No. 2 Baylor women finally pull away from scrappy TCU
TCU was going to need a near-perfect performance to beat No. 2 Baylor on Sunday afternoon.
But the Horned Frogs missed their first 10 attempts from 3-point territory and were outrebounded 55-30 as the Bears walked out of Schollmaier Arena with a 91-73 victory after suffering their first Big 12 loss of the season last week against Texas.
“The big difference was rebounding, and their second-chance points,” TCU coach Raegan Pebley said. “They scored primarily off of that and off of transition.”
The big difference was rebounding, and their second-chance points.
TCU coach Raegan Pebley
Baylor came down with 23 offensive boards against TCU and turned those extra possessions into 29 points.
Despite its cold start, TCU (12-12, 4-9 Big 12) weathered the storm early and held Baylor (24-2, 13-1) to just eight points in the game’s first seven minutes.
Freshman guard Kianna Ray used a backdoor cut to get open for an off-balance score that put the Horned Frogs up 10-8 with 2:45 to go in the first quarter. But Baylor finished the quarter on an 8-0 flurry that turned into a 22-5 run in the second quarter.
Freshman forward Natalie Chou’s second 3-pointer of the game put the Bears up 30-15 with 6:25 remaining before halftime.
Chou finished with 14 points for Baylor, while Alexis Prince, who keyed the Bears’ run late in the first, led the team with 19. Nina Davis finished with 14 points and nine rebounds and became the fifth player in Baylor history with at least 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
The Frogs stayed within striking distance for much of the game but never found their shooting touch against Baylor’s long perimeter defenders — the Bears came into the contest holding opponents to just 52.8 points per game.
AJ Alix’s pullup 3-pointer with 2:45 left in the third brought TCU within 55-46, but Baylor always had an answer.
Alix scored a game-high 21 points, making her the first TCU player to score 20 or more in three straight games since Zahna Medley — the program’s leading scorer — did it across the end of 2013-14 and first game of 2014-15. Jada Butts added 14 points and eight rebounds, and freshman Amber Ramirez chipped in 11.
The Frogs trimmed the deficit to eight early in the fourth quarter on Amy Okonkwo’s 3-pointer, but Baylor responded with seven quick points on second-chance opportunities to make it 70-55 with 8:30 to play. On an afternoon when it took all TCU had to stay close, the Frogs couldn’t put together a late run to make it close against Baylor.
“It’s hard; we’ve got to work, though,” Alix said of battling for rebounds against Baylor. “We can make it happen. We’ve just got to work for them.”
TCU and Baylor tied 48-48 in the rebounding column when the teams met last month in Waco.
Matthew Martinez; 817-390-7760; @MCTinez817
Baylor | 16 | 25 | 22 | 28 | — | 91 |
TCU | 10 | 19 | 23 | 21 | — | 73 |
Baylor (24-2)—Davis 6-15 2-7 14, Brown 3-7 3-5 9, Jones 4-14 1-4 10, Prince 7-14 3-4 19, Wallace 2-3 2-4 8, Cave 4-9 0-0 8, Cohen 1-1 0-0 2, Cox 2-4 3-4 7, Mompremier 0-0 0-0 0, Chou 4-9 2-2 14, Landrum 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 33-76 16-30 91.
TCU (12-12)—Moore 2-4 0-0 4, Alix 8-21 4-4 21, Butts 3-7 7-8 14, Ray 1-4 4-8 6, Thompson 2-7 5-5 9, Akomolafe 0-0 0-0 0, Coleman 0-1 0-0 0, Hellessey 0-0 0-0 0, Okonkwo 3-4 1-1 8, Willie 0-0 0-0 0, Christian 0-0 0-0 0, Rainey 0-0 0-0 0, Ramirez 5-13 0-0 11, Totals 24-61 21-26 73.
3-Point Goals—Baylor 9-21 (Jones 1-5, Prince 2-5, Wallace 2-3, Cox 0-1, Chou 4-7), TCU 4-24 (Alix 1-8, Butts 1-3, Ray 0-2, Thompson 0-3, Okonkwo 1-2, Ramirez 1-6). Assists—Baylor 22 (Jones 7), TCU 15 (Alix 4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Baylor 55 (Prince 10), TCU 30 (Butts 8). Total Fouls—Baylor 21, TCU 25. A—3,686.
This story was originally published February 12, 2017 at 6:39 PM with the headline "No. 2 Baylor women finally pull away from scrappy TCU."