Buggs-Less No. 19 Bears Beat Iowa State, 67-52, Extend Winning Streak to 8 Games

WACO, Texas – No. 19 Baylor women's basketball (24-5, 14-2) extended its winning streak to eight games with a hard-fought 67-52 victory over Iowa State (19-10, 10-6) on Saturday afternoon at Foster Pavilion.

Star forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (Jr.) missed her second consecutive game with a non-season-ending knee injury. In her place, guard Yaya Felder (Sr.) was inserted into the starting lineup for the third time this season and scored a team-high 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

Forward Bella Fontleroy (Jr.) continued her hot stretch with 14 points on 2-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc; Fontleroy also added six rebounds and a career-high five steals. Center Aaronette Vonleh (Sr.) struggled with foul trouble for much of the contest but delivered 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting and six rebounds in 23 minutes of action.

The Bears were aggressive on defense all afternoon, forcing 21 Cyclone turnovers and scoring 26 points off turnovers. Baylor shot 47% (9-19) from deep, while Iowa State struggled mightily from 3-point range and shot just 7% (1-14).

"They are a good basketball team," head coach Nicki Collen said of Iowa State. "I'm really proud of the way we defended, the way we shot the basketball and our poise — I thought our poise was really good today."

There were 18 combined personal fouls called in the first half, and Iowa State took advantage, with eight of the Cyclones' 23 points coming from the charity stripe. Vonleh, Fontleroy, guard Sarah Andrews (Sr.) and guard Waiata Jennings (Jr.) each picked up at least two fouls in the first half.

Baylor's defense, however, made a significant impact on Iowa State's halfcourt offense, forcing 11 Cyclone turnovers and scoring 17 points off turnovers. The Bears led 33-23 going into the halftime locker room.

Iowa State's star center, Audi Crooks (So.), was limited to just two points in the first half. Crooks added 12 points in the second half to finish with 14 but fell short of her 22.6 per-game average.

"Defense was definitely an emphasis," guard Jada Walker (Sr.) said post-game. "Stopping Crooks was the main thing because she's the head of the snake, as well as the guards, and not letting them get going and being a factor."

Baylor nearly doubled its lead in the third quarter, thanks in part to a 9-0 midway through the period, highlighted by back-to-back buckets from Andrews. Andrews closed the contest with nine points, four assists and three steals.

Iowa State out-scored the Bears in the fourth quarter, 13-to-9.

No. 19 Baylor (24-5, 14-2) will travel to Manhattan, Kansas, for arguably its toughest road matchup of the season against No. 12 Kansas State (24-4, 12-3). Tipoff from Bramlage Coliseum is slated for 6 p.m. CT on Monday, Feb. 24, and will be televised on ESPN2.