No. 4 Baylor Lady Bears Beat TCU 81-75 For 11th Big 12 Win
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FORT WORTH (AP) -- 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.
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 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.
"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.
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."
SHOOTING FROM 3
The game matched the Big 12's top two teams in both shooting and defending 3-pointers. The Frogs were 10-of-19 from long range (five of the makes came in the fourth quarter), and Baylor 5-of-13. Wallace had three 3s for Baylor, including two in a 23-second span late in the first half -- from the right wing on an inbound pass from Johnson and then from the left wing on the next trip down the court.
TIP-INS
Baylor: Davis was 8-of-13 shooting and added six rebounds. ... After Beatrice Mompremier missed two free throws after a flagrant foul midway through the first quarter, Baylor kept the ball and the 6-foot-4 freshman post missed consecutive layups before getting both rebounds and then making the third. ... The Lady Bears played the first of four road games their next six games.
NIYA HELPING
Johnson, who also had eight points and eight rebounds, had her 34th career game with double-figure assists, and increased her Big 12 career record to 895 assists and moved to No. 13 on the NCAA list. She had only two turnovers, the first coming only 6 seconds into the game.
TCU: The Horned Frogs are 0-8 this season against ranked teams. ... TCU is 3-4 at Schollmaier Arena since moving into their completely redone home the week before Christmas. Before that, the Frogs had gone 21-4 while playing home games across the street at the University Recreation Center over parts of two seasons. ... TCU's last win against Baylor was on Feb. 28, 1990.
UP NEXT:
Baylor at Texas Tech on Saturday.
TCU hosts Iowa State on Saturday.
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