By Marissa Essenburg | Sports Writer
In the Big 12, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs says every night feels like war — constant adjustments, constant pressure, no room to overlook anyone.
On Thursday night at Foster Pavilion, No. 12 Baylor women’s basketball found itself on the wrong end of that reality, falling to No. 17 TCU, 83–67, for its fourth straight loss to the Horned Frogs in a game dictated from start to finish by TCU point guard Olivia Miles.
Even with 50 combined points from Jana Van Gytenbeek, Taliah Scott and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Baylor (21–5, 10–3 Big 12) had no answer for Miles. The All-American erupted for 33 points through three quarters, scoring 23 of TCU’s 25 third-quarter points as the floodgates opened and the Horned Frogs (22–4, 10–3 Big 12) seized control for good.
The last time the Bears allowed a 40-point performance, fidget spinners were a national obsession and graduate guard Van Gytenbeek was fresh off her first year of high school basketball — the night Morgan William lifted Mississippi State over Baylor to secure the Bulldogs’ first Final Four appearance in 2017.
That drought ended Thursday, as Miles poured in 40 points on 13-for-28 shooting. She controlled the tempo, lit it up from deep and turned a tight contest into a runaway.
“Olivia Miles was an absolute star tonight,” head coach Nicki Collen said. “We didn’t do enough to get her into actions at the defensive end, but there’s a reason she’s on the Nancy Lieberman Award list. She’s probably the best point guard in the country when you look at what she does — the way she controls her team and her ability to score. That kid is elite.”
Miles echoed that confidence postgame.
“I know Coach [Mark Campbell] was probably quaking in his boots when he saw 20 threes go up because he’s always telling me not to settle,” said Miles, who shot 10-for-20 from deep. “But that’s what the defense was giving me, and luckily I was making shots. If you would have told me I’d score 40 in a game, even last year, I would have laughed because I didn’t have that confidence in myself. So this one meant a lot for my mental.”
She wasn’t alone. Frontcourt running mate Marta Suárez poured in 27 points, and the pair combined for 67, matching Baylor’s entire offensive output and leaving the Bears little margin for error.
All season, Baylor’s blueprint has centered on perimeter pressure, pace and control of the glass. On Thursday, that blueprint flipped. TCU knocked down 15 deep balls and secured 39 rebounds to seize control.
“We expect to win every game we play, so the way we lost was disappointing,” Scott said. “But I’m excited to get back to work, watch film and see what we can do better. I expect us to evaluate, push forward and fix what we didn’t execute well enough. I feel like we’ve done that every time we’ve lost — we’ve gone back to practice with a purpose.
“We’ve got a fire after getting embarrassed on TV. We want to come back, we never want to let that happen again. I expect everyone to be bought into what we need to do to win.”
Just three weeks out from the Big 12 tournament, the Bears will look to bounce back Sunday at UCF (10-14, 2-11 Big 12). Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
