TCU women give No. 4 Baylor a scare, but rally falls short
Baylor coach Kim Mulkey felt fortunate leaving TCU with another victory. That 25-point lead the No. 4 Lady Bears took into the fourth quarter was shrinking in a hurry.
“Just total lapses in all phases of the game,” Mulkey said after the Lady Bears held on for an 81-75 victory, their 11th in a row in the Big 12. “I’m as disappointed in a basketball team as I’ve ever been in a win.”
Zahna Medley scored 16 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter for TCU (12-11, 4-8 Big 12), and AJ Alix had 13 points with three of the Horned Frogs’ five 3-pointers in that span. Alix finished with 18 points.
I’m as disappointed in a basketball team as I’ve ever been in a win.
Baylor coach Kim Mulkey
The Frogs’ 37 points in the final 10 minutes were just one less than they scored combined the previous three quarters.
“It just allows us to build confidence going into the next game,” said Medley, who was 3-of-14 shooting before making all five of her shots in the fourth quarter. “I think we needed to see some shots fall for us, and go into the net.”
Baylor (24-1, 11-1), tied with No. 6 Texas for the Big 12 lead, has won 20 consecutive games in the series since 1990. The average margin had been almost 25 points in the previous seven games in the four seasons since the Horned Frogs joined the Big 12, and 16 had been the closest.
What we talked about in our timeouts was playing with pride. No matter, don’t play to the scoreboard, play to our process and commit to it.
TCU coach Raegan Pebley
“I don’t want to take anything away from TCU, because they never quit. But if you’re going to be the No. 4 team in the country, you need to put a nail in the coffin and we didn’t do it,” Mulkey said. “Fouls, stopping the clock, missing free-throws. We’re just fortunate we got a big enough lead to get out of here with a win.”
Nina Davis had 19 points and Niya Johnson had 14 assists for the Lady Bears. Freshman post Kalani Brown had her first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Kristy Wallace had 13 points and Alexis Jones 10 on 3-of-15 shooting with seven turnovers.
I don’t want to take anything away from TCU, because they never quit. But if you’re going to be the No. 4 team in the country, you need to put a nail in the coffin and we didn’t do it.
Kim Mulkey
Veja Hamilton finished with 12 points for TCu, and Caitlin Diaz had 11.
Davis had two points, four fouls and two of Baylor’s six turnovers in the fourth quarter, when Baylor was only 2-of-11 shooting and 14-of-23 from the free-throw line.
The Lady Bears never trailed after Jones hit 3-pointer about 4 minutes into the game, and had a 63-38 lead after Davis made a layup at the end of the third quarter before TCU’s big surge
“What we talked about in our timeouts was playing with pride,” second-year TCU coach Raegan Pebley said. “No matter, don’t play to the scoreboard, play to our process and commit to it.”
UP NEXT:
Baylor at Texas Tech on Saturday.
TCU hosts Iowa State on Saturday.
This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 11:18 PM with the headline "TCU women give No. 4 Baylor a scare, but rally falls short."