By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
Trailing by three points with nine seconds to go, junior guard Jada Walker was told by head coach Nicki Collen to turn and shoot if a defender attempted to foul her.
That’s exactly what Walker did, as she heaved the ball toward the basket without striking iron.
Except no foul was called, and No. 13 Baylor women’s basketball couldn’t find an equalizer, falling to No. 4 Kansas State 58-55 Monday night in the Foster Pavilion.
“I had told Jada — so that no one thinks she was taking a crazy shot there — that if they raked her across the arm when she turned, to shoot it,” Collen said. “And [Kansas State head coach Jeff Mittie] was yelling ‘Foul!’ Everyone in the building knew that they were trying to foul, and they didn’t call it. But it was actually a pretty smart play, because when she turned, they instantly grabbed her.”
Both Dre Edwards and Nicki Collen said the three-point shot from Walker was Collen’s decision, Jada just executed the gameplan out of the timeout but no foul call. #Baylor #SicEm https://t.co/93HvI5eqyn
— Parker Rehm (@parker_rehm) January 23, 2024
Mittie — who had his team intentionally foul once before Walker’s shot — said, “We were not going to foul a catch-and-shoot player.”
“We made a smart play there because obviously, I think they thought we might be fouling right away and went ahead and heaved one up,” Mittie said. “Now, with two-and-a-half [seconds left], I didn’t want to foul. … I just wanted to live with the result.”
The Bears (15-3, 4-3 Big 12) had that second chance to tie it, but the Wildcats (19-1, 8-0 Big 12) blocked graduate student forward Dre’Una Edwards’ 3-point attempt and left Waco by collecting another conference win.
Monday marked Baylor’s first ranked (and home) loss of the year, while Kansas State won its 13th straight game despite losing All-American senior forward Ayoka Lee to an ankle injury last week. The Wildcats haven’t lost since a 77-70 setback to then-No. 5 Iowa on Nov. 26, 2023.
KSU junior guard Serena Sundell, senior guard Gabby Gregory and sophomore forward Eliza Maupin all poured in 16 points apiece to lead their squad to victory. The Bears held a nine-point lead at the break but were outscored 28-16 in the second half.
Collen said the Wildcats’ 1-2-2 zone is what slowed her squad down in those final 20 minutes.
“I thought originally, when they first went to it, we were scoring pretty easily against their man-to-man,” Collen said. “And that’s not a team used to teams scoring against them. Really, the final score is what they’ve done to teams all year and why they are where they are.”
Sophomore forward Bella Fontleroy put up 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and a perfect 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. Edwards trailed with 11 points and eight rebounds, and graduate student forward Aijha Blackwell tallied her fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Blackwell’s layup at the 4:34 mark of the fourth quarter was the final bucket for Baylor, as the team missed all seven of its final shot attempts. After hitting 15 of 26 shots in the first half, the Bears were 6-of-26 shooting the rest of the way.
“We couldn’t pound it in on the inside because they were clogging it up,” Edwards said. “So we just have to knock down shots.”
Baylor built an early lead in the first quarter but coughed up five turnovers and missed four free throws. Additionally, the Bears could only score three points off the Wildcats’ five turnovers. Edwards scored seven of her points in the first period as Baylor took a 19-15 lead into the second.
Fontleroy made her mark in the second quarter, scoring seven of the team’s 20 total points. The Bears took a 31-18 lead about five minutes into the second, but KSU outscored Baylor 11-8 over the final 5:17 to make it a 39-30 game going into the break.
The third and fourth quarters were when the Bears went ice cold, as they only scored eight points in each period. Collen said those struggles all circle back to the team’s inability to score against Kansas State’s zone.
“You have to swing the ball against the zone; the ball got stuck,” Collen said. “I felt like every time we caught the ball — and I mean this about everyone on our team — we were making slow decisions.”
The Wildcats went on a 6-0 run over the final 4:13 to secure their win.
Fontleroy said Baylor’s zone offense is still a work in progress and that the group will get it together.
“We’re definitely still learning when it comes to just the spacing and reading space on the court, because whenever we did get an opportunity to get to those open spaces and move, we made shots,” Fontleroy said.
#Baylor has turned the ball over 43 times in their last two games.
Nicki Collen said “this team needs a plan” moving forward to fix that. #SicEm
— Chad Vautherine (@chadvautherine) January 23, 2024
The Bears’ next game comes on the road, where they’ll face Oklahoma State at 1 p.m. on Sunday in the Gallagher-Iba Arena. Collen said the Cowgirls (11-7, 4-3 Big 12) will probably play a zone defense as well.
“I would if I watched us,” Collen said.
