Walker, Fontleroy Help No. 17 Bears Earn Narrow Win over ISU in Quarterfinals, 69-63

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – No. 17 Baylor women’s basketball (26-6, 15-3) earned a hard-fought 69-63 victory over Iowa State (22-11, 12-6) in the Big 12 Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Friday evening at T-Mobile Center.

Guard Jada Walker (Sr.) led the Bears with a team-high 18 points and collected four assists and four rebounds. Forward Bella Fontleroy (Jr.) had an all-around performance and chipped in 12 points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

Over 40 combined personal fouls were called in the contest, and 43 free throws were shot. Center Aaronette Vonleh (Sr.) struggled with foul trouble all evening and was relegated to just 20 minutes and 12 points before fouling out.

Similar to when the two teams met last month, Baylor won the 3-point battle and narrowly out-shot the Cyclones from beyond the arc, 26% (6-of-23) compared to 20% (2-of-10). The Bears also won the turnover battle, forcing 22 Iowa State miscues and scoring 20 points off turnovers.

The victory marked fourth-year head coach Nicki Collen’s 100th career win at the helm of the Baylor program.

Despite having a double-bye in the conference tournament, the No. 2-seeded Bears showed no signs of rust in Friday’s quarterfinals matchup. Baylor jumped out to an early 22-8 lead, highlighted by a pair of big 3-pointers from guard Sarah Andrews (Sr.). The Bears shot 8-of-16 from the floor and 3-of-5 from deep in the period.

The Cyclones bounced back from their sluggish start and closed the first quarter on a 9-0 run. As soon as Vonleh exited the game, Iowa State’s star center, Audi Crooks (So.), feasted on the inexperience of Baylor’s backup bigs and dropped 11 of her game-high 32 points in the first period.

Guard Aliyah Matharu (Sr.) provided a spark off the bench for the Bears and went on a personal 5-0 run midway through the second quarter. Matharu closed the contest with 12 points and four on 3-of-8 shooting.

Baylor’s lead ballooned to as much as 14 before Iowa State closed the second quarter on a 9-0 run and trailed 38-33 going into the halftime locker room.

Minutes into the third quarter, Vonleh picked up her third personal foul and sat on the bench for the rest of the period. Without Vonleh on the court, the Cyclones out-scored Baylor 17-to-13 in the third quarter and trailed by a bucket going into the final period.

Iowa State appeared to have the Bears on the ropes midway through the fourth quarter and took a 61-60 lead before Walker drained a clutch corner 3-pointer to give Baylor back the momentum. Walker scored nine of BU’s final nine points, carrying the Bears to the narrow victory.

Fontleroy shut down Iowa State’s other star player, forward Addy Brown (So.) in the win. Brown dropped 41 points in the Cyclones victory over Arizona State on Thursday but was limited to six points and turned the ball over nine times against the Bears.

No. 17 Baylor (26-6, 15-3) will face the winner of No. 21 Oklahoma State (24-5, 14-4) versus Texas Tech (17-16, 4-14) in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Tipoff from T-Mobile Center is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, March 8, and will be streamed on ESPN+.