Even after graduating six seniors, Baylor women’s basketball opens the season with experience at its core. Four-year veterans are carrying the culture and expectations that head coach Nicki Collen believes will define the program.

When looking back at close games, there are always key factors that decide the outcome of the game. For Baylor on Saturday night, it was the run game, which underperformed and contributed heavily to the loss.

Baylor’s secondary played its best all-around game in years against the reigning conference champs Saturday, holding Arizona State to three red zone field goals before a fourth quarter breakdown led to a walkoff score.

The Sun Devils kicked a walk-off, 43-yard field goal to spoil the Bears’ Big 12 home opener. Sawyer Robertson tossed three touchdown passes and Michael Trigg made key plays down the stretch, but four turnovers proved too much to overcome.

Baylor finished the night with eight team blocks, narrowly edging Texas’ seven, but the Longhorns’ efficiency on offense proved decisive. Baylor never led in the match, and every time the Bears found momentum defensively, errors halted their progress.

The Bears opened conference play Friday night with a 1-0 loss to in-state rival Texas Tech. The Red Raiders’ only score came off a penalty kick by senior forward Peyton Parsons.

Sawyer Robertson leads the Big 12 with 1,070 yards passing and has received some early-season Heisman buzz. He joins LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier and Penn State’s Drew Allar as the company’s latest college signees.

The Bears are 2-1 heading into their second night game of the season. They’ll face a Sun Devils team that has struggled at times to replicate last season’s success.