By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
No. 18 Baylor women’s basketball dismantled Southwest Baptist University 97-40 in an exhibition contest Thursday evening in the Ferrell Center. Six Bears scored in double figures, and their defense held the Bearcats to 28% from the floor and 13% from deep.
Head coach Nicki Collen preached unselfishness heading into this game, and she said the fact that the squad played up tempo while moving the ball around was good to see.
“I think when you play downhill, when you put pressure on the rim, things open up on the perimeter,” Collen said. “When we’re unselfish, whether we’re driving or on the drift pass on the opposite side, going one more, we had a couple of really good possessions that for sure will be earmarked in terms of, this is what Baylor basketball should look like, where you give up a good shot to get a great shot.”
Kenneth Prabhakar | Photographer
Senior guard Aijha Blackwell led the team with 16 points on 5-7 shooting to go along with four boards. Blackwell got downhill on several occasions and took it upon herself to get a bucket or go to the charity stripe, where she went 6-7.
This is something Collen wanted to see out of Blackwell, and Collen said despite Blackwell’s zero assists, those will come eventually.
“Tonight I’m OK with her just going to the foul line,” head coach Nicki Collen said. “If we can score two feet from the rim, get and-ones, get to the foul line and really put foul pressure on our opponent, when we get in the bonus, everything becomes easier. I’ve been challenging her to not overpass. She’ll find that balance.”
Graduate student guard Ja’Mee Asberry got things going for the Bears beyond the arc, going 2-4 from deep to help her notch 11 points. Both of those threes came in the second quarter, which helped the Bears get out to a big lead, outscoring SBU 26-6 during that period.
Kenneth Prabhakar | Photographer
“Sometimes I just need to see one go in and then after that I’m good,” Asberry said. “Even if I don’t see one go in, I still make sure I’m playing harder on defense to get it back. Go get me a layup, a low jump shot. And the first one was a three, so I was just like ‘I’m going to hit another one’ and I did, so it just went from there.”
Baylor led 20-10 at the end of the first thanks to six points from Blackwell, who scored the first two buckets of the game. The Bears suffocated the Bearcats in the second while Asberry and senior guard Jaden Owens went for eight points apiece.
Both of them hit two threes each and helped create some separation on the scoreboard. Collen said the team did not get off to its best start in the first quarter and that it was good to see some shots go down as the contest went on.
“I thought we missed some early layups, we missed some early 3’s,” Collen said. “Ja’Mee missed an early, wide-open three pretty badly. Every time they went zone, we hit shots, so they really couldn’t stay in their zone.”
Baylor took a 46-16 advantage into halftime, Asberry and Owens the leading scorers to that point with their eight points. Blackwell and freshman forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs narrowly trailed with six points separately.
Kenneth Prabhakar | Photographer
Buggs finished with 13 points on 63% from the field while snatching eight boards. Collen said she liked what she saw out of the youngster in her collegiate debut.
“I like how Buggs competed,” Collen said. “When she was guarding the 6-6 player, she got on top, she battled, she leveraged, got a steal. When we played her guarding the perimeter, she really sat down and defended and made life miserable on their guards. My favorite play of the game was Buggs attacking the 6-6 kid to a jump shot. Even I was a little surprised by that one.”
Collen said she challenged Blackwell during the break to go get more rebounds and assert herself into the game. Blackwell answered with a 10-point third quarter where she knocked down 6-7 free throws.
“Whenever I get the chance, I just go,” Blackwell said. “I mean, Coach Nicki’s always yelling, ‘Go, go keep it!’ So, I’m just trying to keep it, but whenever I know I need to give it up, I need to give it up.”
The Bears led 73-28 after the third and cruised to the 97-40 victory. The other three athletes that hit double figures were Owens, freshman guard Bella Fontleroy and junior guard Catarina Ferreira. Owens had 12 points to pair with four assists, Fontleroy chipped in 12 points and six rebounds, while Ferreira punched in 10 points on 43% from the floor.
Kenneth Prabhakar | Photographer
On a night where standouts graduate student forward Caitlin Bickle and redshirt senior forward Dre’Una Edwards were inactive, the green and gold still had 52 points in the paint.
Baylor opens the season Monday against Lamar University at 7 p.m. in the Ferrell Center.
Injury Room
- Caitlin Bickle was out but is expected to be back “hopefully in the next few weeks” according to Collen. The second-year head coach said it could possible be three weeks until Bickle is back.
- Junior forward Erika Porter is “day to day” but can return “as early as a week” or “as long as three weeks” per Collen.
- Collen said Edwards only sat due to “an eligibility situation.”
