Orlin Wagner | Associated Press
Orlin Wagner | Associated Press
By Jeffrey Swindoll
Sports Writer
Sophomore forward Nina Davis scored 24 points and totaled 14 rebounds to hold off the feisty Kansas Jayhawks 71-63 for No. 3 Baylor’s 15th-straight win (16-1, 5-0). The Lady Bears remain undefeated in the Big 12 Conference and currently sit in first place ahead of their clash with conference powerhouse No. 5 Texas on Monday.
Baylor’s conference winning streak was snapped last season in Lawrence, Kans. It was a season low-point for the Lady Bears and head coach Kim Mulkey and her squad were making every effort to redeem their poor display against the Jayhawks last season.
Sophomore guard Imani Wright also made a significant impact in this game as she did against Iowa State on Tuesday. Wright is really fitting in as one of the team’s main spark plugs and is doing so as a non-starter. Coming off the bench against the Jayhawks, Wright totaled 16 points.
Kansas made the Lady Bears earn every inch. The Jayhawks consistently lifted themselves out of the holes they found themselves in, coming within as little as a one point difference from the Lady Bears. The Jayhawks simply did not have enough to get over the hump though. Baylor slipped up their lead over and over, but never lost it in the second half. The Lady Bears were always in control.
KU senior forward Chelsea Gardner scored 17 points in the Jayhawk’s valiant effort against the conference-leading Lady Bears. Kansas’ hopes of an upset really took a hit when Gardner and Caelynn Manning-Allen fouled out. Gardner and Manning-Allen were the Jayhawks’ only chance at outsizing the Lady Bears.
The Jayhawks’ are at rock-bottom with a winless conference record. On the other side of the court, the Lady Bears keep rolling and will play in quite possibly their biggest game of season at 5:30 p.m. Monday against the Longhorns at the Ferrell Center.
