Matthew McCarroll | Lariat Photographer
By Krista Pirtle
Sports Writer
The Baylor Lady Bears basketball team wrapped up exhibition play against St. Edward’s University, blowing out the Hilltoppers 89-30.
Inside, St. Edward’s had no solution to the offensive or defensive problem presented by junior post Brittney Griner as she racked up 26 points and four blocks on the evening.
Following Griner offensively were juniors Destiny Williams and Kimetria Hayden with 16 each.
Defensively, the Hilltoppers had their pockets picked 21 times by the Lady Bears, resulting in 42 points for Baylor.
On the evening, the Lady Bears had only 12 turnovers, while the Hilltoppers committed 28.
The game started out a little shaky for Baylor, as the guards couldn’t find the right angle to pass the ball in to the inside.
“I thought at the very beginning we had fumble fingers,” head coach Kim Mulkey said. “We weren’t strong with the ball. It’s a game where you just play hard. You don’t look at the score.”
Once that was discovered and the posts kept the ball high, it was off the corner of the square of the backboard for an easy two.
Led by Terran Condrey with eight, Baylor dished out 29 assists.
“Terran’s kind of quiet,” Mulkey said. “She quietly got six rebounds. She can shoot it, and I knew at the half she had seven assists. I would think the majority [of her passes] were to the big girl. We need to be better passers. We need to feed Griner the ball.”
This called for more shots outside the arch as the Hilltoppers shot 20.8%.
Because of the height of Baylor’s posts, St. Edward’s didn’t have many options to pass it inside, recording only four assists.
The tallest player to play for the Hilltoppers was 6-feet.
With Griner at 6’8”, freshman Sune Agbuke at 6’4”, senior Ashley Field at 6’2” and junior Destiny Williams at 6’1”, there wasn’t much hope for the St. Edward’s defense down low.
As a whole, Baylor recorded 54 points in the paint.
The perimeter game for the Lady Bears’ didn’t seem highly needed, but the team shot 40% from behind the arch.
Their only hope was to push the Lady Bears off the block, but once Baylor got its position, there was no pushing them away.
St. Edward’s offense consisted of a high ball screen, causing the Baylor defense to switch, pulling out the post to the perimeter and putting the shorter guard on the post.
This was a good idea for the Hilltoppers, but it didn’t get them many results.
Their only hope, one would assume, would come when the starters, especially Griner were on the bench.
That proved to be false as the Lady Bears’ bench combined to score 30, while St. Edward’s could muster only half of that.
The headliner off the bench was Agbuke with 5 points, 4 blocks and 6 rebounds.
“The first game she was nervous,” Williams said. “She came out more relaxed and it helped for us to cheer for her. She played more herself.”
Baylor has a week to practice, improve and polish its play before starting the season against Howard in the Preseason WNIT 6:30 Nov. 11 in the Ferrell Center.
