Baylor Women Roll Past West Texas A&M: 5 Takeaways from the Bears’ 86-46 Exhibition Win

Baylor women’s basketball hosted West Texas A&M on Saturday and defeated the Lady Buffs 86-46. While the Lady Buffs are obviously far from the best competition the Bears will play this year, they did knock off Arizona earlier in the week. Here are five takeaways from the Baylor exhibition.

1) Guard Marcayla Johnson is ready to be an energy piece.

Marcayla Johnson (Fr.) was the second player off the bench for head coach Nicki Collen and company, and for good reason. The 6-foot-0 freshman is extremely active defensively and is arguably a top-two defender on the team with senior forward Bella Fontleroy.

Johnson also provided six points, all coming in the mid-range. She knocked down a step-back jumper in the short left corner in the first half and added a fadeaway jumper in each half.

She knows how to get downhill, find her spot and use her length to finish. As I expressed in the practice notes, I am a big fan of Marcayla Johnson’s game and would like to see her be the seventh or eighth player in the rotation behind Yuting Deng and, potentially, whichever big — Kiersten Johnson or Kyla Abraham — doesn’t start.

2) Guard Jana Van Gytenbeek looks comfortable being the team’s lead playmaker.

Jana Van Gytenbeek (6Sr.) takes on a big burden with the Bears’ 2024-25 backcourt all departing, and she looked great on Saturday, granted against lesser competition.

The veteran point guard played at her own tempo the whole game, and never appeared rushed by the Lady Buffs. She put together a pick-and-roll masterclass in the second half, finding Oklahoma transfer big Kiersten Johnson and others for easy finishes.

She also did a great job of becoming a scorer when the defense went under a ball screen, and knocked down multiple 3-pointers in the victory.

3) When guard Taliah Scott is on, the Bears can play with anyone.

Auburn transfer Taliah Scott (RSo.) arrived in Waco known as a volume scorer, and her ability to score in bunches was very present this past Saturday.

After also having a big game in Baylor’s 88-77 loss to preseason AP No. 6 Oklahoma in a prior secret scrimmage, Scott led Baylor with 18 points in the win over the Lady Buffs and had a flurry of buckets in the third quarter.

While her shot-making ability from the perimeter has been her signature skill, Scott showed she can get downhill. She had a slithery finish in the first half and a crafty fake-and-finish in the second half that ended up on socials.

Baylor’s guard scoring came by committee last season, as the Bears’ backcourt members combined for only three individual games with 20 or more points — I would be far from surprised if Scott eclipses that total by herself. Scott also played a bit of point guard with SMU transfer Ella Brow (RJr.) sidelined in a boot.

4) The Bears’ ceiling is dependent on the play they get from the 5-spot.

Oklahoma transfer Kiersten Johnson (Sr.) got the start for the Bears over Kayla Nelms (So.), and despite amassing 14 points and 11 rebounds, left something to be desired.

She missed multiple finishes, and while she rebounded her misses multiple times, the same level of offensive rebounding success will not be present against high-caliber bigs and more athletic opponents.

Like Brow, Kyla Abraham (RJr.) was also sidelined in a boot. Collen does not need any of her bigs to be a star, but she does need them to play high-quality role minutes for this team to reach its ceiling.

5) Baylor’s length on the perimeter is a defensive strength

West Texas A&M struggled to get comfortable shots in the first half, scoring only 15 points. While no box score is publicly available for the game, I want to say Deng, Fontleroy and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (Sr.) all had a rejection.

Having three players that are not bigs record a block speaks to the size and switchability Baylor has at the 2-4. Furthermore, that length made the Lady Buffs very uncomfortable shooting all over the floor. The length also helps on the glass, as Fontleroy and Littlepage-Buggs are both positive rebounders.

Deng’s height really stood out. She looked comfortably taller than Fontleroy when standing next to her in pregame; however, she is still learning how to use her size and does not want to initiate contact. Overall, between Marcayla Johnson, Deng, Fontleroy and Littlepage-Buggs, the Bears’ length at the 2 through 4 will keep the Bears as one of the better teams defending the 3-point line and keep Collen’s team as one of the better defensive teams nationally.