By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
Junior forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs racked up a game-high 21 points and 20 rebounds, while senior center Aaronette Vonleh added 20 points as Baylor women’s basketball knocked off UNLV, 71-63, Sunday afternoon at Foster Pavilion.
Littlepage-Buggs became the first player to record a 20/20 double-double since NaLyssa Smith (28 points and 20 rebounds) on Feb. 28, 2022. She is just one of six players to do so, joining Sophia Young-Malcom, Danielle Crockrom, Kalani Brown, Brittney Griner and Smith. For both Littlepage-Buggs and Vonleh, it was their third game scoring 20+ points this season.
“She has to beg to come out of the game,” head coach Nicki Collen said of Littlepage-Buggs. “She made great plays off the bounce, but it’s just the energy plays. The other team gets a miss and then she gets the ball back. Whether she gets a put-back, a foul or creates an extra possession for us. That’s painful as a coach. It’s painful as a team when you do the work you need to do to get the stop and then you don’t finish it.”
The Bears (9-2) started on the back foot with the Lady Rebels (6-3) opening up a 7-2 lead. Looking to catch up, the green and gold forced the ball to Vonleh in the post and it paid dividends. The Bears evened the game, 12-12, as Vonleh racked up eight points in the quarter. Littlepage-Buggs played tight defense, forcing four UNLV traveling calls and a block, keeping Baylor within one heading into the final seconds, 19-18.
Graduate guard Sarah Andrews stepped into a top-of-the-key jumper at the buzzer and drilled it to give Baylor a 20-19 lead at the end of the first quarter. Andrews joined Littlepage-Buggs and Vonleh as the only three Bears in double figures, as she finished with 18 points on 5-of-11 shooting with seven rebounds and a game-high eight assists.
“[She’s] been great,” senior guard Yaya Felder said of Andrews. “We look at her as a leader. We always want her to just have big-time days.”
UNLV knocked down its first two second-quarter 3-pointers to spur an 8-0 run to regain a 27-25 lead with 6:16 on the clock. Littlepage-Buggs brought down four rebounds in the quarter with on of her offensive boards ending in a long jumper by Vonleh with her heel touching the 3-point line to give the Bears a 33-31 lead.
Vonleh went 5-for-5 from the floor in the second quarter with 10 points in all 10 minutes. The teams traded blows for the rest of the quarter and went to the half tied, 37-37.
Led by Littlepage-Buggs, who scored 12 points and brought down 10 rebounds in the third quarter, the Bears broke free. The Lady Rebels came out of the half hot and found a 47-42 lead before the green and gold showered on a 16-0 run. Andrews forced a UNLV timeout during the stretch after drilling a 3-pointer and converting an and-1 putback layup.
“It was on the scout that they rebounded a lot, and we can’t let them get rebounds because, ultimately, that leads to transition or just extra points,” Littlepage-Buggs said. “It’s always on the back of my mind like, ‘Hey, we’ve got to rebound.’ It wasn’t just something I think about, it’s kind of natural, too.”
With a 58-47 lead, its largest of the game, Baylor finally allowed another UNLV bucket after a five-minute scoreless streak. The Bears took an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter, but the Lady Rebels weren’t down and out yet.
The teams went back and forth until UNLV hit back-to-back 3-pointers at the 3:30 mark to cut Baylor’s lead to 63-60. After Andrews made 1-of-2 at the free-throw line, the Lady Rebels sunk another 3-pointer to cut the Bears’ lead to one and prompting Collen to call timeout. Although Baylor went 21-for-35 from the free throw line on the afternoon, the Bears hit five in the closing minutes, along with a layup from junior forward Bella Fontleroy, to secure a 71-64 victory.
“We shouldn’t put ourselves in a position where we don’t know what they’re doing because they didn’t do anything that we hadn’t really focused on,” Collen said. “We have to understand what a team is good at and then take that away.”
The green and gold will have a 10-day break before taking on Utah Tech at 11 a.m. on Dec. 18 at Foster Pavilion.
