By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
No. 17 Baylor women’s basketball shot just 33% from the floor and hit the same 3-pointers as twos (11) but locked in defensively to take out Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 65-42, Sunday afternoon at Foster Pavilion.
The Bears (3-1) honed in on the defensive side of the ball, where junior forward Bella Fontleroy had a career-high five blocks. Head coach Nicki Collen’s team finished with 23 points off turnovers after forcing 11 steals and swatting away nine shots.
“I need to give credit to Corpus Christi because if you look at them analytically, this is what they do. So am I frustrated with our offensive execution and our inability to finish at the rim? Yes. Do I think they had something to do with that? Yes,” Collen said. “Ws got to some good shots, and when you shoot better from three than two, that’s not ideal.”
Graduate guard Sarah Andrews drilled a jumper after tip-off, which senior center Aaronette Vonleh followed by scoring her 1,000th career point with a backdown and-1 layup. Vonleh finished with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting with two blocks and a steal but fouled out early in the fourth quarter. The Bears scored 10 points in the paint in the first quarter, but Baylor only led 16-11 by the end of the quarter due to hitting just 1-of-7 3-pointers.
Senior guard Yaya Felder scored seven points in the quarter and finished with 12, which tied for the team lead with Fontleroy.
“I have to brag on Yaya real quick. I’ve seen Yaya grow so much in the past year. She always has come in, and Nikki uses that phrase instant offense, and she really is,” Fontleroy said. “She has become way more disciplined in the shots that she takes and the looks that she has. So it’s not only her scoring, but she comes in, she gets assists, she gets stops,”
Both defenses stayed steadfast in the second as junior forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs blocked two shots, and Vonleh spiked another back to the perimeter. Littlepage-Buggs finished a made free throw shy of a double-double as she grabbed 12 boards and scored nine points on 3-of-12 shooting. The Islanders (3-1) pulled the game within three, 20-17, after a three-minute scoreless drought for the Bears. Fontleroy, who missed her first four 3-pointers, bookended the drought with a deep shot before and after to extend the lead.
Texas A&M Corpus Christi bounced back and trailed 23-21 before a timeout on the floor spurred a 9-0 Baylor run. Senior guard Jada Walker contributed a 3-pointer and a steal and score to open the run, while Littlepage-Buggs closed it with free throws and an up-and-under layup. Walker went 2-for-11 from the floor with eight points and tied for the team lead in assists (5) with Andrews.
The Islanders hit a shot with 15 seconds remaining, giving Baylor one more shot to extend the lead before halftime. Walker dribbled up the ball and patted her head to alert the team of the play call. Walker whipped a pass to Fontleroy on the wing, who zipped it to the corner for Andrews. She uncorked the corner 3-pointer, and the buzzer sounded as it hung in the air. The ball snapped nylon, giving the Bears a 35-23 lead.
Both the Bears and Islanders made just four shots in the quarter. The Islanders went without a made bucket for the final 2:27, while Fontleroy snapped a five-minute stretch without a field goal by rattling home a 3-pointer with 3:07 on the clock. Despite turning the ball over eight times, Baylor forced 10 turnovers and held a 47-32 lead heading into the fourth.
“They’re a very physical and aggressive team,” Fontleroy said of the Islanders. “We had to get to the shots that were us and Baylor basketball to get points on the board tonight because whenever we tried to do our own thing, it didn’t work out for us.”
Andrews highlighted an 11-0 fourth-quarter run with a pull-up and catch-and-shoot 3-pointer. The graduate guard was one of three Bears in double figures with 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists. After an offensive rebound by junior forward Kyla Abraham, who finished with eight rebounds, junior guard Waiata Jennings knocked down a corner three to put the icing on a 65-42 win.
“It’s hard to defend for that long,” Collen said. “We did an excellent job of guarding all their Princeton elbow action. Really good job. [It] made it hard to catch the ball in the high post [and] made them uncomfortable.”
The Bears will be back in action against Southern Miss (2-2) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. It is the first of three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament at Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
