No. 15 Baylor Women’s Basketball Squeaks Past Arizona State in Nail-Biting Win

WACO, Texas – No. 15 Baylor women’s basketball (21-4, 10-2) used its elite shot defense to inch past the pesky Arizona State Sun Devils (19-6, 6-6) in front of a noisy home atmosphere, 67-64, on Saturday night at Foster Pavilion.

Guard Taliah Scott led the Bears with 17 points and three assists. She was 7-of-7 at the free-throw line.

Forward Kayla Nelms came up huge in the win. The sophomore came off the bench and scored 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 shooting at the free-throw line. Nelms also added four rebounds.

Veteran point guard Jana Van Gytenbeek built off her huge performance against Cincinnati, scoring 13 points and dishing out five assists. Van Gytenbeek also added two steals.

While Baylor attempted 16 fewer field goal attempts, they used the free-throw line to score 25 points in a physical affair. The Bears’ resilience was on full display as they fought through multiple Sun Devil runs and a whistle that prevented either team from establishing offensive flow.

Darianna Littlepage-Buggs faked a dribble handoff to Van Gytenbeek and finished a tough layup to open the game, before Arizona State’s Gabby Elliott responded with a mid-range jumper to even the scoring at two points. Last-Tear Poa gave the Sun Devils the lead with a driving layup past Scott.

Poa looked to score on Scott again, but was called for an offensive foul, extending her arm into Scott. Baylor took advantage of the Sun Devil turnover, with Van Gytenbeek hitting a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer to end a 3:24 scoring drought. Van Gytenbeek found Kiersten Johnson on a slip on the following possession for two more points and a 7-4 Bears lead. After another Baylor stop, Bella Fontleroy drove a closeout off a pass from Van Gytenbeek and drew a shooting foul entering the first quarter media timeout.

Fontleroy converted on both free throws, giving Baylor a 7-0 run. Arizona State’s McKinna Brackens drew a foul and hit both of her free throws to stop the Baylor run, but the Bears continued to pour it on early. A Scott pump fake put her defender airborne, and she calmly took a dribble inside the 3-point line and found the net on a one-dribble pull-up mid-range jumper in the left corner.

With the Bears up 11-6, Marcayla Johnson joined the party. She came off a dribble handoff from Littlepage-Buggs and rose for an elbow jumper that found the bottom of the net. However, Arizona State’s leading scorer Elliott had an answer, hitting a contested 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down.

Scott found Littlepage-Buggs after a horns set, and the veteran forward continued to be aggressive. She drove to the left block and scored on a tough left-hand layup, the final points of the opening quarter.

Littlepage-Buggs’ four points and five rebounds led the Bears to a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. Elliott led the visiting Sun Devils with five points.

After a scoreless first minute of the second quarter from both teams, Elliott continued to lead her Sun Devils. She went on a 4-0 run to cut the Baylor lead to two points, and Baylor’s offense failed to respond for almost the opening four minutes of the quarter. 

The Sun Devils’ identity is their ability to force turnovers, but the way Baylor was scoring, one could assume it is their shot defense. Kayla Nelms scored the first Baylor basket of the second quarter at 6:02 left in the quarter. 

Martina Fantini responded with a rebound and putback for the Sun Devils, before Fontleroy drove from the corner and converted a layup of her own. Arizona State went right back to Fantini on the next possession, and she added another two points. Nelms continued to have an impact offensively, finishing through contact for her second basket of the quarter and giving Baylor a 21-17 lead entering the second-quarter media timeout.

An Elliott free throw continued to chip at the Baylor lead, but Van Gytenbeek’s effort continued to keep the Bears in front. She missed a layup, but stayed in the play and stole the ball after the Arizona State rebound. Baylor set up a zoom action option, but Scott rejected the zoom. Scott’s baseline cut brought both her defender and Van Gytenbeek’s defender, who was the pin-down screener in the zoom action. With Van Gytenbeek freed, Littlepage-Buggs found her for an open wing 3-pointer, and she splashed the 3-pointer, leading to a crowd pop from the Baylor fans at Foster Pavilion.

Fantini continued her strong quarter for the Sun Devils, responding with another basket in the paint, and Brickens hit a mid-range jumper to cut the Bears’ lead to just two points. Nelms and Arizona State’s Jyah Lovett both split their trips to the free-throw line, and Nelms split a second pair of free throws to give Baylor a 26-23 lead. Brickens joined in on the split-free-throw fun and pushed the Sun Devils back within two points before Lovett finished a tough scoop layup to tie the game at 26.

Scott, looking to give the Bears the lead entering half, pulled up from deep and drew what feels like her every-game trip to the free-throw line off of a 3-point jumper. Scott scored on all three free throws to give Baylor a 29-26 lead entering halftime.

The two defensive-minded teams were pretty similar shooting the ball in the first half, with Baylor’s 10-of-27 slightly eclipsing the 10-of-29 mark from the Sun Devils. Baylor limited itself to a wildly impressive four turnovers, preventing Arizona State from using its strength. However, the Bears, a better rebounding team, allowed nine offensive rebounds while only pulling down three. 

Nelms and Van Gytenbeek’s six points led Baylor in the scoring department, and Littlepage-Buggs seven rebounds led the way in the rebounding department. Scott contributed five points and a half-high three assists. Elliott’s 10 points and Fantini’s six points kept Arizona State right with the Bears.

After great ball security in the first half, the Bears turned the ball over to start the second half. Arizona State took advantage, as Poa got downhill and finished a layup. However, a team can only keep Scott in control for so long. She ducked behind a ball screen and found her distance on a deep triple over Elliott. Elliott responded with a basket of her own, cutting the lead to 32-30 in the Bears’ favor.

The Scott triple gave life to the Baylor offense. After the Elliott basket, Kiersten Johnson took off, and Van Gytenbeek launched the pass ahead for a quick response. Baylor stopped the Sun Devils on the next trip and used the miss to run again. Van Gytenbeek flowed into a Johnson ball screen and found her on the roll for two more points. A Johnson block launched another fast break, with Van Gytenbeek finding Littlepage-Buggs for two more points. The senior forward ended the game with six points and 12 rebounds. The quick 6-0 run cued a timeout from Arizona State head coach Molly Miller and added to the excitement of the Foster faithful.

Miller assigned Poa the task of pressing Van Gytenbeek to prevent Baylor’s run-outs, and it successfully forced Baylor into a half-court possession. Brickens was able to stop the Baylor run with two points, but Fontleroy drove and drew a foul. The veteran Bear split her free throws to give Baylor a 39-32 lead.

After a few empty possessions, Scott jumped a passing lane and drove to contact, adding two points at the free-throw line. Marley Washenitz scored on a reverse layup to respond, and Elliott drew a foul following a sloppy inbound from Johnson.

Lovett scored two points at the free-throw line following the timeout to cut the Bears’ lead to 41-36, but Scott continued to help the Bears maintain the advantage, finding a cutting Kyla Abraham for a layup and her first two points of the game. 

Lovett responded with a driving layup, in which she extended her arm into Scott. Scott tried to sell the contact, which should have been an offensive foul, but the referee called a flopping technical on the Baylor star. Two Elliott free throws, in addition to another Lovett driving layup, cut the Baylor lead to just one, with a score of 43-42.

Lovett stole the ball from Scott on the next Bears’ possession, and Scott fouled her on the fast break. Her two free throws gave Arizona State its first lead since 4-2, and capped an 8-0 Sun Devil run in just 29 seconds to put the visiting team up 44-43.

Scott drew a foul on Lovett on the following trip, and her trip to the line gave Baylor the lead back. Lovett missed a 3-pointer on the next Arizona State possession, ending the back-and-forth between her and Scott, and Van Gytenbeek drew a foul on the rebound. She added two points of her own.

Elliott attacked downhill and scored through contact from Marcayla Johnson, earning her a trip to the line for an extra point. She converted on her free throw to make the score 47-all. Nelms added two more free throws, and Elliott split another pair to put a temporary end to the free-throw fest before Johnson drew a foul driving and scored two more points at the line.

With the Baylor fans trying to find a play to get them back into the equation, Van Gytenbeek delivered. With a score of 51-48 in the Bears’ favor, the sixth-year guard played great gap defense and generated a steal, and took it coast to coast, finishing a tough layup. Foster erupted, the loudest crowd pop it has experienced for a women’s basketball game this season. That crowd pop was rivaled just a possession later. Amaya Williams drew a foul, but went 0-for-2 at the free-throw line, giving the Baylor family free cupcakes and the crowd a celebration.

Scott scored seven points to lead the hosts in the third quarter. While the Bears scored 24 points in the quarter, neither team had much of a flow, as 23 combined free throws continued to cause stoppages in the game.

Arizona State opened the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run, with Elliott scoring on a cut and Lovett cashing in from downtown. The quick run tied the game at 53.

With the game tied, everyone knew who the Bears would look to for points. Scott ducked behind a Littlepage-Buggs’ ball screen for a deep 3-pointer, and the Baylor leading scorer found the go-ahead basket and the lead. Scott looked to hit her second-straight 3-pointer from the left wing, but misfired. However, Nelms gathered the miss and put the ball back in the basket for a five-point Baylor lead. 

Arizona State answered with a 5-0 run of its own. Elliott knocked down a triple from the right corner, and a careless pass from Littlepage-Buggs gave Arizona State a run-out layup.

Nelms continued to provide key minutes for Baylor. Van Gytenbeek was able to get downhill but could not convert. The sophomore forward secured the miss and drew a foul. Her two free throws put Baylor back in front, with a 60-58 lead.

After a handful of missed shots from both teams, Baylor head coach Nicki Collen called a timeout with 3:00 remaining. Collen went to none other than Scott, and the guard came off a stagger before finishing a left-hand layup for a 62-58 lead.

Another stop gave Baylor the chance to put the dagger in Arizona State. However, in Baylor fashion, a careless pass from Fontleroy led to a run-out layup for the Sun Devils. Van Gytenbeek drew a foul and split a pair of free throws, but Lovett cashed a mid-range jumper to make the score 63-62 in Baylor’s favor.

Fontleroy missed an off-dribble 3-pointer with the chance to seal the game, and after an Arizona State player went down with cramps, the Sun Devils were set to inbound the ball from the sideline with 41.8 seconds remaining.

With Foster on its feet, Abraham forced a tough step-back mid-range jumper from Deborah Davenport. The shot missed everything, falling well short of the rim. Fontleroy gathered the rebound and quickly found Scott. The Sun Devils were able to foul off-ball on Abraham, however, putting the 52.6% free-throw shooter at the line. Abraham calmly knocked down the first free throw, and followed that make up by hitting the second free throw. The pair of makes gave Baylor a 65-62 lead.

Arizona State chose not to attack Baylor’s 3-point defense with its subpar 3-point shooting and elected for an Elliott mid-range jumper. She knocked down a tough shot, and after a Baylor timeout, Fontleroy had a sideline inbound with Baylor up 65-64.

Fontleroy did not even get a chance to inbound the ball, as Van Gytenbeek was run over. The point guard, despite missing a free throw earlier in the quarter, stepped to the line unshaken and pushed the lead back to three points by a score of 67-64 with 14.3 seconds remaining.

Brackens fell driving to the rim, and Miller burned her final timeout with just 6.3 seconds remaining. Fontleroy tipped the baseline inbound, giving Arizona State a sideline inbound from near midcourt with just 3.4 seconds remaining. Elliott’s pass found the Baylor band, giving the Bears an inbound opportunity to seal the game. Fontleroy successfully found Van Gytenbeek to run out the remaining time and give the Bears a win.

Outside of the third quarter, Baylor’s ball security was impressive against a team known for forcing turnovers. Furthermore, a lot of Baylor’s turnovers were self-inflicted, which are easier to clean up. I have already spoken to the team’s resiliency throughout the game, but I also want to credit the Foster Pavilion atmosphere. This game was the best atmosphere the women’s basketball team has experienced this year, and I have a strong feeling it will be eclipsed on Thursday.

The Bears’ (21-4, 10-2) next game is against the No. 14 TCU Horned Frogs (21-3, 9-2) at 6 p.m. CT, Thursday, Feb. 12, at the Foster Pavilion. The game will be televised on ESPN.