By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
When graduate student guard Sarah Andrews sat down at the podium before the first practice of the season, she smiled. The three-time All-Big 12 Team member is back for her fifth season in Waco, alongside a wealth of experienced talent. The Bears’ ceiling is sky-high.
“I’m excited for this year,” Andrews said. “We got a good group this year, so I think we got a chance to make a lot of noise. That’s what I came back for. I think I got some unfinished business.”
After cutting her teeth under veteran leaders like NaLyssa Smith and Queen Egbo, Andrews stepped into a larger leadership role last year and thrived. Junior wing Bella Fontleroy, a former unanimous Big 12 All-Freshman Team member who averaged 9.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in 2023-24, said Andrews has taken strides as a leader.
“Her leadership is gonna make the difference in this team this year,” Fontleroy said. “The bond that I’ve gotten to personally create with her, I was just joking a second ago about how she was a sophomore whenever I came on my official visit here, but the amount that she has grown as not only a player, but as a leader and a person, you can see it.
“You can see it when we step on the court, when we’re in practice, whether she’s on as point guard every rep [or] whether she’s a two. Her voice and her leadership have a tremendous impact on us and our program.”
Eight of the top 10 scorers (and three of the top four) are back after helping the team reach last year’s Sweet 16. Junior wing Darianna Littlepage-Buggs is back, two years removed from being named unanimous Big 12 Freshman of the Year, as is senior guard Jada Walker and her relentless perimeter defense. Pac-12 All-Conference senior center Aaronette Vonleh is in the door from Colorado, as is NJCAA First-Team All-American guard Waiata Jennings from Collins College.
The talent is all there. The Bears earned a third-place nod in the Big 12 Preseason Poll, behind Kansas State and Iowa State. Andrews was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team alongside Vonleh, who also earned Co-Newcomer of the Year honors.
“I don’t think the expectation is ever anything less than a conference championship,” head coach Nicki Collen said. “I think that’s why I came to Baylor. I think that’s why our players choose Baylor. I think we know that we were one defensive stop away from maybe being in the Elite Eight. … I like what we have on paper.”
Collen said that an added wrinkle in this year’s offense will be a renewed emphasis on post offense around Vonleh, who averaged 14.0 points per game (22.7 per 40 minutes) on 54.9% shooting last year for Colorado. As the senior point guard, Andrews will be tasked with driving paint touches to the senior.
“Sarah’s probably our best post feeder, because she has experience doing it,” Collen said. “We just want to get Sarah back healthy enough that she looks like, as we like to say, sophomore Sarah, because I think that’s when she was elite.”
With over 1,300 career points under her belt, Andrews is on pace to crack Baylor’s top-10 all-time scoring list during the regular season. For the second time, she enters the year as the program’s longest-tenured player, this time after leading the Bears to a 26-8 record and a Sweet 16 berth in the NCAA Tournament. The graduate student point guard has her eyes set on legacy.
“I want to take this team as far as I can,” Andrews said. “I think we got a chance to be a special group. We got that core there. We got a true five that came back that actually knows Coach Nicki’s system, where in the past, we really didn’t have that. So I think we’re going to make a deep run.
“And, you know, leaving my legacy. Baylor still has to be Baylor when I leave. We still got to be able to bring in great players. We still got great players here. So I just want to be able to leave an impact with that leadership. Baylor still has to be the Baylor that it was when I first came.”
The Bears will open the 2024-25 season with an exhibition against Langston on Nov. 3 at the Foster Pavilion, before lifting the lid on the season against Incarnate Word on Nov. 7 at the Foster Pavilion.
