Nathan Keil | Sports Writer
Baylor shot 60 percent from the field and used a 40-6 run over the course of the latter half of the second and third quarters and slowly wore down the Jayhawks on defense, en route to a 90-43 victory over Kansas on Sunday at the Ferrell Center.
Senior forward Nina Davis and redshirt junior guard Alexis Jones led the way for the Lady Bears, as they both scored 16 points.
“This team has its own personality. This team also has unbelievable depth,” said Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey. “If it’s not your night, it’s going to be somebody else’s night. You don’t have time to sit around and feel sorry for yourself or apologize for a bad night. You’ve got to stay the course and just know that everybody is going to get their opportunity again. That’s what they’re doing.”
Kansas gave little to no resistance to the Lady Bears in the post, as both sophomore posts Beatrice Mompremier and Kalani Brown were able to establish position on the blocks and get easy baskets. Mompremier finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Brown finished with 11 points. The Lady Bears outscored Kansas 50-16 in the paint and outrebounded Kansas 58-30.
The height and athleticism inside as well as the slashing nature of Baylor’s guards gave the Jayhawks problems defensively. The result was a total of 28 fouls on Kansas, where the Lady Bears connected on 26 of 40 free throw attempts.
“You think about Kentucky’s men’s team a couple of years ago when you felt like they could just build a tent over the lane and protect the rim, and that’s a little bit what it’s like playing these guys,” Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider said. “We got a few free throws in the first quarter, and after that we had a hard time even drawing a foul because of their size.”
Redshirt junior guard Jessica Washington did all she could to keep Kansas in the game as long as possible. The Tulsa native finished with 18 points, but only shot 6 of 23 from the field and was limited in the second half with foul trouble. No other Jayhawk scored more than five points.
The Lady Bears’ defense limited the Jayhawks to just 22 percent from the field and they blocked 15 Kansas shots.
“That’s something we’re good at. We have so much size. We have so much height, and that’s something that we put emphasis on,” Davis said. “We don’t ever want to give someone an easy shot or easy layup. We want to contest it, and because they’re so big they get a lot of blocks.”
Kansas drops to 6-7 overall, 0-2 in Big 12 play. The Jayhawks will host Texas on Wednesday.
Despite another dominating win, Mulkey continues to challenge her team to improve.
“I want them to talk more. I want them to be more vocal,” Mulkey said. “I think that they’re gotten better. I think the more exciting the game and the situation, I think that they do get excited and they talk more, but I’m blessed to coach an unbelievable team right now.”
Baylor improves to 13-1, 2-0 in conference play and they will hit the road to Morgantown, West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers on Wednesday as well. Tipoff is schedule for 6 p.m. and it will be aired on FS2.
