Late push by Sarah Andrews lifts Baylor past Kansas 77-73

WACO, Texas -- Sarah Andrews (23pts)  took the game over inside the final five minutes of regulation to help secure a 77-73 victory for Baylor (15-6, 6-3) over Kansas (14-6, 4-5) in the Ferrell Center on Wednesday night. Andrews hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds, but it was her ability to get to the bucket for easy layups that lifted Baylor to victory.

Following back-to-back layups by Andrews, Baylor held a 72-66 lead over the Jayhawks with 1:10 remaining in the game. Kansas made things interesting on a three-pointer by Sanna Storm, followed by a jumper from Zakiyah Franklin to make it 75-73 Bears with 12 seconds remaining.

Franklin (13pts)  was one of four Jayhawks to finish in double figures joining Holly Kersgieter (20pts), Wyvette Mayberry (13pts) and the Big 12 double-double leader Taiyanna Jackson (12pts).

One of the key storylines heading into the game was the battle between Jackson and Baylor freshman sensation Darianna Littlepage-Buggs who is second in the Big 12 behind Jackson in double-doubles. It would be Littlepage-Buggs who finished the night with a double-double in this outing, as she dropped 12-points and 10 rebounds on Kansas, while Jackson finished one rebound shy with nine.

The shooting early on for both teams reflected the weather outside, ice cold. Heading into halftime the Bears led 30-28; Baylor was shooting 34% from the field, while Kansas wasn’t much better at 37%. The Jayhawks made it abundantly clear that they were going to attack the paint, which led to 14 points in the paint to Baylor’s 8 at the half.

Kansas dominated the boards in the first half with 25, but the more concerning part from a Baylor perspective was six of those were offensive rebounds. Baylor was only able to pull down 15 rebounds in the first half, two offensive, despite  Jackson sitting a majority of the half after getting into early foul trouble.

Caitlin Bickle was able to force Jackson into charges around the bucket, which Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider wasn’t fond of. Schneider let the officials hear about it at the end of the first quarter, which led to a technical foul. Bickle had an opportunity to shoot a pair of free throws as the second quarter got underway, but she was only able to connect on one of those.

Bickle (16pts) would end the third quarter the same way she began the second, with a bucket. Littlepage-Buggs grabbed a rebound off a Ja’Mee Asberry missed three-point attempt and found Bickle for the score as the clock expired to end the quarter with Baylor holding a 53-45 lead.

Baylor opened the third quarter up 6-of-6 from the field and took a 45-36 lead on a three-pointer from Sarah Andrews. Asberry (9pts)  got the scoring started in the third quarter on a jumper and a layup, followed by back-to-back shots from behind the arc by Bella Fontleroy (14pts) and Bickle.

The Bears were able to convert 20 Kansas turnovers into 20 points, despite turning the ball over 15 times themselves. Baylor lost the rebounding battle 44-32, but won the assists 22-13. Both teams were successful from the charity stripe, as Baylor finished 14-of-19 and Kansas was 14-of-16.

Baylor will be back in action on Saturday at 5:00 p.m., as they travel to Ames, Iowa for their first meeting of the season against the No. 12 Cyclones.