Gameday Thread: #5 Baylor WBB (22-5, 12-3) hosts Kansas (19-6, 10-5)

BAYLOR (22-5, 12-3) vs. KANSAS (19-6, 10-5)
February 26, 2022 • 2 p.m. CT
Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center

LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast
WATCH: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Talent: John Morris, Danielle Crockrom-Fontenot (analyst), Brooke Bednarz (reporter)
LISTEN: ESPN Central Texas, BaylorBears.com 
Talent: Derek Smith (pxp), Sophia Young-Malcolm (Analyst)

TURNING POINT
• Baylor was alone in last place of the Big 12 standings (0-2) heading into Lawrence on Jan. 16. After a gutsy comeback that featured a 7-0 run in the final 24 seconds of the game to clinch their first conference win of the season, the Bears have been playing a different level of ball.
• In the 14 (10-4) games before the KU game, BU averaged 74.5 points, 15.9 assists and 14.1 turnovers per game. Baylor assisted on 59.3 percent of its baskets. Since them, the Bears are averaging 78.1 points (+3.6), 18.7 assists (+2.8) and 12.1 turnovers (-2.0) per game. BU is assisting on 65.9 percent of its buckets.
• Individually, NaLyssa Smith continues to be the picture of consistency, averaging a double-double with better than 21 points either way. However, Queen Egbo and Sarah Andrews have stepped up their games as the season's progressed. Egbo is averaging 3.3 more points post-KU than she was before, and Andrews is averaging 2.9 more points in that span. While Jordan Lewis is on par when it comes to points per game pre/post-KU, she is shooting lights out from the perimeter after the Kansas game - 55.0 percent compared to 29.7. 

SHARE THE SUGAR
• Baylor is No. 9 in the country - and third among Power 5 teams - with 63.2 percent of its buckets assisted on this season.
• Adding to that, the Bears are sixth in the country - and first in the Big 12 - in assist-to-turnover ratio. 

WALKING DOUBLE-DOUBLE
• NaLyssa Smith is eighth in the country with 18 double-doubles on the season. That mark ties her for fifth in BU history for double-doubles in a single season.
• Smith is fourth in program history with 46 career double-doubles. She's four away from tying Maggie Davis-Stinnett (1986-89, 1990-91)
• The senior is averaging 21.2 points and 11.2 rebounds per game which ranks No. 11 and No. 15 in the country, respectively. She is the only player in the country who is averaging 21+ points and 11+ rebounds per game.

LET IT FLY
• Baylor's program record for triples made came on Dec. 18, 2019 against Arkansas State when Juicy Landrum caught fire and set an NCAA record with 14 triples. Besides that record-setting performance, BU hadn't drained more than a dozen shots from deep since 2011.
• BU's record for 3-point attempts in a season came in 2013-14 when the Bears attempted 596 3s. 
• From that season to 2020-21, Baylor made 10 or more 3-pointers in a game only five times across a total of 281 games (1.78 percent). BU has done so five times this season. 
• At Kansas, Baylor nearly set a record with a 14-for-29 display from the perimeter. BU's 14 treys marked the second most in program history.
• Prior to this year, only 14 Bears had made six or more 3s in a game. Two of them had done it multiple times (Makenzie Robertson, 2012, 2014) and Jennifer King (1990, 1991, 1993).
• Sarah Andrews and Ja'Mee Asberry have already joined that elite club this season. Andrews went 6-for-8 against Morehead State and from deep and Asberry fired off 6-of-8 against Alcorn State. Asberry then went 6-for-11 at Kansas, and Andrews set a career-high with a 7-for-10 mark.
• Andrews' seven 3s tied for third in program history. She is now one of six Bears in program history to hit a minimum of seven triples in a game.
• Jordan Lewis joined the club with her 6-of-7 performance against Iowa State.
• Baylor - with 182 3s on the season - has the fourth-highest 3pointer total for a single season in program history.