No. 13 Baylor Outlasts Oregon 71-51 in Holiday Hoops

Through seven games, the Bears have won five by 20 points or more; the other two games were a seven-point victory of then-fourth ranked Utah and a 10-point win over Harvard. Today, the Bears were led in scoring by Darianna Littlepage-Buggs with 18 points, the first Bear to earn the accolade of leading scorer two times this season. Littlepage-Buggs was joined by Aijha Blackwell and Dre’Une Edwards in double figures, Blackwell with 10 and Edwards with 14.

The Bears relied on the passing game and turnovers to get the job done in a match with a drastic height differential in favor of the Ducks. Baylor posted 21 assists, led by Sarah Andrews, who had seven. Blackwell posted a career-high five steals disrupting the Ducks.

In a season heralded for the team’s depth thus far, it was notably dormant in today’s matchup. The Baylor Bench contributed 13 points tonight, with seven of those coming from Yaya Felder. In her post-game press conference, Nicki Collen pondered if utilizing the bench more could have continued their streak of scoring 80+, but ultimately, she is comfortable with today’s win.

“Having had a background of being a defensive coordinator for most of my career, I’m still comfortabl with this type of game when I know we can get stops. That’s why I say I never look for that run,” Collen said in regards to a big Baylor scoring run, “If it comes I’m enjoying it like everyone else.”

This is a mentality we can expect to see from the Bears for the entirety of the season, Collen emphasized that she didn’t want this team and program to be known solely for their offensive abilities.

Collen said, “I don’t want to be a program that is just about offense. I don’t want people to say Baylor and think offense. I want people to hear Baylor and think Elite. Elite means you can win however you need to win.”