By Marissa Essenburg | Sports Writer
Locked in a wire-to-wire battle deep into the fourth quarter, No. 15 Baylor women’s basketball edged past Arizona State 67–64 on Saturday night. The Bears closed it out at the line behind late defensive stops and key contributions off the bench.
With four lead changes and seven ties, the Bears (21–4, 10–2 Big 12) stayed level, trading possessions with the Sun Devils (19–6, 6–6 Big 12) in a contest staying within reach well into the fourth quarter until Baylor finally created separation at the line. The Bears went 4-for-4 on late free throws behind scoring production from redshirt sophomore guard Taliah Scott and graduate point guard Jana Van Gytenbeek, who combined for 30 points, along with a 12-point spark off the bench from sophomore forward Kayla Nelms.
“I came to this school to be in these games, in this environment — to be able to play down the stretch and pull out a win. There’s nothing more you can ask for,” Scott said. “The tension is high, and games like this show where we’re at as a team. These are the games everyone wants to be in, and to come out with a win is something you can only hope for.”
As tensions rose and bodies collided on both ends, a tightly-called game forced Baylor to lean on its bench, with senior forwards Bella Fontleroy and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs spending extended minutes on the bench.
With foul trouble thinning the frontcourt, Kayla Nelms stepped into an expanded role and delivered. Averaging nine minutes per game and having spent entire contests on the bench this season, Nelms logged 15 minutes, going 3-for-4 from the field, 6-for-8 from the line and grabbing four rebounds to help lift the Bears.
“We had our best rebounder on the bench, so we had to focus on rebounding. We had our best defender on the bench, so we all had to pick up the slack for each other and come together,” Scott said.
A collective response that opened the door for Nelms.
“We’ve all seen her do that in practice, so being able to see her come in and get the minutes she’s been working for — and see the things she does really well in practice translate to the game — was big,” Abraham said. “Kayla’s a really good player, and with time she’ll definitely get more of those opportunities, but this was a good game that she needed.”
The final 10 minutes told the story, with Scott, despite being face-guarded throughout the night, opening the fourth quarter the way the Big 12’s second-leading scorer does — by drilling a deep three over her defender to snap a lengthy scoring drought.
Neither team found the bottom of the rim again until Scott pushed in another two at the 2:50 mark.
Carrying a 63–62 lead into the final minute, Baylor leaned on execution at the free-throw line, with Abraham forcing a stop on ASU’s leading scorer before knocking down two free throws to push the lead to three.
After an answer from midrange and a foul in the bonus, Van Gytenbeek sealed the win with two more from 15 feet as the Bears shot 80% from the line and handled their business at home.
“This [win] was huge, and it was a great crowd tonight. The students stepped up, the fans stepped up, and we’re really going to need them on Thursday because they make a difference,” Collen said. “This building rocks when the students rock.”
The Bears return home Thursday night for a battle of No. 1s against TCU at Foster Pavilion. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN.
