No. 6 Baylor Ends Regular Season 75-65 Over Texas Tech
WACO, Texas (AP) - Nina Davis scored 22 points and Niya Johnson broke the Big 12 single-season record for assists as league champion No. 6 Baylor rebounded from consecutive losses, beating Texas Tech 75-65 in the regular-season finale Monday night.
Kristy Wallace added 14 points for the Lady Bears (27-3, 16-2 Big 12), who were coming off losses at Oklahoma and Iowa State since clinching their fifth consecutive Big 12 title in their last home game Feb. 21. Alexis Prince and Imani Wright each had 12 points.
Johnson, who came in the national leader with 8.7 assists per game, had 12 to push her season total to 255. The junior guard broke her school record of 244 set last year, and soon after halftime surpassed the league record 250 that Angel Goodrich set at Kansas three years ago.
Amber Battle had 23 points for Texas Tech (15-15, 5-13), which takes a five-game losing streak its Big 12 tournament opener Friday in Dallas. Kelsi Baker had 13 points.
Baylor had as much as a 27-point lead before the Lady Raiders made things interesting with a 16-1 run. They were within 67-60 on two free throws by Battle with 3:29 left.
Prince made a jumper with 2:59 left, the first field goal by the Lady Bears since Ieshia Small's jumper with 6:38 left that had made It 66-44.
After consecutive losses to unranked opponents for the first time in coach Kim Mulkey's 15 seasons, the Lady Bears scored the game's first five points and never trailed. They had their first double-digit lead after scoring eight points in a 25-second span off three Tech turnovers.
Wallace stole an inbound pass for a quick layup with 13:31 left in the first half, then Davis immediately duplicated that for a layup of her own 5 seconds later while being fouled. Davis added the free throw after a timeout, getting a second try when the Lady Raiders were called for a lane violation on her miss.
Johnson had a steal and an assist for Davis for another three-point play that made it 18-4 with 13:06 left in the half.
Battle hit a 3-pointer and Dayo Olabode had a three-point play less than 30 seconds apart after that to make it 18-10, but the Lady Raiders didn't get closer until their big run late.
Baylor was up 36-15 when Prince had a steal and went the length of the court of a layup with 4½ minutes left in the half, and led 39-20 at halftime.
The Lady Bears are the No. 1 seed as they go for their fifth consecutive Big 12 tournament championship. They play a quarterfinal game Saturday.
TIP-INS
Texas Tech: The Lady Raiders led the overall series 47-34, but have lost 19 of the last 20 meetings, including 11 in a row at Waco.
Baylor: The Lady Bears outscored Texas Tech 38-12 in the paint. On the season, Baylor has outscored opponents 1,284 to 626 insde.
UP NEXT
Texas Tech plays Friday in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.
Top-seeded Baylor plays Saturday at the Big 12 tournament.
