No. 14 Baylor Women’s Basketball Fights Through Subpar Second Half, Downs Houston 82-66

WACO, Texas – No. 14 Baylor women’s basketball (19-3, 8-1) defeated the Houston Cougars (6-14, 0-9) by a score of 82-66, moving its win streak to eight and completing a 7-0 record in January.

Forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs scored 25 points, pulled down eight rebounds and dished out three assists. The senior shot 10-of-11 from the field in the win.

Wing Bella Fontleroy scored 17 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 shooting from deep. She also totaled 12 rebounds, with five coming on the offensive end.

Forward Kyla Abraham scored 10 points and amassed eight rebounds. She shot 5-of-7 from the field.

Despite struggling with ball security, totaling 19 turnovers, Baylor shot 31-59 from the field and found success in the paint and from beyond the 3-point line throughout the game. The Bears also posted 15 offensive rebounds and turned Houston over 16 times. 

Jana Van Gytenbeek found Kiersten Johnson and Littlepage-Buggs on slips on back-to-back possessions to open the game with a 4-0 lead, before Houston guard Briana Peguero answered with a mid-range jumper. Littlepage-Buggs responded immediately with another two points in the paint on another dish from Van Gytenbeek, giving the sixth-year point guard three early assists. The Colorado native got into the scoring column on the next trip down the floor, getting an assist from Littlepage-Buggs on a left-wing 3-pointer. 

The veteran duo’s chemistry was on full display early, as a Van Gytenbeek threaded the needle to Littlepage-Buggs for another two points before the media timeout. Houston forward Amirah Abdur-Rahim hit two mid-range jumpers, and Kyndall Hunter hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 11-9 entering the media timeout.

After the in-state opponents traded empty trips, Littlepage-Buggs slipped on another ball screen, and Marcayla Johnson found her for another layup. Fontleroy started her day by getting to the line for two free throws before finding a soft spot in Houston’s zone for a wing 3-pointer.

After the 7-0 Baylor run, a Van Gytenbeek turnover led to a layup for Jorynn Ross to end the first quarter with the Bears leading 18-11.

Littlepage-Buggs’ strong first quarter culminated in eight points and two assists on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. Van Gytenbeek added three points and four assists. The Bears' only blemish of the opening ten minutes was their five turnovers.

An Abraham block opened the second quarter, and after the first 1:34 yielded no points, an Abraham offensive rebound and putback layup through contact opened the scoring. Houston’s Kierra Merchant responded with two points.

After missing her first two shots of the quarter, Fontleroy drove a closeout and blew by her defender, finishing with an easy layup. She attacked another closeout on the following possession, collapsed the defense and found Taliah Scott for her first points of the night, a corner triple. The quick 5-0 run cued a timeout from the visiting Cougars, with Baylor leading 25-13.

Fontleroy’s impact on the game remained present after the media timeout. The senior forward put back a missed layup from Ines Goryanova for an easy two points.

Each team traded multiple possessions without getting a shot off before Van Gytenbeek got downhill and dropped the ball off to Kayla Nelms for a layup. Merchant responded for the Cougars with a basket in the paint. Van Gytenbeek’s passing excellence continued to be on display, finding Littlepage-Buggs under the basket for two points in the early halfcourt. The point guard notably turned around to the Baylor bench before the ball found the net, pulling the celebration out of Stephen Curry’s arsenal.

Shun’teria Anumele got to the free-throw line and added two Houston points, but no Cougar could stop the Littlepage-Buggs show. She cut from the slot, and Kiersten Johnson laid the ball off to her for an easy two points. On the following Baylor possession, head coach Nicki Collen and company went back to the same action. Littlepage-Buggs’ gravity pulled the Houston attention and the right corner defender of the Houston 2-3 zone defense to her, and Johnson made the correct read. She found Scott, freed by the Littlepage-Buggs cut, for a wide-open 3-pointer, which found its mark.

The Scott triple put the Bears up 36-19 entering the halftime break. Littlepage-Buggs scored a half-high 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and Fontleroy scored nine points on 3-of-5 shooting. Baylor shot 15-of-29 from the field and 4-of-9 from 3-point range. The Bears notably had 12 assists on the 15 made field goals. The elite defense of Baylor took a few minutes to warm up, but it limited Houston to 8-of-27 shooting from the field in the first half.

A Van Gytenbeek drive collapsed the Houston defense, and after good ball movement, Fontleroy found herself alone for a corner triple, opening the third quarter scoring. Van Gytenbeek came off a chin screen on the next possession for a layup.

Houston looked to stay competitive, finding four consecutive points. However, the Cougars could not stop the Baylor offense. Van Gytenbeek found Johnson running the floor in the early halfcourt for another layup.

Houston’s leading scorer, TK Pitts, found her first points of the evening at the free-throw line after drawing a foul on Littlepage-Buggs. Littlepage-Buggs responded with a second-chance layup, but Peguero splashed a 3-pointer to cut the Baylor lead to 45-28 entering the third-quarter media timeout.

Baylor’s offense was sloppy following the media timeout, turning the ball over on consecutive trips. Hunter made the Bears pay on the second turnover, coming off a pin down for three points. 

The Bears, mainly Littlepage-Buggs, continued to find success slipping against Houston’s man-to-man defense, finding back-to-back layups, the latter one through a foul. The forward converted the free throw before coming driving on her next touch for another hoop and harm. The successive and-one layups put the senior at 22 points and gave Baylor a 53-35 lead.

Scott joined her teammate in the and-one party, adding three more points on the next offensive trip, before finding Abraham on a roll for another two points. While Houston nearly matched Baylor’s offensive output in the third quarter, the Cougars were unable to cut into the Bears’ lead.

The two Baylor stars continued to lead the offensive onslaught. Littlepage-Buggs drew a foul on an offensive rebound and knocked down the pair of free throws, and Scott finished a tough eurostep layup to give the Bears 62 points at the end of the third quarter. However, a triple from Hunter and a putback from Abdur-Rahim gave the visiting Cougars 25 third-quarter points and 44 total points entering the final period.

Littlepage-Buggs failed to miss a shot, both from the field and the free-throw line, on her way to 12 third-quarter points. Baylor snagged seven offensive rebounds in the quarter, led by three from Fontleroy. Hunter’s eight points led Houston.

Abdur-Rahim continued her strong game by knocking down a 3-pointer to open the last quarter. Hunter joined Abdur-Rahim in adding to her strong night, hitting a triple of her own.

However, Van Gytenbeek continued to find success driving downhill. She drew two defenders and found Deng in the corner. Deng swung the ball to Fontleroy, who calmly knocked down a left-wing 3-pointer. While plays like these won’t show up in the box score, Van Gytenbeek’s ability to collapse the Houston defense was impressive in the win. She ended the game with eight points and seven assists, but did turn the ball over six times.

Houston went on a 5-0 run, with all five points coming from the free-throw line, before Scott stopped the run with two free throws of her own. Houston’s offense was brewing with confidence, though, as they went on a 5-1 run to cut the Baylor lead to eight, with a score of 68-60.

Van Gytenbeek found a driving lane and two points to extend the lead back to double digits, but Hunter responded with a basket of her own. After Littlepage-Buggs added a free throw, Peguero converted a layup to cut the lead to just seven, with Baylor leading 71-64. 

Goryanova subbed in for Van Gytenbeek and immediately fueled four Baylor points. She found Abraham for a basket, then scored on an inside-hand scoop layup to extend the Baylor lead to 75-64. On the following Houston offensive possession, Goryanova intercepted a Hunter pass, further contributing key minutes.

After a media timeout, Fontleroy was able to draw a foul and converted on both free throws. Baylor was able to stop Houston from scoring, and Goryanova continued to look surgical operating the Baylor offense. She found a lane to get downhill before laying it off to Abraham for two points. Abraham added a putback in the paint for another two points, pushing the Baylor lead to 81-64.

A Scott isolation led to a Hunter foul, and gave Scott another point at the free-throw line. She ended the night with 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting.The free throw also capped an 11-0 run and gave the Bears an 82-64 lead. Two free throws from Peguero closed the game with Baylor winning, 82-66.

Despite losing the fourth quarter 22-20, the Bears did enough to close the game. Abraham’s six points and four rebounds propelled Baylor to the finish line.

While Baylor won semi-comfortably, allowing Houston to shoot 53.6% from the field and 41.7% from 3-point range in the second half is bound to lead to a couple of tough practices before the Bears play a top-25 opponent on the road in their next game.

A bright spot, on the other hand, was the play of Goryanova. She finished with just two points and two assists on 1-of-2 shooting, but she looked poised as the leader of the Bears’ offense in the final stretch of the fourth quarter. With Van Gytenbeek playing her final season, Goryanova made a pitch for a notable on-ball guard role for the upcoming season.

The Bears’ (19-3, 8-1) next game is against the West Virginia Mountaineers at 12 p.m. CT, Sunday, Feb. 1, at the WVU Coliseum. The game will be streamed on ESPN.