By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
HOUSTON — Even the table-setter plays a role in the feast.
Junior guard Jada Walker laid the tablecloth down for No. 18 Baylor women’s basketball, as the Bears made quick work of Houston 83-60 Sunday afternoon in the Fertitta Center.
“One of the things I was talking to her about is, there were times when she attacks so well for herself, but learning to be a better table-setter,” head coach Nicki Collen said. “I was trying to explain to her like, ‘Hey, when you get by that first level, you had a defender on the ball. You have a defender on Sarah [Andrews] up with you, so if you get by yours, it’s three on two.’
“And she was wanting to give it up early and make Dre [Edwards] the playmaker. Like, be the playmaker.”
Walker scored eight of her 10 points in just over three minutes of the first quarter, which helped the Bears (17-4, 6-4 Big 12) jump out to a 17-9 lead. Collen said Walker’s ability to attack the rim and put pressure on the Cougars’ (12-10, 3-8 Big 12) defense set the tone early.
Six Baylor players finished in double figures — a new team-best for a Big 12 game this season — led by graduate student forward Dre’Una Edwards’ 15-point outing. And while Walker was the table-setter, the forwards around her did the dishes.
The Bears finished with 52 rebounds, another season-high for a conference game this year, and doubled Houston’s total (26) for the game. Edwards, graduate student forward Aijha Blackwell and sophomore forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs all recorded eight boards apiece.
Final: No. 13 Baylor 83, Houston 60
More good (56% field goal percentage, 11-for-13 from the free throw line, 51 rebounds) than bad (26 turnovers) for the Bears.
Baylor finishes its two-game road trip at BYU on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/tjgr70vnPZ
— Zach Smith (@ByZachSmith) February 4, 2024
Blackwell pulled down her 1000th career rebound with 58 seconds left in the first quarter. She entered the game four boards shy of the mark. She was already the only player on the roster with more than 800 career rebounds.
Houston’s 23-point home loss marked its worst in Big 12 play and nearly matched a 25-point loss to Middle Tennessee on Nov. 29, 2023. UH head coach Ronald Hughey said the Bears looked different from when the teams last met.
Baylor beat Houston 87-58 on Jan. 6 in Waco, but the Bears were 13-0 going into that game.
“The first time, they were playing off of 13-0, and they had that swagger going, and they were feeling each other,” Hughey said. “Now, you’re kind of fragile when you’re coming off of losses and you’re questioning some things.”
What surprised him most was seeing the Bears run a 2-3 zone. And Collen, albeit reluctant to play it, said the zone made sense for what Houston does well.
“It kept them out of their comfortable high ball screen, stagger pull-up game that was bothering us some in the first half,” Collen said. “They weren’t making all their shots, but I thought they were getting to spots that they’re really comfortable. … I’m sure they were surprised that we played zone. We would have been as surprised if they played zone.”
Baylor’s zone held Houston to 22-of-72 (31%) shooting from the field and 7-of-29 (24%) from beyond the arc. The Bears made 56% of their shots from the floor, which is their best percentage since ironically hitting 57% of their shots against the Cougars earlier in the year.
Walker’s first-quarter outburst led Baylor to an early eight-point lead, but Houston cut its deficit to four by the end of the first quarter. The Cougars took a brief lead at the 6:43 mark of the second quarter before the Bears outscored them 14-4 to close the first half. Baylor led 37-29 at the break.
Houston trailed by about 10 points for most of the third until Baylor finished the quarter on a 6-0 run to extend its lead to 17 going into the fourth. Sophomore forward Bella Fontleroy scored eight of her 10 points in the final period to help the Bears secure the 23-point victory — their fourth 16-plus point win in league play this season.
Junior guard Yaya Felder (14), Littlepage-Buggs (12) and Blackwell (10) were the other three in double figures. Baylor also notched its first series win of the year amid the lopsided Big 12 schedule.
The Bears turned the ball over a season-high 26 times, but Collen said the offense looked good despite that.
“I think when you turn it over 26 times, but you still get 59 shots off, that’s pretty good,” Collen said. “That means that the pace is really high. There’s a lot of possessions in the game because normally if you have 26 turnovers, you don’t win by 23 points.”
Baylor will be back on the road when it faces BYU at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday in Provo, Utah.
