Davis helps No. 3 Baylor win 21st straight game
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Nina Davis' shooting put third-ranked Baylor in position to beat Texas on Sunday. Her defense sealed the victory.
Davis scored 15 of her 20 points in the second half and blocked a shot by Brooke McCarty in the lane with one second remaining as the Texas guard moved toward the basket, giving Baylor a 70-68 victory, its 21st in a row.
Davis grabbed an offensive rebound and made a put-back with 3:55 remaining to give Baylor (22-1 11-0 Big 12), a nine-point lead.
But No. 20 Texas (15-7, 4-7) closed in on the Lady Bears with a 3-pointer by McCarty, a layup by Kelsey Lang, and a 3-pointer by Brady Sanders, the latter cutting the deficit to four with 1:19 remaining.
Then Baylor's Niya Johnson turned the ball over, leading to a short bank shot by Texas' Brianna Taylor that left Baylor leading by two points with 51 seconds left.
After Johnson missed a driving shot, Davis made the block that preserved the victory.
"We were in control, up nine," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "Everything that could go wrong the last 3:55 did. But we made the defensive stop at the end. I'll take a win."
Johnson, a point guard who leads the nation in assists, scored a season-best 17 points for Baylor one more than forward Imani Wright.
Lang matched her career-high with 20 points for Texas. She also had a season-best 11 rebounds. Sanders scored 14 and led Texas with six assists.
Texas has lost five of its last six games. The Longhorns shot a poor 34.4 percent against Baylor but had just nine turnovers after committing 44 in their previous two games, losses at TCU and Kansas State.
"We were more efficient," Texas coach Karen Aston said. "There are no moral victories in this game, but I'm pleased with some things."
During a timeout with five seconds remaining, Aston devised a play in which either Lang or freshman guard Ariel Atkins would take the final shot. Sanders was supposed to pass the ball to Atkins.
"That last possession was on me," Sanders said. "I missed Ariel coming off a screen."
Baylor's Johnson was glad the ball didn't go to Lang, a 6-foot-5 center who had established position near the basket all game. She hit seven of nine from the field and six of seven free throws.
"How the game was going, she was either going to get fouled or make the basket," Johnson said.
TIP-IN
Texas: The Longhorns have been outrebounded only once this season, during a loss at Baylor on Jan. 19 when Texas lost Nneka Enemkpali, the top rebounder in the Big 12, to a season-ending injury in the first half.
Baylor: The Bears have won nine straight games against Texas going back to January, 2011, the last five with Karen Aston coaching the Longhorns. The first four were with Gail Goestenkors at the helm.
ROUGH RETURN
Guard Empress Davenport, a top reserve for Texas, returned after missing two games with a shoulder injury. Davenport scored just two points in 22 minutes, missing all six of her shots from the field, before fouling out with 4:43 remaining. Another key reserve for Texas, power forward Nekia Jones, missed the game with an injury to her left knee that she suffered during a game at Kansas State on Wednesday. No timetable has been set for her return. Jones averages 5.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in nearly 12 minutes a game.
UP NEXT
Texas is at Oklahoma State on Wednesday
Baylor hosts Oklahoma on Wednesday