By Marquis Cooley | Sports Editor
No. 7 Baylor women’s basketball swept their series with Texas Christian University, defeating the Horned Frogs 78-59 Saturday afternoon at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth.
Baylor (21-5, 11-3 Big 12) was led by senior forward NaLyssa Smith who finished with 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting and eight rebounds. Head coach Nicki Collen said it was Smith’s aggressiveness that helped her be so effective.
“You look at the first half, Wednesday night against them [TCU], and she missed kind of all those elbow jump shots, and tonight she made them all, and she caught them in a rhythm,” Collen said. “My challenge to her in the last game was not to not shoot them, but to catch it ready to shoot rather than hesitate, think about it, ‘okay, I’m open, now I shoot it.’ Nobody shoots well when they hesitate. So, I just thought from the beginning, she aggressively searched that shot.”
Senior center Queen Egbo also had solid outing, finishing with 14 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks for her second-straight double-double before fouling out of the contest. Sophomore guard Sarah Andrews and graduate student guard Jordan Lewis both knocked down two triples on their way to 12-point outings. Andrews also dished out seven assists while Lewis ended with four dimes and five boards.
After a back-and-forth first half, the Bears turned a 32-29 halftime lead into a 58-42 advantage by the end of the third quarter to separate themselves. Smith shot a perfect 4-for-4 in the period, scoring nine points.
“I really challenged them in the locker room at halftime [and] they responded in a huge way,” Collen said. “We played with better pace in the second half. We played inside out, we got way more offensive rebounds … Really proud of how we regrouped and shared it and really competed at the defensive end early in the third.”
The third quarter outburst was the difference as the Bears were able to maintain the lead in the fourth quarter to beat the Horned Frogs (6-17, 2-12 Big 12) nineteen, 78-59.
Baylor will stay on the road to play Oklahoma State University (8-14, 3-10 Big 12) at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Stillwater, Okla.
