By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Writer
No. 14 Baylor women’s basketball suffocated UCF with a season-high 24 takeaways on Tuesday night, with five Bears nabbing multiple steals.
Baylor (18-3, 7-1 Big 12) held UCF (10-9, 2-6 Big 12) to a season-worst 14-for-47 shooting performance in the Bears’ 73-48 win.
“There’s not a day that we don’t go super hard on defense or we don’t take it serious,” senior forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs said. “Coming into this game, we know they would score a lot inside. … So, we had to really lock in.”
The Bears also locked down the Knights’ leading scorer, Leah Harmon, holding her to seven points. Harmon ranked eighth in the Big 12 with 16.1 points per game coming into Wednesday night.
Baylor’s defense kept the Knights on their toes, forcing five turnovers in the first five minutes. The Bears’ strength off the ball led to multiple opportunities for redshirt sophomore guard Taliah Scott, who tallied 10 points with a pair of threes to push the lead to 14-4.
“When we move the ball and we get to the paint and kick it out, it works really well for us,” redshirt freshman guard Ines Goryanova said. “Even being able to shoot on transition was great.”
UCF brought the game within three at the end of the first quarter behind five straight points from guard Kristol Ayson.
Scott continued her dominant night by rattling off seven of Baylor’s first 10 points in the second quarter. She finished the night with a team-leading 22 points and four 3-pointers. Two triples kept the Bears out in front as they went into halftime with an 11-point lead.
“She got hot and hit a couple of threes,” head coach Nicki Collen said. “We challenged her halftime to play downhill a little bit more … one of my favorite plays of the game was when she turned out a three, attacked the lane, dropped it to Kyla because that’s when we were kind of challenging her.”
Baylor’s defense came out of the gate locking up the Knights in the third quarter. The Bears did not allow a field goal in the first 4 1/2 minutes while forcing three turnovers.
Graduate guard Jana Van Gytenbeek recorded six of Baylor’s last nine points in the frame to jump ahead by 15.
The Bears cruised through the fourth quarter en route to a 25-point victory over UCF to extend their winning streak to seven games.
“The challenge right now is you don’t want to get complacent,” Collen said. “You’re trying to stay in a tie for first place. There’s a lot on the line every night that we step out on the court.”
Littlepage-Buggs secured her 10th double-double of the season with 13 points and 18 rebounds. She also connected on two shots from beyond the arc.
“Seeing the numbers grow, that’s something that excites me,” Littlepage-Buggs said. “It’s really special that my teammates have also looked out for me and are like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to go rebound … We need you to rebound, we need you to score. You get your double-double.’”
Baylor also gave five or more minutes to multiple bench players that have seen limited action, including Goryanova, who returned from a knee injury Jan. 14 in the Bears’ 61-45 win over Utah. She recorded two points, two assists and a block.
“My teammates, coaches, family, when I lost confidence in myself, they never did,” Goryanova said. “That is what pushed me every day to get up, come to the gym, do my rehab … And honestly, it was great getting on the court at home with all the fans, just hearing how loud they got.”
Baylor returns to action against Houston at 2 p.m. Sunday at Foster Pavilion. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
