WACO, Texas — The No. 2 seed Baylor women’s basketball team was knocked out of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament in the Round of 32 by the South Dakota Coyotes, 61-47.
The Bears fell behind early and lost their most effective player, Queen Egbo, to foul trouble in the second quarter. From there the Coyotes shot too well to be topped.
South Dakota could not have asked for a more perfect start to the game. Within three minutes, they were up 11-0 and shooting a perfect 4-4 from the field while forcing 3 Baylor turnovers.
The first quarter did not get much better from there for the Bears. They committed 10 turnovers, shot just 2-13 from the field, and went 0-6 from three. It was a 16-4 quarter that Baylor would never recover from.
The Bears showed good fight in the second quarter, cleaning up their play and cutting into the deficit. At the media timeout, they had cut the Coyotes lead to eight at 23-15.
Then with Sarah Andrews and Jordan Lewis nailing threes, the Bears were as close as four at 25-21. But they would get no closer.
South Dakota had an answer all night. Right after Lewis’ three, Hannah Sjerven answered with a three of her own. It was one of the Coyotes' eight three-pointers made while they shot 50% from deep through the whole game.
Queen Egbo, who had been the best offensive option for the Bears in the first half with 10 points of 5-6 shooting, then picked up her second foul of the night. It was an offensive foul and effectively shut down the Baylor attack for the half.
South Dakota locked down and finished the half on a 9-2 run to build their lead back to 11 points at 34-23.
The third quarter did not start well for the Bears either. Egbo was called for a charge in transition under a minute into the period for her third personal foul.
With Baylor’s most effective scorer on the day forced to the bench, the Bears could not mount a comeback.
In fact, the Coyotes grew their lead to as much as 16 points in the period.
In the final frame, Baylor cut it to seven at 49-42 thanks to some grit from NaLyssa Smith and Andrews. However, the offense never found a rhythm in this game.
“I don’t think it was a frustration thing,” Caitlin Bickle said after the game, “When you get down 11-0 you’re playing from behind the whole time... Once you get to tournament play, you can’t do that.”
Smith ended her Baylor career with just 10 points and eight rebounds on the night. Egbo was the Bears’ leading scorer with 13 points.
The Baylor guards just could not buy a bucket today, and Smith was denied and doubled on every possession. The green and gold scored just 47 points today, 11 points lower than their previous season-low.
Specifically, Baylor shot 32% from the field and 19% from three. It’s tough to win when you’re shooting like that, and it was already a tall task with the Coyotes shooting 39% from the field and 50% from three.
Coach Nicki Collen said after the game that the guards lost their confidence during the game. “We have good shooters who didn’t shoot the ball well today,” she said, also noting how their size did not help against the taller, longer Coyotes.
This was Baylor’s first non-conference home loss since No. 1 Connecticut topped Baylor in the Ferrel Center in 2014.
“I’m sure the Baylor family aren’t very happy with me right now. But that’s alright because I’m not happy with me right now,” Coach Collen said after the game while refusing to put any blame on her players.
Baylor ends the year with a 28-7 record and an outright claim to the Big 12 regular-season championship. This is the first time the Bears failed to make it past the second round since 2008 against Pittsburgh.
Can't wait to watch em play in the rest of the tournament. The came to do business--I don't know what Baylor attitude was before the came. Worried more about their eye lashesBilly hoover said:
I'm a sure fire South Dakota fan the rest of tournament.. haven't seen a women's basketball team play with such determination in years
blackie said:
You need to listen to Bickle' s comment in the press conference after the game. She danced around not saying it outright, but this team was beat up and gassed ever since the last OU game.
The heart may have been there but the bodies weren't up to the task. Criticism is uncalled for by Smoak who I am sure doesn't give a hoot about women's hoops.
The short bench finally got to them.
