Baylor Women's Basketball Increases Win Streak to Seven, Smothers UCF in 73-48 Victory

WACO, Texas – No. 14 Baylor women’s basketball (18-3, 7-1) extended its winning streak to seven games with a dominant 73-48 victory over UCF (10-9, 2-6) at Foster Pavilion on Wednesday night.

Guard Taliah Scott scored a game-high 22 points, scoring on 4-of-8 2-point attempts and 4-of-10 3-point attempts. She also added two assists and two steals.

Forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs posted an unreal performance on the glass, pulling down 18 rebounds in the win. Seven of her rebounds came on the offensive end. The senior also scored 13 points.

Sixth-year guard Jana Van Gytenbeek also had a strong showing, scoring nine points, dishing seven assists and securing two steals.

Baylor’s 24-12 turnover margin, in addition to holding UCF to 4-of-24 shooting in the second half, allowed the Bears to pick up a blowout win in their return to Foster Pavilion. The Baylor offense also had a strong game from 3-point range, scoring 36 points from deep on 37.5%.

UCF’s Jacorri Bracey stepped inside the line to open the game with a deep mid-range basket, but Scott quickly responded. The Big 12 Player of the Year candidate finished on a tough scoop layup, then nailed a wing triple on the Bears’ next trip down the court to take a 5-2 lead. Scott trailed for another 3-point attempt and drew a shooting foul. She converted on two of the three attempts, capping her personal 7-0 run.

UCF guard Kristol Ayson stopped the Knights’ bleeding with a layup, but the Bears’ offense was scoring with ease, using the offensive glass to open the margin. Kiersten Johnson put back her own miss, and Littlepage-Buggs finished a layup after another offensive rebound, this time from Bella Fontleroy. Scott continued her big night, tipping a UCF pass to Van Gytenbeek, then receiving the ball back for her second wing 3-pointer of the night, opening the Bears’ lead to 14-4 and prompting a Knights’ timeout.

The visiting Knights found life on the offensive end coming out of the break. They found success in the paint, finishing three layups in four possessions. Kyla Abraham responded with an elbow jumper, but an Ayson 3-point attempt received a favorable bounce and found its target, cutting Baylor’s lead to just three points as the quarter ended.

Scott led Baylor with 10 first-quarter points, converting on 3-of-5 field goal attempts, while adding two steals. However, the rest of the Bears combined to shoot just 3-of-13 from the field, ending the quarter with 16 points. UCF, led by Ayson’s seven points, scored 13 points in the quarter, while shooting 6-of-14 from the field. Six turnovers plagued the visitors in the opening quarter, with the Bears racking up five live-ball steals.

After UCF’s Summer Yancy opened the scoring in the second-quarter by splitting a pair of free throws, Littlepage-Buggs knocked down her first 3-pointer since November, banking in a top-of-the-key triple to put the Bears up 19-14. 

The Taliah Scott show continued to be on full display in the second quarter. She came off a Littlepage-Buggs ball screen and calmly read the UCF drop coverage, rising for a pure free-throw line jumper. Scott was clearly feeling it. After a Fontleroy block and rebound, she pulled up for her third right-wing triple of the day, just six seconds into the shot clock. Scott did miss a well-deserved deep heat check, but responded with another free-throw line jumper off a Littlepage-Buggs dribble handoff (DHO). The Bears entered the second-quarter media timeout up 26-15.

UCF continued its trend of coming out of timeouts well, finding six points in the paint to cut the Baylor lead to five, with a score of 26-21. However, the Bears found their range from distance, with Van Gytenbeek and Fontleroy converting on back-to-back 3-pointers to give both veterans their first points of the game. Van Gytenbeek passed up another triple to get downhill, faking out UCF center Savannah Scott with a hesitation. Van Gytenbeek could not finish, but Littlepage-Buggs gathered the point guard’s miss and finished to give the Bears a 34-21 lead. 

UCF’s Scott responded by sealing Johnson for a layup to cut the deficit to 11 entering halftime, with a score of 34-23. Both Scotts led their respective teams in first-half scoring. Taliah Scott scored 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 3-of-7 from deep. Littlepage-Buggs also had a huge half, scoring seven points, grabbing 11 rebounds and adding two assists and two stocks. The senior forward notably had an absurd 22.2% offensive rebound percentage and 59.2% defensive rebounding percentage in the half. Savannah Scott converted all four of her attempts for a team-high eight points.

While Baylor shot just 38.2% from the field compared to UCF’s 43.5%, the Bears forced 13 UCF turnovers while turning the ball over five fewer times, leading to an 11-4 points off turnovers advantage for the home team. Furthermore, Baylor grabbed eight offensive rebounds, four courtesy of Littlepage-Buggs, in comparison to the Knights’ three offensive rebounds, leading to 11 more shot attempts for the Bears.

Van Gytenbeek generated a paint touch off a pistol screen before spraying the ball out to Fontleroy for a quarter-opening 3-pointer. After three UCF free throws cut the lead back to 11 points, Johnson poked the ball free from Khyala Ngodu, leading to Taliah Scott splitting two defenders for a left-hand layup. Van Gytenbeek found a trailing Fontleroy in transition for her second 3-pointer of the quarter, extending the Baylor lead to 42-26, cueing a UCF timeout.

Summer Yancy found her mark from deep to cut the lead back to 13, but Van Gytenbeek flew downhill off a ball screen for a layup. Van Gytenbeek was masterful in running the offense in the third quarter. Abraham tipped a UCF pass, and Van Gytenbeek attacked in transition, finding Scott drifting to the corner for a 3-pointer. Scott celebrated by pointing to a fan courtside, but it appeared as though the referee thought she made a gun gesture, calling a technical foul.

After UCF knocked down the two technical free throws and added two more free throws on the ensuing possession, Van Gytenbeek’s creativity continued to flourish. She came off an Abraham ball screen, but failed to create ample separation, finding herself face-to-face with Ayson at the free-throw line. A between-the-legs dribble to a crossover freed the guard and gave Van Gytenbeek another left-hand layup. After a Yancy layup, Van Gytenbeek ended the quarter with another layup, this time blowing by Savannah Scott in drop coverage.

Van Gytenbeek’s six points on 3-of-3 shooting and three assists highlighted the third quarter, as she helped the Bears enter the final quarter with a 51-36 lead. Baylor also held UCF to 2-of-10 shooting, but eight free throws kept the Knights within striking distance.

UCF’s leading scorer on the season, Leah Harmon, looked to get the Knights back into the game with an and-one layup to open the fourth quarter, but Baylor quickly responded. Yuting Deng entered the scoring column with a corner 3-pointer, and Taliah Scott attacked a closeout before laying the ball off to Abraham for an easy layup. UCF called a timeout to regroup down 56-39.

After another Baylor stop, Abraham added another basket, this time a post hook from the Big 12 logo. Littlepage-Buggs added a free throw to give the Bears a 20-point lead. After two free throws from Ngodu, Littlepage-Buggs knocked down her second 3-pointer of the night, doubling her season total. She added a putback layup off a Deng miss to cap her night, as head coach Nicki Collen emptied the bench, giving Ella Brow, Kiera Pemberton and Ines Goryanova minutes with the game out of reach, with a score of 64-41.

UCF scored six straight points, but the game was in a comfortable position for Collen and company. Johnson continued her highly-efficient season from 3-point range, knocking down a left-wing 3-pointer, and Brow found Pemberton in transition, who drew a shooting foul and converted on both free throws to give Baylor a 69-47 lead.

Goryanova found her first points in the green and gold, rejecting a ball screen and getting downhill for an inside-hand scoop layup, and Nelms putback her own miss for the final touch on the game, with the Bears winning 73-48.

Baylor scored 22 fourth-quarter points while holding UCF without a made field goal for the final 4:21 of the game. Littlepage-Buggs’ six points led the hosts in the final quarter.

Baylor did not hurt itself in the 25-point win, looking like a top-15 team from start to finish. The Bears have done a much better job with their ball security following their loss to Texas Tech, a key reason Baylor is on a seven-game win streak. 

The Bears’ (18-3, 7-1) next game is against the Houston Cougars at 2 p.m. CT, Sunday, Jan. 25, at the Foster Pavilion. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.