No. 20 Baylor Women Bow Out of Big 12 Tournament with Quarterfinal loss to Colorado, 62-53

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – No. 3-seed Baylor women’s basketball (24-8) fell in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament to No.6-seed Colorado (22-10) by a score of 62-53 on Friday night at the T-Mobile Center.

Guard Taliah Scott (RSo.) led the Bears with 14 points, but struggled mightily with efficiency, shooting 5-of-21 from the field. Forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs (Sr.) chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Bears turned the ball over 14 times and shot a brutal 31% (19-62)  from the field, 14% (3-21) from beyond the arc and 57% (12-21) from the free-throw line in the defeat. Baylor out-rebounded the Buffaloes, 37-to-33.

Head coach Nicki Collen’s squad started slow and trailed 25-10 at the first quarter, en route to a 37-25 halftime deficit.

Despite the sluggish performance, the Bears got a boost from backup guard Ella Brow (RJr.) and took back all of the momentum, as they cut Colorado’s lead to 54-47.

With a chance to make it a five-point game, forward Kayla Nelms (So.) missed both free throws, and the Buffaloes went down and made back-to-back baskets to put the game too out of reach.

The No. 20 Bears (24-9) will now return to Waco and await their seeding in the NCAA Tournament, where they almost assuredly won’t earn a hosting bid for the first-weekend.