‘We Have a Chance to Make a Lot of Noise:’ Collen, WBB Gearing Up For New Season

With a little less than a month until Baylor women's basketball's season opener against Incarnate Word on Thursday, Nov. 7, expectations are high for head coach Nicki Collen's crew, who are projected to finish third in the Big 12, according to the preseason poll.

After coming up just short in the Sweet 16 to the top-seeded USC Trojans last March, the Bears spent the offseason gearing up to chase a conference championship and make a deeper run in the NCAA Tournament in Collen's fourth year at the helm.

"The nicest thing right now, from the transition from summer to fall, is that for the first time, we have more returners than newcomers," Collen said after a post-practice media availability. "We have a core group that understands the culture, the system, expectations and all of those things. We've had a very uneventful offseason, and uneventful is good."

The Bears are bringing back a strong nucleus of notable players — Sarah Andrews (5Sr.), Bella Fontleroy (Jr.) and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (Jr.) — and also made some key additions in the transfer portal, namely Aaronette Vonleh (Sr.) from Colorado, a 6-foot-3 center who was voted the Big 12 Preseason Co-Newcomer of the Year.

"This team is good; we're not going to shy away from saying we want to compete for championships," Collen said. "I don't think the expectation is ever anything less than a conference championship. I think that's why I came to Baylor, and I think that's why players choose Baylor. We know we were one defensive stop from maybe being in the Elite Eight."

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Baylor WBB came up just short in the Sweet 16 to the top-seeded USC Trojans last March.

"That core of us being together and having experience is going to make a really, really big impact on this team," Fontleroy said.

For the Bears to achieve their goals this year, it starts with Andrews, who earned preseason all-conference honors. The veteran guard and heralded team leader opted to use her extra eligibility and return to Waco for one final go-around.

"I'm excited about this year; we've got a good group, so I think we've got a chance to make a lot of noise, and I have some unfinished business," Andrews said. "We got a taste of the tournament last year, and I think we're going to go a little deeper than last year; that was the main reason why I came back."

She added, "When you can come back to a school like this that has a great fanbase and can play for a coach like Coach Nicki, who feels like family, why not come back when you have a chance to use that fifth year?"

As a sophomore in 2021-2022, Andrews had the most efficient season of her career, averaging 11.1 points and 4.5 assists per game on 41.7% shooting from the field and 39% from deep. Since then, Andrews' play has been up and down across the past two seasons due to various injury issues. 

Despite playing through foot problems as a senior in 2023-2024, she led the Bears in minutes played (29.7) and assists (3.9) per game, was second on the team in points per game (11.4) and was third in three-point field goal percentage (35.9).

"We want to get Sarah back healthy enough that she looks like, as we like to say, 'Sophomore Sarah' because I think that's when she was elite," Collen said.

Elsewhere, the former All-Big 12 Freshman, Fontleroy and Littlepage-Buggs, are expected to take the next step on the court this season as they both enter their third year in Collen's system.

As sophomores, Littlepage-Buggs led the Bears in rebounds per game (7.2) and was third on the team in points per game (10.5). Fontleroy led the squad in three-point percentage (36.4) and was fourth in points (9.6) and rebounds (5) per game, plus was a notable snub from the all-conference defensive team, according to Collen.

"I think both players are becoming more natural leaders because their confidence has grown," Collen said. "They're better at understanding what they're good at. When you come in, your head is spinning as a freshman, and we just threw them out there and asked them to do the best they could. Sometimes, it was great, sometimes it was adequate and sometimes we got beat. But ultimately, they grew."

Fontleroy added to that saying, "With our entire junior class, we know that there's a lot expected of us. It's our third year in the system. Buggs and I have both grown a lot, and Kyla [Abraham] has too. You can tell by our tenacity and how we get after it in practice. We know what we're doing, and we're confident. We want to be able to lead by example."

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Guard Sarah Andrews (Sr.) elected to use her extra eligibility and return to Waco for one final season.

But arguably, the biggest factor in determining the Bears' ceiling this season will be the play of Vonleh, the Big 12 Preseason Co-Newcomer of the Year. 

At Colorado last year, Vonleh earned all-conference honors and led the Buffs in points (14) and blocks per game (1.1), as well as field goal percentage (54.9); she was second on the team in rebounds per game (5.1).

"We needed to add Aaronette," Collen said. "There are a lot of bigs in this league who are veterans, so it's important to be able to single people up and play a different way. Our team needs to learn to play through the paint; we have to teach a different way to play. It doesn't mean stylistically, but it does mean knowing that the ball needs to go into the paint when she has two feet and her defender behind her."

Baylor's biggest deficiency last season was the lack of a true post presence, and Vonleh will give the Bears their biggest interior presence since Queen Egbo in 2021-2022.

"Whenever I see [Vonleh] down there, I want to throw her the ball, regardless of whether there are two or three people on her," Andrews said. "She can score on anybody in the country. She makes a huge difference as a rim protector and can guard bigger post players."

Across the conference, Texas and Oklahoma are off to the SEC, and newcomers Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah are preparing for their first basketball season in the Big 12.

"The league is going to be really, really good and, in some ways, similar to it in the past, where you have a lot of different styles of play," Collen said.

Entering the year, the Bears were picked only behind Kansas State and Iowa State in the preseason poll. The Wildcats return all five starters and get star center Ayoka Lee (Sr.) back from injury. Meanwhile, the Cyclones returned the majority of their key players as well.

However, before the conference title chase starts in December, the Bears will continue practicing and preparing for the season opener against Incarnate Word on Thursday, Nov. 7.

"I like what we have on paper," Collen said. "I like what we have when we start running up and down, but most seasons are defined by health and playing well at the right time. We were excited about playing in the Sweet 16, but we were also so close to the Elite Eight, and we know that's a real possibility if we play well and have things align."