By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
Junior guard Yaya Felder losing her tooth with 42 seconds left in the game was the finishing blow to a regretful night for No. 18 Baylor women’s basketball.
The Bears had their worst shooting performance of the season (23-for-66, 34.8%) en route to a 78-66 loss at BYU on Wednesday night in the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah. The Cougars earned their first win over a ranked foe since beating then-No. 22 West Virginia 58-57 on Nov. 27, 2021, at a neutral site.
Final: BYU 78, No. 18 Baylor 66
The Bears have their worst shooting performance of the season (23-66, 34.8%), and get dominated on the glass and in the paint.
Baylor hosts No. 23 West Virginia on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/SmpGTsXsbp
— Zach Smith (@ByZachSmith) February 8, 2024
“We just didn’t get stops, it’s that simple,” head coach Nicki Collen said after the game on ESPN 1660 Central Texas radio. “They drove it past us better than we drove it past them. We just didn’t consistently defend. They shot over 50%. You have to defend on the road. Period.”
Felder dove for a loose ball after poking it free in the half-court, and her mouth smashed into the hardwood, causing one of her teeth to pop out and skip across the court. She went to the locker room with a towel over her mouth and didn’t return.
With the result, Baylor (17-5, 6-5 Big 12) has now lost five of its last eight games since opening the year 14-0, which was its best start since the 40-0 national championship season in 2011-12. The shooting woes came less than four days removed from shooting 55.9% from the floor and having six double-digit scorers as part of a 23-point win at Houston on Sunday.
Sophomore forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs scored 15 of her team-high 17 points in the third quarter alone. Littlepage-Buggs also pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds to give her three double-doubles on the year. Felder scored 15 points off the bench, and senior guard Jana Van Gytenbeek was the other Bear in double figures with 10.
BYU (13-11, 3-8 Big 12) shot 53% from the floor and 40% from the deep and had four double-digit scorers. Senior forward Lauren Gustin led the Cougars with 23 points — two points shy of her season-high — and a game-high 16 rebounds.
Gustin is already BYU’s all-time leading rebounder in program history and entered Wednesday as the best rebounder in all of NCAA Division I. She’s recorded a double-double in 22 of 24 games this season.
Wednesday marked just the fourth time these two programs have ever met and the first matchup since the Bears won 84-58 on Nov. 16, 2006, in Waco.
Baylor made just four of 18 shot attempts in the first quarter, which led to a 22-11 deficit. BYU shot 50% from the floor in the period and hit three 3-pointers. Gustin snagged six boards in the frame.
The Bears’ offensive woes continued in the second, as they connected on 3-of-13 looks, all three makes coming from deep. Gustin scored eight of the Cougars’ 10 points in the paint for the period, and BYU held a 31-25 lead at halftime.
Baylor scored more points in the third quarter (25) than it did in the entire first half (21), but the Cougars made four of six 3-pointers in the period and took a 59-46 lead into the fourth. Littlepage-Buggs played the entire third and scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor.
The Bears ended up winning the second half 45-43, but their 11-point deficit through the first 20 minutes proved to be too much.
Collen said the Provo altitude didn’t play the factor fans may think it did.
“Usually the altitude gets to you toward the end of the third quarter when you’re out here, but I thought we looked tired from the beginning,” Collen said. “And then all of a sudden, we had energy. You can’t have energy when you get down; you have to have energy from the beginning. [We] just didn’t have good energy out of the gate.”
Baylor will return home to face No. 22 West Virginia at 2 p.m. on Saturday in the Foster Pavilion. The contest will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. The Bears won’t get another crack at the Cougars this season as part of the lopsided Big 12 schedule.
