Baylor Wins Fourth Straight as Littlepage-Buggs Leads Bears Past BYU, 83-71

WACO, Texas – Baylor women’s basketball (20-5, 10-2) extended its winning streak to four games with an 83-71 victory over the BYU Cougars (12-11, 3-9) on Saturday night at Foster Pavilion.

Star forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (Jr.) inked her 10th double-double of the season and scored a team-high 26 points on 9-of-11 shooting while collecting 15 rebounds.

Baylor shot 42% (31-74) from the floor and 27% (6-22) from beyond the arc but turned the ball over 13 times compared to BYU, which had 26 turnovers. The Bears scored 18 points off turnovers, dominated BYU on the offensive glass and out-rebounded the Cougars 18-to-5. 

“We thrive off our defense,” Littlepage-Buggs said post-game. “Once we get our defense going, that’s when we can get stops, and we can play our offense.”

Center Aaronette Vonleh (Sr.) got the Bears going with six early points in the opening minutes of Saturday’s contest; Vonleh finished with eight points on 4-of-16 shooting and hauled in eight rebounds.

Baylor closed the first quarter on a 14-3 run after taking advantage of a multitude of BYU miscues; the Cougars had 17 first-half turnovers.

Guard Aliyah Matharu (Sr.) contributed eight of her 14 points in the second quarter, helping give the Bears a 47-29 lead going into the halftime locker room. Matharu is averaging 12.4 points per game across her last five contests.

“I think Aliyah [Matharu] and Yaya [Felder] are playing great, and they’re building more and more confidence,” head coach Nicki Collen said. “They’re playing well together, which is great because it allows us to give more rest for Jada [Walker] and Sarah [Andrews].”

Baylor’s second-half dominance continued, and a 10-0 run midway through the third period was highlighted by 3-pointers from guard Yaya Felder (Sr.) and forward Bella Fontleroy (Jr.). Felder and Fontleroy finished with 12 and seven points, respectively.

“Yaya has been great all year,” Collen said. “She’s been super effective, and it doesn’t matter if she scores eight or 18. Her plus-minus has been really good when she’s been on the floor this season.”

The Cougars outscored the Bears, 22-to-15, in the fourth quarter.

Baylor (20-5, 10-2) will take on No. 18 West Virginia (19-4, 9-3) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 11, at Foster Pavilion. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.