TAMPA, Fla. — The Baylor Lady Bears outlasted the Oregon Ducks 72-67 in Tampa to advance to the Women’s Basketball National Championship.
This was the Lady Bears’ first appearance in the Final Four since their National Championship title in 2012 and the Ducks’ first time. Kim Mulkey has led her team eight times in the last decade to the Elite Eight, but the Lady Bears have struggled to recreate the magic of the 2012 team. After failing to reach the Elite Eight , this Lady Bears team has lived up to the hype and brought the Bears within a game of winning the title for the third time since 2005.
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Lauren Cox was three assists shy of a triple-double on Friday.
From the very start the Lady Bears knew the battle would be a challenge as they faced one of the more high powered offenses in the country, not to mention the Ducks had one of the best players in the country in Sabrina Ionescu on their side. It was going to take a dominant defensive performance and an efficient offense from the Lady Bears if they wanted to make it back to the title game.
Down 64-61 with just six minutes remaining, the Lady Bears locked down on defense and only let the Ducks score thre points the rest of the way. The Lady Bears specifically held Ionescu in check as the start had zero points in the fourth quarter, preventing any sort of heroic act from the Oregon star.
The Lady Bears needed their sensational frontcourt of Kalani Brown and Lauren Cox to step up and they did just that. Cox poured in 21 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out 7 assists. Brown continued to show that she’s one of the best players in the country with her 22 points and 7 rebounds.
While the individual performances from the Lady Bears were incredible, there were a few stats from this game that helped the Bears pull out the victory and inch them closer to a chance at being crowned champions.
To start, the Lady Bears absolutely dominated the Ducks from the field in less attempts. Baylor made 31 of their 57 attempts (54%), while Oregon made just 25 of their 68 attempts (37%). The Lady Bears clearly took more high percentage shots throughout the game, which a testament to the tough-to-stop offensive system Kim Mulkey has had in place for this team all season.
The Ducks, on the other hand, had a completely different plan that played to their strength got them to the Final Four in the first place: three pointers. The Ducks made 12 of their 32 attempts from the three point line, a great clip in relation to the rest of the field in the tournament.
The Lady Bears themselves only attempted three shots beyond the arc, missing all of them. Yes, that’s right. The Bears did not make a single three pointer, and managed to beat a team that made 12. Throughout the season, Baylor has averaged around eight three-point attempts per game and connected on 38%, but they did not need it this time around. This was the ultimate testament to these Lady Bears, a dominant team that has been a force to be reckoned with in the paint all season.
It’s tough to stop the duo of Cox and Brown from getting where they want to go, and they will for sure make it tough on other teams in their quest for easy looks at the rim. The Lady Bears swatted away six shots in this game.
While some might have wished for an even more dominant performance from the Lady Bears, the truth is that a win is a win this late in the tournament. A close game like this that the Bears were able to pull away and win at this stage is exactly the kind of game that makes champions, champions.
The Lady Bears will have a shot at the Nation Championship against the defending champion Notre Dame Fight Irish, who have four returning starters from their championship team from last season.
