By Marquis Cooley | Sports Editor
It was a tough afternoon for No. 4 Baylor women’s basketball as they fell to No. 7 University of Texas, 67-58 in the Big 12 Championship final Sunday afternoon at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., snapping their 12-game winning streak as well as a 13-game winning streak over the Longhorns.
Despite a slow start in the first half, senior forward NaLyssa Smith finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds for her school-record 24th double-double of the season. She also became the eighth player in program history to reach the 2,000 career-point milestone and one of seven Bears to have 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
Graduate guard Jordan Lewis and junior guard Ja’Mee Asberry finished with 13 apiece with Lewis also dishing out four assists and coming down with seven boards. Asberry’s three 3-pointers in the contest put her at 75 for the season, tying Emily Niemann (2003-04) for second in program history.
The squads traded buckets early, but Texas was able to gain the upper hand as they took a 16-14 lead after a jumper in the final seconds of the first quarter. Texas was able to take control of the game in the second quarter, stretching the lead out to double-digits in the period. Things went from bad to worse for the Bears as Smith exited the game with an apparent knee injury, after committing an offensive foul. The Longhorns took advantage of Smith’s absence, taking a 39-28 halftime lead.
After committing just two turnovers in their semifinal game, Baylor turned the ball over eight times in the first half alone. Lewis led all players with 13 points and was the only Bear in double-figures at the break.
The second-half was all Texas as they were able to gain their biggest lead of the night at 15. Even with Smith returning to the game and playing the entire second half, the Longhorns had an answer for everything. Anytime Baylor cut the deficit to single digits, Texas was able to respond with a timely bucket to bump the lead back up to double digits to hold on to the victory.
Baylor will turn their attention toward the NCAA tournament with their seeding being announced during the Selection Show tonight at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN.
