Preview: No. 21 Baylor Women's Basketball vs. No. 4 Utah

No. 21 Baylor (1–0) will host No. 4 Utah (2-0) Tuesday night in the Ferrell Center at 6:30 p.m.

The Bears will be back in action after a week of rest following their season opener against Southern, where Baylor won 85-53. In the season opener, there was the expected rust to be shaken off in the first half, but the Bears stepped on the gas in the second half, where they outscored the Jaguars 2:1 for a second-half score of 48-24; for comparison, Baylor was only up by eight after the first half with a score of 37-29.

Through one game, Baylor has given us a lot to look forward to, with several standout players that are sure to be a lot of fun to watch this season. Graduate transfer guard Dre’una Edwards led the Bears in scoring during her first game sporting the green and gold, putting up 20 points after going 9-10 from the field. Senior guard Sarah Andrews joined the 1,000-point club after putting up 14 points against the Jaguars (she needed 11 to reach 1,000 career points); on top of her double-figure scoring, Andrews got the ball into her teammate’s hands with seven assists.

The Utes’ season opener was not dissimilar to the Bears’. Utah opened their season at home against Mississippi Valley State, where they took some time to shake the rust off and then created plenty of room. After the first quarter, Utah trailed MVS by two with a score of 24-22 in favor of Mississippi Valley State; however, that was the one and only quarter where MVS scored in double digits. The Utes held MVS to eight points or less in the following three quarters. Led by senior forward Alissa Pili, who put up 26 points on the night and only missed two shots on the night, both of which were free throws. Pili went 7-7 from the field and nailed two 3-pointers; no slouch on defense, Pili also accounted for two steals and two defensive rebounds.

Tuesday night will be the first time a top-five opponent has come to the Ferrell Center since January 3, 2019, when then-No. 8/7 Baylor took down then-No. 1/1 UConn 68-57. This will only be the second time that the two programs have played each other; the first matchup was a BU victory 77-52 in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Tournament on March 26, 1977.

Promotion: Era’s Night (Baylor WBB Version), the first 1,000 students will receive a free t-shirt. 

Where to watch: 

TV: ESPN + | John Morris (PxP), Jim Haller (Analyst)

Radio: ESPN Central Texas | Derek Smith (PxP), Lori Fogleman (Analyst)