By Marquis Cooley | Sports Editor, Video by Joe Pratt | Broadcast Reporter
In what head coach Nicki Collen called a “weird day,” No. 9 Baylor women’s basketball was outscored 8-1 in the last 2 minutes and 30 seconds, giving up a six-point lead to lose in heartbreaking fashion to No. 18 University of Oklahoma, 78-77, Wednesday night in the Ferrell Center.
The Bears (15-5, 5-3 Big 12) had the opportunity to win the game on the final play. With six seconds left in the game, graduate guard Jordan Lewis drove to the basket and missed the shot. Lewis appeared to be bumped on the play, but no whistle was blown as the final buzzer sounded to Collen’s dismay.
“I thought the last play Jordan Lewis should’ve been shooting two foul shots to win the game, period, period exclamation point, because they’d got the same call on that drive with Kelbie [Washington] earlier within the last two minutes of the game,” Collen said. “They got it multiple times with Kelbie driving in there and leaning backwards and throwing the shot up. So, I just think that, that whistle should’ve been blown right there.”
That was a theme of the night as Collen felt that the Sooners (19-3, 8-2 Big 12) were reaching, grabbing, slapping and hitting the Bears all night, but weren’t being called for it.
Photo courtesy of Matt Ellett.
“We got fouled all night long, all night long,” Collen said. “ They went over our back. They slapped when we grabbed balls. The whistle wasn’t the same at both ends.”
Sophomore guard Sarah Andrews was the leading scorer for the Bears finishing with 23 points and six assists. Senior forward NaLyssa Smith finished with another double-double, this time putting up 19 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Junior guard Ja’Mee Asberry and senior forward Caitlin Bickle also reached double figures, scoring 15 and 11 respectively.
The game was originally scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff, but did not begin until 7:45 p.m. as the Sooners bus was delayed due to weather and didn’t arrive at the Ferrell Center until 7:15 p.m. Collen said she prioritized the health of the OU players over everything else and wanted to ensure they got 30 minutes to warm up to try and prevent injuries. While Collen said the delay affected them in many ways, such as it being difficult to prepare and be ready for the game, she feels like she did the right thing and hopes the favor is returned in the future.
“Maybe I’m wrong for doing what I thought was the right thing,” Collen said. “I’m super proud of the people that came out, but it affected our crowd. As the game got pushed back, in a big game, it affected our crowd’s ability to come out because the later the game got pushed, the more they were worried about the weather. It affected us in so many ways. I still think I did the right thing. I still think we as a university, we as Baylor women’s basketball, we did the right thing. We just didn’t get the right outcome.”
While the impact of the delayed start time, mixed with the weather made it a weird day for Collen’s squad, she said that’s not the reason they lost.
“We have to play better. I got to get more out of them,” Collen said. “I didn’t get their best out of them today, individually or collectively. I didn’t get enough out of my team today.”
After going up 25-16 at the end of the first quarter, Baylor allowed OU to get back into the game and tie it up at 38 heading into the half. From that point on, it was a nonstop battle the rest of the way.
The Bears won’t have the chance to dwell on this for long as they’re right back on the court at 7 p.m. on Friday in the Ferrell Center to take on No. 11 the University of Texas (15-4, 5-3 Big 12).
