No. 15 Baylor WBB Overcomes Rough First Quarter, Defeats Arizona 74-60

WACO, Texas – No. 15 Baylor women’s basketball (23-6, 12-4) found itself down 22-12 in the first quarter to the Arizona Wildcats (11-16, 2-14), but came to life in the second quarter, using a 23-8 advantage to open up the game and get back in the win column with a 74-60 victory.

Redshirt-sophomore Taliah Scott scored 22 points, dished out four assists and totaled two steals. The star guard did not miss from the free-throw line on 11 attempts.

Freshman Marcayla Johnson had her best performance as a Bear. She scored a conference-play high 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field.

Senior forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs amassed 10 points and 8 rebounds on 5-of-9 shooting from the field.

Baylor’s superior length and athleticism were apparent in the win. Once Baylor cleaned up its sloppy first-quarter play, the result was never in doubt.

Littlepage-Buggs opened the game’s scoring with a layup, following unselfish ball movement from the Bears. Daniah Trammell matched Littlepage-Buggs by drawing a shooting foul and converting on both free throws. Baylor was moving the ball well early, though. Kiersten Johnson put the Bears back in front, scoring on a reverse layup after slipping a screen. After a layup from Mireia Jurado, Jana Van Gytenbeek found Littlepage-Buggs for another layup, giving her three assists in as many possessions.

Baylor’s turnover plague struck, racking up three turnovers in the following two minutes. Arizona took advantage of the cold Baylor offense with Francois Nora scoring on a layup and Noelani Cornfield finding her target on a jumper at the free-throw line. Another basket from Cornfield extended the Arizona lead to 10-6 entering the media timeout.

Head coach Nicki Collen inserted Yuting Deng and Marcayla Johnson into the game following the break, and both made immediate impacts. Johnson’s defensive intensity forced a turnover, and Deng curled a pin down for a mid-range jumper. Johnson added a mid-range jumper on the next Baylor possession, and Deng added a layup two possessions later. However, the Wildcats scored five points over that span, with Cornfield hitting two free throws and Molly Ladwig finding her range from the corner. Three free throws from Tanyuel Welch and two free throws from Blessing Adebanjo put the visitors up 20-12.

All of the momentum continued to be in Arizona’s favor. Scott got ripped, and it led to an easy transition finish for Ladwig. Johnson drove and drew a foul, adding a point on her first free throw with under five seconds remaining in the first quarter. Her second attempt rolled out, but Kayla Nelms gathered the miss and found Johnson under the basket for a buzzer-beating layup. Baylor entered the second quarter down 22-15.

After a scoreless first quarter, Scott hunted for points. She beat her defender off the dribble before finishing through contact. The Baylor offense started to flow, with Kayla Nelms finding a cutting Johnson for a layup. Kyla Abraham added a driving layup of her own, cutting the Arizona lead down to 24-21.

A floater from Sumayah Sugapong extended the lead to five, but Kiersten Johnson immediately responded with a slip and layup for two points. Scott drew a foul and hit both free throws to close the Arizona lead to a single point before the second-quarter media timeout.

Deng gave the Bears their first lead of the second quarter. Deng blocked Sugapong on a fastbreak layup and then knocked down a catch-and-shoot triple off a Scott pass to give the Bears a 28-26 lead. Scott joined the party after Adebanjo evened the game, splashing a corner 3-pointer after a drive-and-kick from Littlepage-Buggs. Scott drew a 3-point foul on the next possession and converted on all three attempts to give Baylor a 34-28 lead.

Trammell scored inside to cut into the Baylor lead, but Marcayla Johnson drained her first 3-pointer of conference play to put Baylor up 38-30 entering the halftime break. She caught the ball in the corner from a driving Fontleroy and lifted into her motion with confidence for three points.

Johnson scored 10 points in the first half, converting on 4-of-6 field-goal attempts. Scott matched her freshman teammate with 10 points. Baylor holding the opposing Wildcats to 4-of-17 shooting allowed the Bears to take an eight-point lead entering the break.

A flagrant foul on Jurado gave Scott two points at the free-throw line to open the half and give the Bears a double-digit lead. Trammell split a pair of free throws to cut the lead to nine, but a Fontleroy drop-step layup pushed the Baylor lead back to 11. A mid-range from Littlepage-Buggs further extended the differential and put the Bears up 44-31.

Scott found her way downhill off a ball screen and, after drawing two Wildcat defenders, sprayed the ball out to Van Gytenbeek. The sixth-year point guard’s 3-pointer jumper was true, pushing Baylor’s lead to 15. After Adebanjo scored for Arizona, Van Gytenbeek found herself open for a top-of-the-key 3-pointer and converted on another jumper from distance to give the Bears a 50-34 lead.

The Bears’ offense continued to be in a groove. Abraham found Fontleroy on a HiLo for a layup, and the senior forward made an impact on the other end, drawing a charge. After a turnover led to an Arizona layup, Johnson added her fifth basket of the day on another smart cut. A Trammel layup made the score 54-38 entering the media timeout.

Abraham was assessed a flagrant 1 following a display of frustration after an offensive foul, which gave Cornfield a point at the line. Arizona scored two more points at the line to cap a 5-0 run before Scott answered by drawing a foul in transition and converting on both free throws. Welch responded with two points, but Kiersten Johnson found Fontleroy for two points to end the third quarter with the Bears up 58-43.

Ladwig scored on a tough take inside to open the fourth quarter, and Cornfield added to her teammate’s bucket with two points herself. Adebanjo sealed off Scott for a third consecutive Wildcat made field goal, cutting the margin to single digits and adding intrigue to the matchup. Johnson stopped the 6-0 run with a putback layup, but a deep mid-range from Welch kept the pressure on the Bears.

Van Gytenbeek found Littlepage-Buggs on the block for a post touch, and the forward bodied her defender for two points. Cornfield answered with a mid-range over Van Gytenbeek, but Cornfield celebrated by pretending to shoot Van Gytenbeek, and the celebration drew a technical foul, swinging all momentum back to Baylor.

Scott sank both technical free throws, but the Bears failed to extend their lead on the ensuing possession as Van Gytenbeek threw the ball out of bounds. Sugapong knocked down a mid-range to cut the Baylor lead back to single digits, by a score of 64-55.

With the Bears needing a basket to add more comfort to their lead, Abraham had the ball on the block with the shot clock trickling down. She found Scott at the top-of-the-key, and the Baylor star launched a 3-pointer that was true. However, the Wildcats continued to hang around, as Sugapong scored on a 3-point attempt to make the score 67-58.

Van Gytenbeek found Littlepage-Buggs alone on the block for a layup to give Baylor a 69-58 lead. Francois was unable to respond, missing a 3-pointer, giving Baylor the chance for a dagger. Scott came off an Abraham off-ball screen, open from beyond the arc, and hit the game-icing triple. With the result decided, Collen turned to her deep bench, putting Ines Goryanova, Kiera Pemberton and Ella Brow into the game.

The Baylor bench notably had a strong influence on the win. Abraham secured four rebounds and blocked two shots, Deng added eight points off the bench while the Bears were struggling to score, and Marcayla Johnson flashed the upside she has shown all year, notably playing her smartest game on the offensive end this season.

The Bears’ (23-6, 12-4) next game is against the Kansas State Wildcats at 6:00 p.m. CT, Monday, Feb. 23, at the Foster Pavilion. The game will be streamed on ESPN2.