No. 15 Baylor WBB Trounced by No. 20 Texas Tech, Hopes of Winning Big 12 Title Fading

LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 15 Baylor women’s basketball (22-6, 11-4) found itself in an early hole and failed to threaten the lead of the No. 20 Texas Tech Lady Raiders (24-4, 11-4), dropping a key game on the road by a score of 87-56. 

Despite the loss, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs had a strong performance, scoring 13 points and securing 3 rebounds. Littlepage-Buggs shot 6-of-9 from the field.

Redshirt-sophomore Taliah Scott scored 13 points. However, the star guard was limited to just 2-of-13 shooting from the floor.

The Texas Tech ball pressure bothered the Bears. Baylor committed 21 turnovers and was limited to 20-of-55 shooting. 13 offensive rebounds were a strong mark for the Bears, but did not hide the other issues in the performance.

Texas Tech jumped out to a lead early, with Sarengbe Sanogo putting Texas Tech up 2-0 to start the game. Gemma Nunez added another layup for the Lady Raiders, and after a layup from Littlepage-Buggs got the Bears on the board following a pass from Jana Van Gytenbeek, a triple from Texas Tech’s Bailey Maupin put Texas Tech up 7-2.

Scott looked to answer, but failed to make two triples on the ensuing possession. After over a minute of scoreless basketball, Sanogo tipped in a Nunez miss to extend the lead to 9-2.

Littlepage-Buggs was the only bright spot for the Bears early. She scored on a backdoor cut, as Kiersten Johnson found the forward for an easy layup. A 3-pointer from Nunez kept the Lady Raiders at a comfortable distance early, before Littlepage-Buggs added another layup on a drive.

The first non-Littlepage-Buggs points of the game for Baylor came with 4:34 left in the first quarter, with Scott knocking down two free throws. The first non-Littlepage-Buggs field goal of the game for Baylor came just over a minute later, with Kyla Abraham scoring after a pass from Scott. 

Snudda Collins scored eight straight Lady Raiders points to keep Texas Tech up 20-12. Van Gytenbeek made a jumper over that span. A layup from Nunez pushed the hosts' lead to 10 points. A Scott triple ended the quarter with the Bears down 22-15.

The Texas Tech momentum continued into the second quarter. Similar to the first quarter, Sanogo opened the second quarter’s scoring with a layup, and Maupin converted from long distance to give the Lady Raiders a 27-15 lead.

Again, similar to the first, Littlepage-Buggs responded, but another Maupin triple extended the lead to 30-17 and forced a timeout from Baylor head coach Nicki Collen.

Nunez stole the ball from Van Gytenbeek and finished an easy layup following the timeout. Yuting Deng found her distance from 3-point range, but Maupin responded from deep following a Van Gytenbeek turnover. Scott added a triple, but former Baylor Bear Denae Fritz finished a layup to give Texas Tech a 37-23 lead.

A 4-0 Texas Tech run, in which the Bears turned the ball over multiple times, further pushed the lead to 41-23, and after a lone free-throw make from Bella Fontleroy, a Collins 3-pointer put Texas Tech up 44-24.

Littlepage-Buggs added four points entering halftime, but Texas Tech responded with four points to match, putting the Bears in a 20-point hole by a score of 48-28.

Littlepage-Buggs’ 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting were the lone strong first-half performance for Baylor. Collins and Maupin combined for 29 points for Texas Tech.

After two free throws for the Lady Raiders, Baylor showed life for the first time in the game. Down 22, the Bears sparked a 7-0 run. Baylor followed that run up by responding to two Collins free throws, courtesy of a Kiersten Johnson tip-in, and after Nunez split a pair of free throws, the Bears were in position to strike further.

However, the momentum stopped. Any flashbacks of the Bears’ comeback in Stillwater, Oklahoma, began to fade, as four Baylor turnovers in under two minutes stopped all offensive momentum. Texas Tech seized the opportunity to reopen the game, going on a 15-7 run in the final 5:36 of the quarter to enter the fourth quarter up 67-44, with all momentum on its side.

Baylor shot just 4-of-15 from the field and 0-of-4 from downtown in the third quarter. A transition miss from Deng took the life out of the Baylor comeback bid.

The fourth quarter simply echoed the first three quarters. Baylor turned to a press, attempting to turn Texas Tech over, but failed to generate a notable amount of turnovers. A 16-2 run in the middle of the quarter opened the Texas Tech lead to 35, by a score of 87-52, before both coaches emptied their respective benches.

While the offensive struggles were not surprising, as Baylor has lacked ball security and the ability to generate consistent open offensive looks against heavy ball pressure teams, the defense was subpar. Texas Tech shot 55.7% from the field and 38.1% from 3-point range against a Baylor team that entered the game as the fourth-best shot defense nationally. This high field-goal percentage was due to the amount of straight-line drives the Baylor defense surrendered. With the loss, Baylor is unlikely to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament at Foster Pavilion.

The Bears’ (22-6, 11-4) next game is against the Arizona Wildcats at 7 p.m. CT, Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Foster Pavilion. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.