Baylor WBB Returns To Win Column with 76-62 Victory over Colorado

WACO, Texas – Baylor women’s basketball (12-3, 2-1) returned to the win column with a 76-62 victory over Colorado (10-4, 1-2)  on Saturday afternoon at Foster Pavilion.

The Bears bounced back from their self-proclaimed “embarrassing” blow-out loss to Oklahoma State earlier in the week with a significantly better performance against the Buffaloes. 

Baylor shot just 32% (24-74) from the field against the Cowgirls but improved to a 47% (27-58) clip against Colorado. Defensively, the Bears forced 20 Colorado turnovers and collected six blocks.

“Our defense dictates our offense,” forward Bella Fontleroy (Jr.) said post-game. “It should never be the other way around, and I think that started to get to us the other night. … Our defense definitely translated to our offense [today].”

All five of Baylor’s starters scored in double figures in the victory over the Buffaloes, led by forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (Jr.), who inked her seventh double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

“I liked that we played through the paint. I like that we didn’t need the 3-point shot to win, but we took it and made it in key situations, “ head coach Nicki Collen said post-game. “We had a really balanced effort. That was Baylor basketball, from the number of shots to five players in double figures.”

Center Aaronette Vonleh (Sr.) transferred to Baylor from Colorado this offseason and added 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting in her first contest against her former school. 

Vonleh, who has fouled out three times this season, remained out of foul trouble for much of the afternoon and was able to play 27 minutes, her second-highest mark of the year.

“It was nice to play Netty 27 minutes instead of 20,” Collen added. “We tried not to talk about it a ton, but it’s obviously emotional when you play your former team, a team that you went to the Sweet 16 with twice. … It’s not about how many points you score; it’s about helping your team win, and I thought Netty did that today.”

Baylor jumped out to a sluggish start and trailed 11-4 early in the first quarter. 

Shortly after, the Bears settled in and went on a 12-6 run to close the first quarter. Guard Yaya Felder (Sr.), an outstanding scorer off the bench this season, scored four of her six points in the first quarter.

Baylor began to take a commanding lead in the second quarter, thanks in part to nine points from Fontleroy, but Colorado closed the first half with two deep shots from beyond the arc to trail 35-32 going into the halftime locker room.

The Buffaloes started to encroach on Baylor’s lead in the third quarter, but guard Jada Walker (Sr.) drilled a 3-pointer, and Fontleroy scored four straight points, including a fast-break layup following a steal to regain the momentum and take a 59-46 lead going into the final quarter.

Fontleroy finished with 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting and seven rebounds.

Baylor outscored Colorado 17-16 in the fourth quarter. Littlepage-Buggs, Vonleh and Fontleroy combined for 46 points, while the back-court duo of Walker and Sarah Andrews (5Sr.) combined for 23 points.

“We got beat up the other day [against Oklahoma State], and we have to play through it,” Littlepage-Buggs said following the victory. “We have to learn from it, grow from it, understand not everybody’s on our side and have to play through physicality.”

The Bears will travel to the Grand Canyon State for a game against the Arizona Wildcats (11-5, 2-1) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CST at the McKale Center. On Saturday, the Bears will return to action against Arizona State (7-7, 1-1) at 4:30 p.m. CST at Desert Financial Arena. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.