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Baylor Women's Basketball

Andrews and Smith Carry Bears Past Raiders 88-80

January 26, 2022
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LUBBOCK, Texas — The No. 11 Baylor women’s basketball team (14-4, 4-2) found its way past a scrappy Texas Tech team (9-10, 2-6) thanks to 23 points from NaLyssa Smith and a bunch of timely buckets from Sarah Andrews.

The Bears got off to a hot start on both ends of the court scoring 29 points in the opening quarter including 7 of their first 15 points off of Tech turnovers.

Smith had 10 of her 23 points in the first, on her way just missing out on a double-double with 9 boards.

The Raiders started the second quarter on a 7-0 run, but Baylor and Caitlin Bickle fought back. Bickle scored half of her twelve points in the second and helped Baylor hold on to a 13 point lead going into halftime.

Texas Tech clearly regrouped at halftime and came out doing something rather unexpected: knocking down threes.

The Raiders hit four in a row to make it a one-point game at 51-50 before Jordan Lewis ended the run with a nice and-one finish. Lewis would find herself in foul trouble for much of the second half, but she still managed to score 16 points.

From there, Sarah Andrews took over for the Bears. Every time Tech made a push, Andrews answered with a big bucket, often beating her defender off the dribble to the hoop.

Then at the end of the quarter, Andrews knocked down a killer step-back three to get the lead back to 5 at 71-66.

“This team should be confident in close games,” Coach Nicki Collen said after the game, "We have playmakers.” And that is exactly how the team played in the final quarter.

Vivian Gray and Bryn Gerlich tried their hardest for the Raiders, knocking down threes and scoring 21 and 22 respectively, but the Bears stayed calm and collected.

Even when Tech tied the game at 79 with an old-fashioned three-point play, the Bears locked in, knocked down free throws, and saw the game out.

Coach Collen summed it up well in her postgame interview: she is disappointed in the Bears’ defense, but you take every road conference win you can get. She also blamed herself for not having the team’s defense locked in.

Expect a better showing on that end of the floor when the Bears travel to West Virginia on Saturday. Their game against the Mountaineers (10-7, 3-4) tips off at 1 PM CT and will be available on ESPN +.

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Andrews and Smith Carry Bears Past Raiders 88-80

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