By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
WACO, Texas — For the first time since 2022, No. 4 seed Baylor women’s basketball has the chance to roll into the Sweet 16 through a home-court advantage. Skating past the physical and scrappy No. 13 seed Grand Canyon Lopes, 73-60, in the first round, the Bears will face No. 5 seed Ole Miss in the Round of 32 at 3 p.m. Sunday at Foster Pavilion.
Head coach Nicki Collen’s Bears (28-7) worked out of the Round of 64 bloodied. Grand Canyon’s short, scrappy squad made everything hard for the green and gold. So will the Rebels (21-10) — whose starting lineup has a near three-inch height advantage compared to the Lopes.
“Really proud that we were able to find a way. I think Grand Canyon might have been a little underseeded,” Collen said. “I know when I looked at the top 68 and we were 14 and they were 17, [it] doesn’t seem like we should probably be playing each other, but I think you’re going to get a really elite matchup [against a] really athletic Ole Miss team.”
Ole Miss dismantled No. 12 Ball State in the first round, collecting 18 offensive rebounds to go along with six steals and five blocks. Head coach Yolett McPhee-McCain’s Rebels came into the tournament ranked the highest seed in program history since 1994 behind the SEC’s third-best defense.
“They’ve always been really good defensively and gotten after it and played really, really hard, so I think they’re a team that plays incredibly well in transition,” Collen said. “They play downhill. They get to the foul line. They’ve shot and made almost more free throws than their opponents have taken, so big key in the game is going to be playing without fouling.”
Looking to build on their Sweet 16 appearance a year ago, which ended in a four-point loss to the top-seeded USC Trojans, the Bears feel confident they can achieve a shot to advance to the Elite Eight again.
“I have another opportunity to survive and advance in font of our home crowd, that’s how I look at it,” graduate guard Sarah Andrews said. “It’s going to be even more physical [against Ole Miss] because it’s about surviving and advancing. So, they’re just going to let us play, especially when the team is trying to go to the Sweet 16.”
For Andrews and four other seniors, Sunday’s contest will mark the last game they play in Waco. Yaya Felder, Jada Walker and Aaronnette Vonleh all came away in double figures against the Lopes while Andrews focused one facilitating, but Collen hopes her five-year Bear will go out with a bang.
While she hasn’t let the idea of this being her final ride with Andrews kick in quite yet, Collen anticipates the confetti would spread the idea.
“I don’t feel very nostalgic right now,” Collen said. “ We’re very much in preparation mode so you’re not thinking about that. I think when the final buzzer sounds, regardless of what the scoreboard says, I think that will kick in. Hopefully, it’s because we’re celebrating, and we can talk about that, but I definitely want Sarah to make a basket. These last two games, as good as she was defensively and I thought she was the difference maker in the game yesterday, she didn’t have a field goal in either game.
“I know I don’t want that for her for sure, but I think this is what you play all season for.”
The Bears will tipoff their Round of 32 contest against the Rebels at 3:00 p.m. at the Foster Pavilion. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
