No. 12 Baylor WBB Falls to No. 17 TCU, 83-67, Relinquishes the Reigns of Big 12 Lead

WACO, Texas – No. 12 Baylor women’s basketball (21-5, 10-3) failed to limit the No. 17 TCU Horned Frogs (22-4, 10-3) from beyond the arc on Thursday night at Foster Pavilion, falling at home by a score of 83-67.

Guard Taliah Scott led the Bears with 22 points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals. The redshirt-sophomore shot 5-of-10 from the field, 3-of-7 from the 3-point line and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line.

Senior forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs scored 14 points and added two blocks in the defeat. Sixth-year point guard Jana Van Gytenbeek posted 14 points and six assists. She shot 4-of-7 from 3-point range.

TCU’s superior ability to create advantages and make shots downed the Bears. The two TCU stars, Olivia Miles and Marta Suarez, had no issue scoring against the Baylor defense. They hunted mismatches, and it led to 67 combined points on 46 field-goal attempts for the duo.

Miles opened the game’s scoring by attacking a switch against Kiersten Johnson for a smooth driving layup. After Bella Fontleroy was called for an illegal screen, Suarez backed down Littlepage-Buggs and finished for a 4-0 lead. After over two minutes of failing to score, Scott got up her first shot of the day, knocking down a contested 3-pointer after crossing over her defender.

The TCU star, Miles, responded to Scott with back-to-back triples, looking incredibly composed. With TCU up 10-3 and the game feeling one basket away from a timeout from Baylor, the Bears sparked a 9-0 run. Littlepage-Buggs pulled down a Miles misfire and took the ball coast-to-coast for two points. Scott penetrated on the next possession and kicked the ball out to Van Gytenbeek, who splashed an open corner 3-pointer. Van Gytenbeek found herself as the passer on the next Baylor basket, finding a wide-open Littlepage-Buggs for a layup. Littlepage-Buggs pulled down a rebound on the following possession and finished to cap the run and put Baylor up 12-10.

TCU responded with an 11-0 run of its own. Suarez found Donovyn Hunter for an open corner 3-pointer, correctly reading Baylor’s help defense. After turning the ball over on their next possession, the Horned Frogs’ Suarez gathered her own miss and scored on the putback attempt before the media timeout.

The game’s momentum stayed fully in TCU’s favor after the first-quarter break. Suarez found her target on a pull-up jumper at the free-throw line and then scored on a step-through layup to put the Horned Frogs up 19-12. Clara Bielefeld attacked a closeout to score at the end of the quarter and give TCU a 21-12 lead.

Littlepage-Buggs led the Bears with six points and three rebounds, and Miles and Suarez led the Horned Frogs with eight points apiece.

Baylor’s scoring drought continued into the second quarter. Van Gytenbeek smoked an open layup, and then the Bears resorted to chucking triples. Baylor missed its first three 3-pointers of the quarter, but its defense kept the Bears in the game. The Bears only surrendered one basket, a 2-pointer from Suarez, before Scott drained a deep off-the-dribble 3-pointer to cut the TCU lead to 23-15.

Miles responded with a deep mid-range jumper, but Littlepage-Buggs attacked a closeout for a layup to answer. However, Suarez continued to thrive. She stepped out beyond the arc for a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 28-17.

Scott was clearly in rhythm as she pulled up off a Littlepage-Buggs ball screen for an elbow jumper and found her mark. Kyla Abraham added a key sequence, blocking the 6-foot-7 Clara Silva before finishing on the block after a nifty feed from Van Gytenbeek. 

After a slow-step layup from Suarez gave her 15 first-half points, Scott looked to hunt points. She drew a foul on a 3-point attempt, and the 89.6% free-throw shooter converted on all three free-throw attempts. TCU’s Taylor Bigby answered by getting fouled and adding two points on the line to keep the TCU lead at 32-24.

Baylor continued to ride its hot hand, going back to Scott. Scott curled off a gut screen and took the ball to the rim for two points. After a defensive breakdown gave TCU’s Taliyah Parker the easiest layup of her career, TCU forgot to pick up the ball in the early half court, and Van Gytenbeek made the Horned Frogs pay with a pull-up 3-pointer. 

Baylor continued to be unable to build a run and take control of the game, as a turnover by Fontleroy led to a layup for Bigby. However, Scott ripped Bigby on the next TCU possession, and after sizing up her defender, she made a tough triple to continue her big half and cut the TCU lead to 36-32 entering halftime.

Scott led the Bears with 16 first-half points on 5-of-7 shooting. Suarez’s 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting led the way for the Horned Frogs. The rivals were very even in every statistical category, but TCU’s 8-3 points off turnovers advantage helped it hold a 4-point lead.

Miles immediately took control of the game in the third quarter. She splashed a triple to put TCU up 39-32. After a reverse layup from Johnson cut the lead to five, Baylor chose to go under with Miles as the ball screen handler, and she knocked down another 3-pointer. 

Fontleroy intercepted a pass and took the ball to the rim for two points, and Littlepage-Buggs attacked downhill for another two points to cut the lead to 42-38. A questionable call gave Suarez two free throws to stop the Baylor momentum, but Littlepage-Buggs added another two points.

Miles fully took over the game with TCU leading 44-40. She made Baylor pay for continuing to give her space in the ball screen, hitting another deep ball, before adding a jumper in the mid-range to continue her huge quarter. Miles added another 3-pointer against the sagging Baylor defense, and even after Baylor started to try to deny the triple, Miles found space for another 3-pointer. The Big 12 Player of the Year favorite added yet another triple over Abraham, before hitting a ridiculous side-step 3-pointer to end the quarter. 

Van Gytenbeek attempted to keep Baylor in the game throughout the third quarter, hitting two 3-pointers and adding two points at the free-throw line, but the 17-8 Miles run put TCU up 61-48 entering the final quarter. 

Miles scored 23 of the 25 third-quarter Horned Frog points, including the final 17 of the quarter for TCU, on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. Baylor made the mistake of letting the star get in rhythm and experienced the consequences.

Fontleroy opened the fourth quarter with an and-one layup, but failed to hit the free throw. However, the senior wing blocked Miles and impacted her 0-of-2 start to the final quarter. Fontleroy was late on a close-out on Suarez, and the forward made her pay with a 3-pointer.

Suarez stared down Fontleroy after the make and was assessed a technical foul. Scott connected on both free throws to cut the lead to 12, but Suarez drew a foul on Marcayla Johnson on the next TCU possession for two free throws in response. 

Scott willed herself to the free-throw line for two points, but the inability to hit key triples in the fourth quarter sucked the life out of the Foster Pavilion. Fontleroy missed a couple of attempts, Scott missed on a pull-up 3-pointer, and Yuting Deng missed a wide-open attempt from the corner.

Any hopes of coming back were extinguished by a 9-0 run by the Horned Frogs to open up a 21-point lead with a score of 75-54. Hunter knocked down a triple, Miles hit a wing triple as the shot clock expired, and Suarez found her target on a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer after a Miles steal and pass.

The rest of the game was simply for show. Both coaches turned to their benches as the game progressed, and TCU coasted to the 83-67 final score.

The Baylor 3-point defense, which entered the game as the best in the country, looked far from its usual self. TCU’s 15 made threes and 51.7% 3-point percentage are both the worst marks allowed by the Baylor defense this year. TCU’s superior shot-making ability was on full display, as outside of Baylor’s three leading scorers, Baylor scored just 17 points.

The Bears’ (21-4, 10-2) next game is against the UCF Knights at 1 p.m. CT, Sunday, Feb. 15, at the Addition Financial Arena. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.