Fontleroy Drops Career High as Bears Tie Program 3-Point Record and Clobber Cincy, 98-59

WACO, Texas – Baylor women’s basketball (18-5, 8-2) picked up its second straight victory with a dominant 98-59 win over the Cincinnati Bearcats (13-7, 5-5) on Sunday afternoon at Foster Pavilion.

Forward Bella Fontleroy (Jr.) led the Bears with a career-high 29 points. She was scorching from downtown, shooting 7-of-8 from beyond the arc while adding three rebounds and two steals to her stat line. 

The victory was arguably Baylor’s most complete win of the season; the Bears shot 57% (37-65) from the floor and 61% (17-28) from deep, with the 17 makes from 3-point range tying a program record.

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Baylor tied a program record in 3-pointers made (17) in Sunday’s win.

Defensively, Baylor forced Cincinnati to turn the ball over 14 times and held the Bearcats to just three assists. Cincinnati did not make a single 3-point shot in the contest.

Baylor opened the game by pressing the Bearcats and forcing Cincinnati into six first-quarter turnovers. Baylor took advantage of the miscues all afternoon and scored 24 points off turnovers.

Guards Sarah Andrews (Sr.) and Jada Walker (Sr.) combined for just 10 points, but the duo dished out 19 assists. Baylor assisted on 31 of its 37 makes.

Center Aaronette Vonleh (Sr.) led the Bears with six early points before picking up her second personal foul midway through the first quarter. Vonleh finished the contest with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting in 15 minutes of action.

Guard Yaya Felder (Sr.) gave Baylor a nice spark off the bench. She scored 10 of her 13 points in the first half, collected five assists and hauled in two rebounds.

After shooting 1-of-9 from deep in Wednesday’s win over UCF, Fontleroy bounced back for the Bears and drained her first three 3-pointers in the first half; she had a team-high 13 points and helped lead Baylor to a 42-25 lead going into halftime.

The Bears outscored the Bearcats in the third quarter, 22-to-14, with Vonleh and Fontleroy combining for 14 points. Guard Aliyah Matharu (Sr.) scored a season-high 17 points and was 5-for-6 from beyond the arc, with all her points coming in the second half.

Baylor (18-5, 8-2) will travel to take on the Houston Cougars (5-17, 1-10) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at the Fertitta Center. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.