34 points in the fourth quarter.
It was a complete offensive and defensive performance from the Bears today. Coach Collen said
after the game that the stat she loved most was 26 assists on 32 baskets. Exactly how she wants her offense to run.
After the game, Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said that Baylor is a “matchup nightmare” for his team. He also commented on how the Big 12 is more open this year than it has been in a while.
Similarly, the Bears’ tried to tone down the “conference still runs through Waco” storyline postgame, but actions speak louder than words.
Baylor now heads to Lubbock, with a top 10 win in tow, for a Wednesday matchup with the Red Raiders. That game will be at 7 PM CT on 1/26 and it will be available on ESPN+.