By Michael Haag | Sports Editor, Claire-Marie Scott | LTVN Sports Reporter
Every time the Bears fired away from deep, it seemed like a lid was on the basket. It’s been that kind of stretch for No. 13 Baylor women’s basketball.
The Bears, who hit just 7 of 30 shots from deep, fell to No. 12 Texas 67-55 on Thursday night in the Foster Pavilion. Baylor has shot 34-of-146 (23.2%) from 3-point land in six games since it went 8-of-19 against Houston on Jan. 6.
See the final meeting of the Bears and Longhorns curtsied with LTVN’s Claire-Marie Scott
It was a stark contrast from when these two teams opened conference play on Dec. 30, 2023 in Austin. The Bears shot 56.7% from the floor and 45% from deep to upset the then-No. 5 Longhorns 85-79. By comparison, Baylor shot 35% from the field and 23% from beyond the arc on Thursday.
“We scored in the 80s the last time we played them, we just didn’t get the tempo going [tonight],” Bears head coach Nicki Collen said. “We didn’t make enough shots. We shot the ball really well at the Moody Center. We didn’t shoot the ball well here tonight.”
Junior guard Jada Walker added that the Bears’ offense didn’t move the ball enough against the Longhorns’ 3-2 zone. Walker said she and Baylor’s other perimeter players got stagnant after catching a pass.
The Bears have struggled to attack zone defenses for over three weeks now, dating back to their 21-point loss at Kansas on Jan. 10. Baylor has lost four of its last six contests after starting the year 14-0.
“I honestly don’t think that [Texas’] zone was anything different than [what] we’ve been seeing the past few games,” Walker said. “Our movement just needed to be better. I feel like we got it at the high post and we didn’t really move on the perimeter enough to get more open shots.”
Thursday’s final Big 12 game between Baylor and Texas also had crucial Big 12 standing implications after Oklahoma’s win over No. 2 Kansas State on Wednesday. The Longhorns (20-3, 7-3 Big 12) are now two games out of first place, while the Bears (16-4, 5-4 Big 12) sit three-and-a-half games back.
#Texas HC Vic Schaefer on continuing the rivalry with #Baylor when the Longhorns leave for the SEC:
“I don’t have a problem continuing to play… I don’t have an issue playing a game… If it fits on the schedule, I certainly don’t have a problem playing it.” #HookEm vs. #SicEm pic.twitter.com/9NKejOyH80
— Parker Rehm (@parker_rehm) February 2, 2024
Baylor tied its season low with 55 points, and it was held to a season-low 20-made field goals. The Bears are now 4-2 against ranked opponents on the year, but they’re still one of just six teams in NCAA Division I to have four or more.
And Thursday’s showing came in front of a season- and venue-high 6,015 fans.
“I want to say I’m sorry to the fans that we didn’t play better because they showed up for us,” Collen said. “I thought our kids fought. I don’t think we laid down … but when you get a crowd like this you want to capitalize, because you want them to keep coming back. I thought, ‘Wow, it’s loud in there.’”
On the other hand, Texas has now won three of the last five overall meetings with Baylor. Prior to the 2021-22 postseason, the Bears had won 13-straight matchups. Baylor held a 29-1 record against Texas from 2010 to the end of the 2021-22 regular season.
“I thought our kids played really hard against a really good team,” Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer said. “That is a really good team, Nicki’s doing a great job.”
Walker opened the game with a short jumper before Texas went on an 11-0 run over the next 4:22. Junior guard Yaya Felder helped fuel a 10-0 rally in response, as Baylor took a 20-13 lead into the second quarter.
The Bears extended their run to 15-0 early in the second quarter, which forced Schaefer to call a timeout. The Longhorns clapped right back with 14 unanswered points of their own. Bears senior guard Sarah Andrews — who was the only Baylor player that finished in double figures with 11 — hit a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left to stop the bleeding and cut Baylor’s deficit to 27-23 at the half.
Baylor kept it close in the third, even tying it at 38-38 with 3:58 left in the period. But Texas outscored the Bears 11-2 over the final 3:32 to take a 49-40 advantage into the final quarter.
The Longhorns never let their lead dwindle to less than eight points, as they cruised to the 12-point victory in the final meeting as conference foes.
Three Longhorns — freshman guard Madison Booker (22), junior forward Aaliyah Moore (19) and senior forward Taylor Jones (14) — matched Baylor’s total scoring (55) by themselves. Texas was still without Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year junior guard Rori Harmon, who tore her ACL on Dec. 27, 2023.
Booker, who was named Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year, has stepped in at the starting guard spot and extended her double-figure scoring streak to 12 straight games.
Thursday marked the last regular season Big 12 meeting between Baylor and Texas, as the Longhorns are headed to the SEC following this season. Graduate student Aijha Blackwell, who finished with double digit rebounds (11) for the fourth-straight game, said she hopes this rivalry continues moving forward in nonconference play, even though she wants to get one more crack at them this year.
“Hopefully we play them in the tournament,” Blackwell said.
Both Collen and Schaefer said they’d be interested in scheduling Baylor-Texas as part of future nonconference schedules.
Baylor will now hit the road to face another in-state opponent in Houston, as the two teams will square off at 2 p.m. on Sunday in the Fertitta Center in Houston.
When asked what it’s going to take to climb back up the Big 12 standings, Collen kept it simple.
“Win,” Collen said. “We have to play better.”
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