By Marquis Cooley | Sports Editor
It was a tale of two halves as No. 9 Baylor women’s basketball rebounded from a slow start to beat No. 13 University of Texas, 63-55, Sunday afternoon in the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. It was the Bears’ second-straight win over the Longhorns in three days and the 13th straight win against UT overall.
Baylor (17-5, 7-3 Big 12) shot just 25.9% from the floor in the first half and found themselves trailing Texas (15-6, 5-5 Big 12) 26-18 at the break.
However, the Bears came out firing in the second half, hitting their first 10 shots for an explosive 27-point third quarter to take a two point lead heading into the final period.
Texas took the lead back early in the fourth quarter, but a three at the end of the shot clock from junior guard Ja’Mee Asberry, who scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half, tied the game back up at 50-50 midway through the period.
The shot gave Baylor momentum as they were able to jump out to a 57-50 lead and hold on to win the game.
Senior forward NaLyssa Smith notched her 15th double-double of the season with 28 points and 13 rebounds. Despite getting into some early foul trouble, Smith was able to finish the game and score timely buckets to prevent Texas from jumping out too far ahead.
Next up, the Bears will face No. 25 Kansas State University (17-6, 7-4 Big 12) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Ferrell Center for their fourth consecutive game against a ranked opponent.
