WACO, Texas – The No. 13 Baylor women’s basketball team will face No. 12 Texas for the final time in the regular season as a Big 12 opponent on Thursday.
Tip-off from Foster Pavilion is set for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN with Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe on the call. A live radio broadcast will be available on ESPN Central Texas (1660 AM/92.3 FM) and live in-game updates will be provided via Twitter and live stats.
STARTING FIVE
A win over the Longhorns on Thursday would move Baylor to 5-1 against ranked opponents this season and it would be the Bears’ second ranked win over Texas this year. Other top-25 wins include Utah, Miami and TCU.
Graduate senior Aijha Blackwell is the only player on the roster with more than 800 career rebounds and needs just 15 boards to reach 1,000. She’s finished in double figures on the boards in three-straight contest and five of the last six.
Senior Sarah Andrews has 211 career 3-pointers and needs 50 more to break Odyssey Sim’s record of 258. The senior guard has hit at least one from range in 17 of 19 games this year.
The Bears had a different leading scorer in their first six games to start the year. In Big 12 play, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Bella Fontleroy and Dre’Una Edwards have each led Baylor in scoring twice.
Thursday’s nationally televised game on ESPN marks the sixth of the season for the Bears and third-straight contest aired on the big screen. Baylor is 4-1 in nationally televised games this season and 11-7 in the Nicki Collen era.
SCOUTING THE SERIES WITH THE LONGHORNS
Texas leads the all-time series against Baylor, 60-50, and the Bears are 24-25 at home against the Longhorns. Prior to the 2021-22 postseason, the Bears had won 13-straight meetings, including twice in the regular-season. Last year’s series split with Texas marked the first time Baylor lost a regular season game to the Longhorns since the 2009-10 campaign when the Bears lost both contests.
In the unbalanced Big 12 schedule this year, the Bears have the opportunity for their first series sweep of the season on Thursday. The Bears have won four of the last five meetings in Waco.
LAST TIME VS. TEXAS
Baylor’s 85-79 conference-opening win at Texas on Dec. 30 marked the 14th-straight win in Austin for the Bears. The win marked the Bears’ second top-five win of the year after a non-con victory over then-No. 4 Utah. The last time Baylor picked up two top-five wins in the regular season was during the 2012-13 campaign, beating No. 3 UConn and No. 5 Notre Dame on the road.
Baylor forced Texas to commit 23 turnovers - the most in a game by the Longhorns this season and the most in a Big 12 game since turning the ball over 24 times at Oklahoma on Jan. 29, 2022. Baylor’s nine 3-pointers were the most given up by the Longhorns this year. Senior Sarah Andrews went a team-best 4-for-8 from deep and moved into second all-time at Baylor in made 3-pointers. Five Bears finished in double figures led by Jada Walker’s season-high 19-point outburst. The newcomer added four steals while Dre’Una Edwards finished with 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds and six assists.
Exactly.hitmanmw said:
Hard to blame Nicki when this team can't hit the broad side of a barn from 3. We are in a really bad way. Like junior high girls from 3…
Exactly from where were we suppose to take open 2-point shots? Our problem with the zone is simple. We don't currently have the height to exploit the middle or even defend it. We have seen this for years with Drew's teams when we haven't had a competent big man in the middle. Every time we try to get inside we get stuffed or collapsed on quickly. There were creative plays inside, but UT changed their defense to shut that down to force us outside.LTBear19 said:
Then why are we continuing to jack up three's every game?
We were 7-30 from behind the arc last night.
That's 23%!
Something's gotta give.
We should be taking higher percentage shots.
I'm gonna make a golf analogy here: Sometimes you gotta leave the driver in the bag and go with the safer club - the long iron.
Had we not taken a single three last night, but replaced those attempts with 2-point shots instead...we would have needed to hit a minimum of 11-30 buckets (37%) to get a better return on investment.
That is very doable.
Then again, we did miss a ton of bunnies last night, so there is that.
blackie said:Exactly from where were we suppose to take open 2-point shots? Our problem with the zone is simple. We don't currently have the height to exploit the middle or even defend it. We have seen this for years with Drew's teams when we haven't had a competent big man in the middle. Every time we try to get inside we get stuffed or collapsed on quickly. There were creative plays inside, but UT changed their defense to shut that down to force us outside.LTBear19 said:
Then why are we continuing to jack up three's every game?
We were 7-30 from behind the arc last night.
That's 23%!
Something's gotta give.
We should be taking higher percentage shots.
I'm gonna make a golf analogy here: Sometimes you gotta leave the driver in the bag and go with the safer club - the long iron.
Had we not taken a single three last night, but replaced those attempts with 2-point shots instead...we would have needed to hit a minimum of 11-30 buckets (37%) to get a better return on investment.
That is very doable.
Then again, we did miss a ton of bunnies last night, so there is that.
They all know they should take high percentage shots. Right now we are actually turning down shots that should be taken, probably because they don't have the confidence they can make it. But if the middle is not open to you what is your option? An open 3 by a shooter is a good percentage shot. They are just not falling. We did even get a few open looks passing into the post but I think between Bella, Buggs and Edwards we only hit one of those.
How many men's games have we watched where we weaved around in perimeter until the shot clock was under 5 and then threw up something because we could not penetrate inside for a closer shot. It is real simple. It is not the scheme or the coaching. Until we get that inside presence where the defense has to be concerned with the middle, the defense is going to push us further and further away which makes even the 3 well guarded. But we are missing open threes from competent shooters and then missing the "bunnie" inside (although I would argue that in the heat of the battle with bigs collapsing on you what a fan considers a bunnie is a different matter when you are the one having to take that shot).
The problem will be abated when we have an inside presence. Two are in the kitchen (Kyla and Lety) that hopefully will make a difference next year. What is really hurting us now is Madison being out with injury. She would at least help the situation. Without her the best we have I believe is at 6'1". Right now making shots would make a world of difference....probably would only have two losses at this point (KU.....maybe and UT). Texas just has better personnel right now. That should not have been a surprise to anyone from even the beginning of the season.
