Scrappy and Spirited Bears Erase 19-Point Deficit, Shock Oklahoma State in Stillwater

STILLWATER, Oklahoma – No. 22 Baylor women’s basketball (12-3) scored 29 points in the final quarter and held the hosting Oklahoma State Cowgirls (12-3) to eight points, turning a 19-point deficit into a 77-68 victory.

Redshirt-sophomore guard Taliah Scott was back to her usual minutes, playing 35 in the victory. The All-American candidate was also back to her usual dominance, scoring 24 points on 5-of-8 shooting. She got to the charity stripe for 15 shots and scored on 13 of the attempts, leading the Bears to a win.

Sixth-year guard Jana Van Gytenbeek played her best game of the season. The guard hunted her own shot, and she opened up the Baylor offense when it mattered most. Van Gytenbeek scored 17 points, shooting 2-of-5 from inside the arc and 4-of-8 from deep, and added eight assists while only turning the ball over twice.

Sophomore forward Kayla Nelms had the best game of her career, scoring 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, while totaling eight rebounds, four on the offensive end. She was pivotal in the comeback win, scoring eight points in the fourth quarter.

The Bears appeared dead in the water with 1:34 left in the third quarter. A pair of Oklahoma State free throws, courtesy of Achol Akot, gave the Cowgirls a 60-41 lead and a 97.8% chance of winning per Barttorvik. However, the Bears’ defense found its usual groove, holding the Cowgirls to 3-of-18 shooting from that point until the end of the game, while the Bears' offense found life and shot the ball well. Oklahoma State did win the rebounding battle, posting a 31.6% offensive rebound percentage in comparison with Baylor’s 22.9%, but the Bears won the turnover battle and made two more threes on six fewer attempts, allowing the road team to pull out an improbable win.

Darianna Littlepage-Buggs opened the scoring, blowing by her defender on a drive from the left elbow. Van Gytenbeek found Kiersten Johnson on an outlet pass to put the Bears up four early. However, the Oklahoma State pace led to four transition points, tying the game up. Johnson added to her strong first quarter with a block and a top-of-the-key 3-pointer. The Bears did a good job running in transition early, moving the ball up the court quickly while not turning the ball over in any transition scenarios. A Littlepage-Buggs runout with another Van Gytenbeek assist pushed the lead to 9-6 entering the first quarter media timeout, despite Scott not attempting a shot.

That didn’t last long. On Baylor’s next possession, Scott hunted her own shot, put up a left-wing 3-pointer, and drew a foul. The star guard knocked down all three free throws, then, following an empty Baylor possession, Scott got downhill and finished at the rim. Following Scott’s finish, the Cowgirls went on a 6-0 run, as the Bears missed numerous layups. Nelms got into the scoring column as the first quarter concluded to give Baylor a 16-14 lead.

After a Cowgirl mid-range jumper, Van Gytenbeek knocked down a reload triple, as Baylor converted its first two 3-pointers of the game. Baylor notably did a great job at forcing field goal attempts in the mid-range and paint early. Speaking of the mid-range, Littlepage-Buggs knocked down a wing mid-range, a welcome sight as she has struggled in that area relative to last year. However, the Cowgirl offense started running and flowing into actions. A 12-3 Oklahoma State run put the hosts up 33-24, with a Van Gytenbeek corner 3-pointer being Baylor’s only basket over that span, prompting a timeout from head coach Nicki Collen. 

Down 35-25, Baylor went on a run to end the half. A Bella Fontleroy screen freed up Scott for three, and Van Gytenbeek threw another aggressive outlet pass, this time to Kyla Abraham, who got to the line and knocked down a free throw. Van Gytenbeek added a lone free throw of her own, and Scott attacked a closeout off a floppy action, finishing a floater. Baylor entered the halftime break down 35-32, holding Oklahoma State empty from the field for the final 4:02 of the half.

Oklahoma State’s Jadyn Wooten, the only Cowgirl who has the green light to shoot in the mid-range, found a lot of success in the mid-range early, totaling 14 first-half points. Scott led the way for the Bears with 11 points on just four shots, as she was able to get to the line for five free throws. Van Gytenbeek had a great half as well, showing more aggression and willingness to shoot, as well as pushing the pace. It was one of the better halves from the sixth-year guard this season, as she ended with seven points and six assists with just one turnover.

While Baylor only shot 11-of-34 from the field, the Bears only turned the ball over five times in the first half, keeping them close. The Cowgirls have turned opponents over on 27.9% of possessions this season, making the Bears’ ball security more impressive. The lack of Baylor turnovers also helped keep Oklahoma State to just four transition points. Oklahoma State was also held to 1-of-11 shooting from downtown, but the Cowgirls' 24-10 paint points advantage and 24-18 rebounding margin put them in front at the break.

The first-half ball security seemed to be too good to be true, as Baylor’s first two possessions ended with turnovers. Another illegal screen gave the Bears three turnovers in the first 2:31. After seeming to have momentum at the end of the first, the Baylor offense went cold. Van Gytenbeek did a good job of hunting her shot off a ball screen, knocking down an open mid-range jumper, but that was the Bears’ only third-quarter points before a 9-0 run forced a Collen timeout. 

The Bears amassed four turnovers in the first four minutes, with Littlepage-Buggs, Johnson, and Abraham all picking up illegal screens. The rough third quarter from the three frontcourt players led to them combining for just 11 minutes in the third quarter and three minutes in the fourth quarter. Littlepage-Buggs failed to record a stat other than that illegal screen in the second half, finishing the game with six points and four rebounds on 3-of-7 shooting in her return to her home state. Stailee Heard scored seven early third-quarter points for the Cowgirls to enter the timeout up 46-34.

Fontleroy was able to get to the line to cut the lead back to 10 after the timeout, but a pair of Oklahoma State triples extended the hosts' lead to 16. The Cowgirls were able to manufacture open looks from the 3-point line and at the rim, while Baylor continued to miss layups. The Bears were 4-of-16 on layups at this point in the game, before converting their final five layups of the game. Another turnover led to a runout layup for Oklahoma State, before a Fontleroy 3-pointer in early transition attempted to keep Baylor in striking distance. The triple was Fontleroy’s only field goal in the game.

Scott was held scoreless in the third quarter until the 1:22 mark, where she was fouled on a 3-pointer for the second time on the day. She added a mid-range jumper on a baseline-out-of-bounds before the end of the quarter. Baylor ended the quarter strong on a 7-0 run, with an easy finish from Yuting Deng off an assist from Nelms, making the score 60-48. However, the 25-16 quarter from the Cowgirls put them in control entering the final period.

Scott and Fontleroy each contributed five points in the quarter, but Baylor only managed to convert on 5-of-14 shots. They turned the ball over five times and fouled seven times. On the other end, the Cowgirls shot 9-of-16 from the field, 3-of-7 from deep and snagged five offensive rebounds as they created a gap between them and their Big 12 foe.

The Bears’ run continued into the fourth quarter, as Nelms faked a dribble-handoff and used the space she had to nail a mid-range. After an Oklahoma State basket pushed the lead back to 10, a Deng mid-range and Nelms transition layup off an assist from Ella Brow put the Bears back within single digits. Oklahoma State responded with another basket, but Van Gytenbeek continued her strong day with an off-dribble 3-pointer out of a horns look, and Nelms continued giving the Bears huge points, adding her third basket on as many attempts. After being down 60-41, the Bears’ run cut the lead down to five, forcing an Oklahoma State timeout with a score of 64-59.

After both teams traded a couple of empty possessions, Scott hid behind a Fontleroy ball screen to create space and shoot a deep 3-pointer. Her reputation as a shooter led to Wooten closing out too hard, giving Scott free throws on a 3-point shot for the third time today. She went 2-of-3, cutting the lead to three. After another stop, Scott got downhill and finished with a tough right-handed scoop layup on the left side. Nelms deserves credit for a quality duck-in on the drive (also referred to as a Gortat screen, named after former Wizards center Marcin Gortat). 

Oklahoma State’s Amari Whiting was able to get downhill and draw a foul on Nelms. However, she missed both free throws, and Scott found Van Gytenbeek for a wing triple in the early halfcourt to give Baylor the lead with a score of 66-64. An Abraham block and a Deng steal forced another stop, and Van Gytenbeek found another basket as the ball handler out of the Bears’ horns flare look, this time getting downhill for a layup. A further stop led to an Abraham mid-range, giving the Bears a 70-64 advantage. 

Baylor could not end the game without its near-signature sloppy passes returning. Deng overthrew Van Gytenbeek on an inbound, but Oklahoma State’s Heard ran it down. She managed to throw it off Van Gytenbeek, but the officials were not able to see it in real time, and it led to two Scott free throws. However, the officials gave the Cowgirls their makeup call, calling Van Gytenbeek for a foul on a Micah Gray 3-point attempt. Gray only managed to convert on one of the three attempts, keeping the game at seven and allowing the Bears to coast to a victory. A Cowgirl triple ended a 20-1 Baylor run, before two more free throws from Scott closed the game, with the result being a 77-68 Baylor victory.

Scott, Van Gytenbeek and Nelms all scored eight points in the fourth quarter. Baylor held Oklahoma State to 3-of-15 shooting in the quarter, a huge reason Baylor was able to ride a 29-8 quarter-margin to a win.

After folding in second-half situations against Iowa and Texas Tech, the disastrous third quarter led anyone to expect that this game was heading in the same direction. The Bears played each defensive possession as if it were their last, and manufactured open shots on the offensive end. While the defense has been elite this entire year, holding the high-scoring Cowgirls to an eight-point quarter was unexpected. The offense was even more surprising, as Baylor shot 9-of-12 in the fourth quarter. 

The aggression of Van Gytenbeek was game-altering, as the veteran, looking for her own shot, put more pressure on the defense. The Bears put up 77 points despite Oklahoma State doing a good job at keeping Scott from getting shots off, and holding the next three leading scorers on the season, Littlepage-Buggs, Fontleroy and Deng, to a combined 16 points on 6-of-21 shooting. Van Gytenbeek and Nelms combining for 27 points, Baylor limiting itself to a 17.2% turnover percentage and the Bears scoring 29 fourth-quarter points, give a lot of reason for hope as the Bears look to figure out a consistent offense. Baylor will have to use its confidence and momentum from this win to take on a top-10 team on the road.

The Bears’ (12-3) next game is against the Iowa State Cyclones at 2 p.m. CT, Sunday, Jan. 4, at the Hilton Coliseum. The game will be streamed on ESPN.