By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
Whether junior guard Waiata Jennings is sitting on the bench, standing at the scorer’s table or playing tight defense, “Waiz” (sounds like ‘wise’) has a smile on her face.
As a junior college transfer, the Rotorua, New Zealand native ascended to fan favorite status with a grin and enthusiasm that rapidly spread across No. 4 Baylor women’s basketball. Before the season began, head coach Nicki Collen frustratingly joked about Jennings smiling no matter what was is happening in the game. After all, basketball is supposed to be fun.
But just as her infectious attitude and eagerness to learn spread, her development blossomed into a key role player amid injury trouble.
“Look, the kid is a competitor,” Collen said. “You don’t know what to expect. I know she is going to play hard. I know she is going to run around, she is probably going to mess up the switch, forget who she is guarding, but she is going to play hard.”
When junior forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs suffered a right knee injury against Texas Tech on Feb. 15, Collen turned to Jennings for more minutes. Before Littlepage-Buggs missed time, Jennings hadn’t scored in a Big 12 game. Filling in for the minutes of a double-double machine, Jennings made the most of the opportunity.
“Losing a lot of players from injury, it means we all have to step up,” Jennings said. “We’ve had to come together and not rely on certain people to do all [the work]. I think my job is just coming in, bringing energy and doing my job and being reliable at it.”
Jennings was more than just reliable during Baylor’s Big 12 tournament run without Littlepage-Buggs. During a semifinal clash with No. 3 Oklahoma State, she played 24 minutes and grabbed four rebounds, two steals and knocked down two game-changing 3-pointers.
She capped off the evening with a corner long ball in overtime to boost Baylor’s lead to seven and seal the 84-74 win. While senior center Aaronette Vonleh dropped a career-high 37, she pointed to Jennings as the one making game-altering plays.
“I’d say Waiz’s three in overtime that she hit, that really was a momentum shift for us and, I think, a confidence boost for her,” Vonleh said. “We both needed that.”
With a smile on her face, Jennings was lethal — but it wasn’t the first time in her career hitting big shots. She transferred to Baylor in the offseason after two seasons at Collin College, where she was named the 2024 WBCA Two-Year College Player of the Year and set the program record with 1,227 total points in two seasons in Plano.
“There is a fearlessness in how she plays, and I know she is never afraid to play in big moments,” Collen said. “Her threes were big. She is a confident player. She missed one three on a possession. We got the offensive rebound, threw it back out to her, and she shot it again. It wasn’t like she was afraid to take a big shot. We needed them. She is fearless, you know. I’m probably the one that holds her back.”
In a mostly seamless transition into increased minutes Jennings said, with a laugh, the toughest part has been remembering to inbound the ball as the 5-foot-9 guard fills in primarily at the four. But without Littlepage-Buggs, Collen saw the fight she wanted out of Jennings and the Bears with laser focus.
“We’ve been resilient,” Collen said. “Sometimes you have to understand that, ironically, less is more… It’s made Waiz a lot more invested. Not because she wasn’t ever a great teammate or had a bad attitude. But you hit that point as someone who doesn’t get a ton of minutes where you begin to check out, whether you want to or not. And I think the nature of being limited in numbers is that everyone has stayed pretty locked in and knows there’s opportunity.”
With Littlepage-Buggs set to rejoin the rotation for the NCAA Tournament, Jennings aims to keep bringing the energy — both on the bench and on the court — to spark a deep postseason run.
No. 4 Baylor women’s basketball will open the Big Dance against No. 13 Grand Canyon in the Round of 64 at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Foster Pavilion.
