Baylor overwhelmed Oklahoma almost from the beginning and took all the suspense out of the Lady Bears’ latest Big 12 triumph.
Top-ranked Baylor raced to a 20-8 lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back on the way to an 87-53 victory over the Sooners on Saturday night at the Ferrell Center.
Baylor held Oklahoma to just eight points in each of the first two quarters and that defensive effort allowed Lady Bears coach Kim Mulkey to dip deep into her bench early and often. By the end of the night, 10 Baylor players logged 10 or more minutes and all 12 Lady Bears saw action.
On a couple of occasions, Mulkey pulled a group of five reserves off the floor and put the starting five back in the game. Each time, the starters took what had briefly developed into a sloppy game and snapped it back into order.
But Mulkey emphasized in her post-game press conference that she wasn’t disappointed in the young group of reserves.
“It was because (Oklahoma) went to pressing,” Mulkey said. “I put five new kids that are not warmed up out there and their starters are going to press. I’m not going to play that game. Get them out of the press and let them have some success. I told the five of them when they came over to me that they did nothing wrong.”
Baylor (23-1, 13-0 Big 12) used its tremendous depth to establish a 20-point lead midway through the second quarter and Oklahoma (6-18, 2-11) never clawed back within 19 after that.
As a result, the Lady Bears have a 3-game lead atop the Big 12 with five games left in the regular season.
Lady Bears center Kalani Brown entered the game needing 19 points to reach 2,000 for her career and 10 rebounds to hit 1,000 career boards. However she picked up her second personal foul with 3:13 left in the first quarter and sat for the rest of the half.
Brown finished with eight points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 17 minutes. She sat out the entire fourth quarter with the rest of the Baylor starters.
Lady Bears guard Chloe Jackson carried much of the offensive load, especially in the first half. She caught fire shooting the ball and finished with a team-high 24 points in just 28 minutes of action.
“I’m just taking what the defense gives me and I’m always looking for my posts,” Jackson said. “But if I kick it into them and then they kick it back, I know I need to shoot it.”
Forward Lauren Cox pitched in 14 points, nine rebounds, eight blocks and three assists. She and Jackson were the only two Baylor players to score in double digits, but it wasn’t the kind of night for anyone to rack up gaudy stats.
— WACOTRIB