Baylor Women's Basketball falls to Iowa State 74-63 in Big 12 Tournament

The Big 12 Tournament didn’t fare well for either Baylor basketball program, as the Women fell to Iowa State 74-63 in the quarterfinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Friday night. Despite having arguably their best offensive game as a team over the past month, the Bears couldn’t slow down the Cyclones down the stretch.

In a battle of two of the best players in the conference, it was Iowa State guard Ashley Joens who got the last laugh. The reigning Big 12 Player of the Year helped lead an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter that put the Bears to bed. Joens finished the night with the 19th double-double of her career with a 30-point, 15-rebound performance against Baylor.

Darianna Littlepage-Buggs paved the way for Baylor with a team-high 16 points, leaving no doubts about why she was the unanimous Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Caitlin Bickle and Jaden Owens added 15 points apiece, while Sarah Andrews finished with 12.

Having Ownes contribute offensively was a breath of fresh air and something that needs to happen regularly going forward if Baylor plans on making a run in March. Most of her damage was done in the second quarter, as she scored 10 points heading into halftime.

Baylor struggled to control the glass all night and lost the turnover battle, which usually results in a loss. Iowa State outrebounded the Bears 54-29 and forced 20 turnovers.

According to ESPN’s Bracketology, the Bears find themselves as the eighth seed in the Columbia, South Carolina bracket of the Greenville Regional against nine-seed Gonzaga. The official selection show will take place on Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN.