By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
Behind its best shooting day of the season, No. 18 Baylor women’s basketball shot 57.4% from the floor to blitz past Southern Miss, 101-55, in the Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at Atlantis’ Imperial Arena in Nassau, Bahamas.
Five Bears finished in double figures, with junior forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs scoring 19 points to lead the team for the third time this season. Senior guard Jada Walker added 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and a team-high eight assists. Off the bench, senior guard Yaya Felder matched Walker’s assist total, scored 14 points and brought down eight rebounds.
“We did a good job getting the ball downhill and then moving it to open shooters. And then, ultimately, stepped up and made a lot of threes today,” head coach Nicki Collen said. “So, really good, balanced team effort all the way around.”
The green and gold knocked down 15 3-pointers, their most since they hit 17 against McNeese State on Nov. 24, 2023. Senior guard Sarah Andrews, who finished with 14 points, and junior forward Bella Fontleroy, who scored 15 points, each knocked down four shots from range.
Baylor took a 25-18 lead in the first quarter despite the Lady Eagles shooting 61.5% from the floor. The green and gold used their advantage in the paint, out-rebounding Southern Miss 42-22 on the afternoon, and scraped together nine more shots.
By halftime, Littlepage-Buggs, Walker and Andrews all reached double figures as the Bears doubled up the Lady Eagles, 52-26. Both teams shot 50% from the floor in the first 20 minutes; Southern Miss knocked down 11-of-22 shots while Baylor hit 20-of-39. Behind six points in the quarter from Walker, the Bears went to halftime on a 13-3 run.
“I think we really just pushed the pace,” Walker said. “They wanted to ice us and keep us isolated on one side of the floor, and we didn’t really let them do that by pushing the pace and getting open shooters and making the one more pass, which is stuff we’ve been practicing on all week, getting ready for this tournament.”
Baylor kept its foot on the gas as it drilled seven 3-pointers in the second half. Felder led the charge with a game-high 11 points and seven rebounds in the half.
“I thought she brought some good energy,” Collen said. “I thought Yaya was really getting out in transition well, giving Jada someone to look up to and just put downhill pressure on the D.”
The Bears used an 11-2 run to add space in the fourth quarter and sprint past Southern Miss 101-55. Baylor will roll on in the Battle 4 Atlantis against either Indiana or Columbia at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. The game will be broadcast on FloCollege.
