Playing for the 'Ship: Lady Bears survive high-flying Ducks to advance

TAMPA BAY, Fla. - In search of a return trip of the National Championship game, Baylor’s dominant presence in the paint was just enough to outscore the high-flying attack by Oregon as the Lady Bears edged past the Ducks 72-67 in the Final Four on Friday evening. 

Oregon finished the game connecting on 12-of-32 three point baskets. Baylor didn’t make a shot from deep the entire game, missing each of their three attempts from deep.

It was Baylor’s 57.4 percent from inside the arc that was the difference in the contest. The Lady Bears connected on 31-of-54 of their shots from inside the perimeter in contrast to 13-of-36 by the Ducks.

Senior Kalani Brown and junior Lauren Cox, who scored 22 and 21 points, finished a combined 18-of-25 from two-point range in the game. Cox secured a double-double with 11 rebounds and also dished out 7 assists, collected 2 steals and blocked 3 shots. 

Baylor faced their biggest deficit of the tournament in the first quarter as the Ducks jumped out to an 11-4 lead just prior to a 15-4 run by the Lady Bears to close the first quarter. Oregon answered immediately to begin the second quarter to regain the lead, however, and the theme continued throughout contest. 

Led by three baskets by Juicy Landrum, Brown and Cox, Baylor extended the lead back out to five. Two three point makes, including a foul on the shot with 7.0 seconds remaining in the first half, was the answer by Oregon and gave the underdog a 34-33 lead at half. 

After the break, Baylor once again answered the push by the Ducks and took back momentum for a brief moment. A layup by Cox after an offensive rebound pushed the lead by the Lady Bears back out to five, but that was the final points scored by the Baylor for the next three minutes as Oregon put together a 5-0 run to tie the game back up. 

The two teams traded points and leads multiple times until consecutive baskets by Brown and Cox gave Baylor a 56-55 at the end of the third quarter. Cox’s basket came following an offensive rebound with less than 10 seconds in the quarter.  

The final quarter of play was more of the same as the teams were tied twice and traded the lead twice. It was senior guard Chloe Jackson’s layup with with 40 seconds remaining that gave Baylor a 69-67 lead that they would never relinquish. Jackson finished the game with 6 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. 

Cox and Brown connected on 3 of their 4 free throw attempts in the final 18 seconds to seal the game.  

Junior Didi Richards continued her solid postseason play for the Lady Bears, scoring 15 points with 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 rebound.