One final battle: No. 13 Baylor women’s basketball to wrap up Big 12 rivalry with No. 12 Texas

By
Michael Haag
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Then-junior guard Jana Van Gytenbeek (4) extends for a right-handed layup during Baylor women's basketball's conference game against then-No. 25 Texas on Jan. 22, 2023, in the Ferrell Center. Lariat file photo

By Michael Haag | Sports Editor

A lot has transpired since No. 13 Baylor women’s basketball opened conference play with No. 12 Texas on Dec. 30, 2023, in Austin.

Both teams are no longer in the top 10 of the AP Top 25 Poll, as the Longhorns are battling the injury bug and the Bears are trying to put three losses in their last five games behind them.

They will meet for the final time as Big 12 foes for a nationally-televised contest at 7:30 pm. on Thursday in the Foster Pavilion. Senior guard Sarah Andrews, the only Baylor player on the roster with more than two years of experience in Waco, said a rivalry like this doesn’t need defining.

“What’s understood doesn’t have to be explained,” Andrews said. “I think when you come into Baylor, you automatically know when that game comes, that’s the rivalry game. We’re going to wake up and play.

“It’s something about us. When we play Texas or something, we just come out with a different type of firepower.”

Baylor (16-3, 5-3 Big 12) is seeking its fifth ranked win of the season. No. 1 South Carolina, No. 11 UConn and No. 7 UCLA are the only programs in the country to have five ranked wins this year, and the Bears are one of three others to have four.

Texas (19-3, 6-3 Big 12) was undefeated before losing to Baylor 85-79 back in December. The Bears have won 14-straight games in Austin, but the Longhorns split last year’s series thanks to a 68-55 win in Waco. Before that, Baylor had not lost a regular season game to Texas since the 2009-10 campaign, when it fell twice.

That — paired with Baylor’s 12-straight Big 12 titles before the 2022-23 season — is why Texas head coach Vic Schaefer said, “It’s hard to have a rivalry when it’s one-sided.”

“When you’re playing a good team and a well-coached team like they have been and are now, it’s always a challenge,” Schaefer, who’s in his fourth season at Texas, said in a Zoom press conference on Tuesday. “Those kids understand Texas and the rivalry.”

But Thursday is an opportunity for the Bears to sweep their first conference foe of the season in an unbalanced Big 12 schedule year that doesn’t guarantee a home-and-home series.

The Horns, meanwhile, are trying to continue finding ways to win without some of their best players. Junior guard and two-time All-American honorable mention and Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Rori Harmon tore her ACL on Dec. 27, 2023, so she’s out for the rest of the year.

Freshman forward Madison Booker has had to step up and play the point guard in Harmon’s absence, finding success. In this nine-game Big 12 stretch without Harmon, Booker is averaging 20.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, while shooting 47.1% from the field and 90.4% from the free-throw line.

She’s scored in double figures in 11-straight games, including a career-high 29 against Oklahoma on Jan. 24.

Booker (hamstring) and senior forward DeYona Gaston (ankle) are questionable to play on Thursday. Gaston, another Preseason All-Big 12 selection, hasn’t played since Jan. 13, and Booker missed Texas’ last outing against Cincinnati.

“I don’t know who’s going to play, but I know whoever plays is going to play their rear off,” Schaefer said.

Regardless of who suits up, Thursday’s contest will be broadcast on ESPN, marking the third-straight game the Bears will appear on the big screen. Baylor is 4-1 in nationally-televised games this season.

Bears head coach Nicki Collen said she doesn’t amplify this matchup more than any other and that her squad needs to just take care of business.

“We have to put four quarters defensively together against them and continue to handle their pressure,” Collen said. “We certainly have to be prepared for their zone as well.”

Collen also said this won’t be the last time the Bears and Longhorns ever meet.

“I don’t think Vic has skirted playing good competition in the nonconference, and neither have we,” Collen said.

Baylor is coming off a 12-point win at Oklahoma State on Sunday that saw graduate student forward Aijha Blackwell pull down a season-high 19 rebounds.

Blackwell said the Bears “woke up” when they needed to.

“We started playing as a team, started sharing the ball, started going through our zone offense and started working through that because we know teams are going to throw that at us,” Blackwell said.

Thursday puts a cap on the Baylor-Texas Big 12 rivalry at 111 all-time meetings. The Longhorns hold a 60-50 edge in the series, but the Bears’ overwhelming success since 2011 makes Texas throw that history out of the window.

“They obviously are kind of like a powerhouse program and have been for a while,” Texas senior guard Shay Holle said. “Hard to beat, for sure.”

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