Davis' double-double lifts No. 3 Baylor over Kansas 71-63
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - Last time Baylor played at Allen Fieldhouse, the Lady Bears left with a loss. The Lady Bears weren't going to let it happen again.
"Our most recent memory of being here was a loss," Lady Bears coach Kim Mulkey said. "We didn't forget last year. We know how difficult it is to win here."
Nina Davis had 24 points and 14 rebounds, Imani Wright added 16 points and No. 3 Baylor held off the pesky Kansas Jayhawks to win 71-63 on Saturday.
"You have to respect Davis for how hard she chases," Kansas coach Bonnie Hendrickson said, noting that Davis had almost half of Baylor's 36 rebounds.
Chelsea Gardner scored 17 points and freshman Lauren Aldridge finished with 14 for Kansas (9-9, 0-5 Big 12).
Baylor (16-1, 5-0) charged out to a 6-0 lead to start the game, with the first four points coming from Niya Johnson. Kansas would cut Baylor's lead to three with a 3-pointer from Terriell Bradley, but that was the closest Kansas would come until later in the first half.
With nine minutes left in the first half, Wright drove home a layup that spurred an 11-2 run that put Kansas down by 11 points.
Kansas had some life after Aldridge hit a 3-pointer with three minutes left to play, but Baylor took the momentum to the locker room after Davis hit her second free throw before time expired. That momentum didn't last long. Baylor started out the second half shooting 1 of 7, while Kansas shot a perfect 3 of 3, cutting the once 12-point deficit to four.
Halfway through the second half, Kansas used a 7-2 run, capped by a jumper from Gardner that put Baylor up by just one.
The Lady Bears quickly regrouped and extended their lead to four and locked down on defense.
Any hope of Kansas pulling off the upset ended as Gardner fouled out with three minutes left to play, and when Manning-Allen fouled out with 1:30 remaining.
Hendrickson said it was difficult to get regrouped after losing those two, and said Gardner and Manning-Allen have consistently been getting into foul trouble. Once they were off the court, Kansas couldn't regain its footing.
"We were the ones who dug ourselves into this and we're the only ones who can dig ourselves out of this," Henrickson said.
TIP-INS
Kansas: Kansas continues its conference woes. The loss to Baylor was its sixth straight conference loss, dating back to last season.
Baylor: With the win over Kansas, Baylor is on a 15-game win streak.
UP NEXT
Kansas travels to Texas Tech on Wednesday.
Baylor hosts Texas on Monday.
STAT LINES
Davis has scored in double digits in all 17 games this season, and averages 21.6 points per game.
MASH UNIT
Gardner and Natalie Knight nabbed their 67th and 48th double-digit point game of their careers.