WACO, Texas — Emotions were high as seniors Caitlin Bickle and Ja’Mee Asberry were adored by their friends and family as Baylor (19-11, 10-8) took the court to celebrate the final senior day and Big 12 game ever to take place inside the Ferrell Center.
Asberry would own the moment and lead Baylor in scoring on the night with 18 points, but it wouldn’t be enough. West Virginia (19-10, 10-8) would complete the regular season sweep over the Bears 63-52 behind a career high 30 points from Madisen Smith.
During this week's edition of the 1-3-1, West Virginia Smith was the ‘One Player’ to keep an eye on, and she didn’t disappoint. The fifth year guard was the only reason the Mountaineers held a 34-30 lead over the Bears at halftime, as she dropped 20 points in the first 20 minutes of Saturday’s game, including an impressive 9-of-10 from the charity stripe.
Baylor found themselves down 9-2 behind a 9-0 run by West Virginia in the first quarter, which prompted head coach Nicki Collen to call a timeout with 1:41 remaining to rally the troops. Smith was the leading culprit behind the run, as she contributed 7 of the 9 points and finished the first half 9-of-10 from the charity stripe.
As the second quarter progressed, Bickle found Sarah Andrews behind the arc and picked up an assist as Andrews drained the shot to give Baylor a 19-18 lead over West Virginia. A few possessions later, Asberry weaved through the lane and hit a floater over Smith to make it 22-21 West Virginia.
Asberry would close the gap to one point once more, as she hit a shot from downtown at the top of the key to close the gap on the Mountaineers, but Baylor went into a timeout with 3:35 remaining in the first half down 25-24. West Virginia was up 29-24 out of the break when Bickle positioned herself well in the paint to grab a rebound and get a putback bucket to make it 29-26.
Once again, Asberry tightened the gap with a steal that she was able to take coast-to-coast for a layup that put the Bears within one 29-28 with 1:40 to go before halftime. Unfortunately, West Virginia went on another run and was able to take a 34-30 lead into halftime.
Out of halftime, it was Smith who hit the first bucket for West Virginia. Bickle would counter Smith’s shot with one of her own as she drove to the basket for an uncontested layup to try and spark some offense for Baylor. Like clockwork, Asberry was right behind Bickle with another shot from behind the arc to make it 38-37.
Both teams would begin to catch a case of the butterfingers, as they both turned the ball over five times in over a four-minute span of the third quarter. As the shot began to fall once more, Andrews hit a shot from long distance to tie the game at 46 heading into the final quarter of play.
Baylor couldn’t buy a bucket in the fourth quarter, as West Virginia opened the game up behind a 12-0 run. The Bears finally got some shots to fall, as Andrews found Bella Fontleroy under the basket for an easy bucket to give Baylor their first points of the fourth quarter at the 4:16 mark.
Asberry would follow up Fontleroy’s shot with one of her own, but Baylor was down 58-50. She would get one more bucket on the night with a layup in traffic, but it was too little too late. The Bears did themselves in at the free throw line finishing the night 1-9.
Despite not getting the victory, it was a solid night for the senior duo. Asberry was 8-19 from the field and added 6 rebounds and 2 assists to her stat line. Bickle rounded out the night with 4 points and 3 assists to go along with a team high 7 rebounds.
Andrews played lights out for Baylor as well, finishing with 13 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Darianna Littlepage-Buggs wasn’t able to secure another double-double, but she had 11 points, 3 assists and 7 rebounds.
The Bears will now prepare for the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, where they will be the No. 6 seed and face the No. 3 seed Iowa State on March 10th at 7:30 p.m.
