By Nate Maki | Sports Writer
Led by senior guard Sarah Andrews who dropped a game-high 22 points, Baylor women’s basketball took down Texas Southern, 101-29, Wednesday night at Foster Pavilion.
The Tigers (1-5) took their only lead of the game in the first quarter, 4-3, before the Bears (8-2) answered with two free throws. The green and gold took the wheel from there with a 28-2 run, with 3-pointers from senior guard Jada Walker and junior forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs. Senior guard Yaya Felder, who scored 12 points to go along with five assists and five rebounds, closed the run with a 3-pointer of her own, giving the Bears a 31-8 at the end of the first quarter.
“I thought we missed a couple of easy ones,” head coach Nicki Collen said. “We definitely missed some of the easy ones to start. They were really physical early on today, they weren’t the best play calls by me and I’m willing to take that.”
The Bears continued their run in the second quarter with a trio of 3-pointers from Andrews, who was honored at the start of the game for breaking the program record for most 3-points in a career on Sunday. Andrews kept her hot streak going as she scored at least 22 points for the first time since her junior season.
“It was great to finally see the ball going in,” Andrews said. “I scored at every level tonight; I didn’t just settle for just the threes.”
The Bears closed out the rest of the second half with an 11-2 run to give themselves a 55-16 halftime lead. Junior forward Kyla Abraham stood tall as a defensive threat as she recorded six points and 10 rebounds for the Bears off the bench.
“I think this was a really big game for me,” Abraham said. “It really got my confidence up, and that’s really important to me. I just have to see the ball go in one time and it goes from there.”
Littlepage-Buggs finished with her fifth double-double of the year with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Senior center Aaronette Vonleh’s steak of 20-point games ended, but she still finished with 13 points and five rebounds.
The Bears were dominant on defense all night as they held Texas Southern to 12-of-69 shooting (17.4%) from the floor, the lowest mark by an opponent in the Collen era and the worst mark since McNeese’s 13.5% performance on Dec. 19, 2020. The green and gold allowed just two points in the fourth quarter and raced past the century mark, taking down the Tigers 101-29.
“When you have multiple playmakers that can score at multiple levels, good things happen,” Collen said. “Sarah [Andrews] is playing really confidently and that’s really what this team needs as we get closer to conference.”
Baylor women’s basketball will return to the court at 2 p.m. Sunday against UNLV (6-2) at Foster Pavilion.
