No. 4 Baylor wins 86-44 in NCAA rematch vs. Northwestern St
WACO, Texas (AP) - Baylor coach Kim Mulkey wanted to make sure everyone knew why the No. 4 Lady Bears kept pressing against Northwestern State in a game they controlled from the opening tip.
Because Lady Demons coach Brooke Stoehr asked Mulkey to keep it up as the Lady Bears went on to an 86-44 victory Friday night.
"She's trying to get her team ready for her league. I would have backed off but she looked down there at one of the coaches and said keep on pressing in the zone," Mulkey said. "It doesn't surprise me a bit because that's the way Brooke coaches and that's why she's playing the Baylors of the world."
Mulkey and Stoehr were both NCAA Final Four point guards at Louisiana Tech for coach Leon Barmore. Mulkey was later an assistant coach and recruited Stoehr to play for the Lady Techsters.
Freshman post Kalani Brown scored 16 points to lead five Baylor players in double figures. Alexis Jones had 15 points, and Nina Davis had 14 points and seven assists for the Lady Bears (8-0), who played the second of three games in a five-day stretch. Kristina Higgins had 13 points, and freshman Beatrice Mompremier had 12.
Niya Johnson had 12 assists for Baylor in the rematch of a first-round NCAA Tournament game last March that the Lady Bears won 77-36 at home.
Shahd Abboud scored 10 points for Northwestern State (3-5) from the Southland Conference.
"We were at Texas a couple of weeks ago and had some kids who didn't get to play in that game, freshmen bigs. It was great for them to experience this big-girl basketball that we told them about," Stoehr said. "It was the first time they could experience that. For us, you go into these games and look at how are we going to execute what we are trying to do."
Higgins scored nine points during Baylor's game-opening 13-2 run, including a pair of layups on passes from Davis. Baylor had 11 assists on its first 13 baskets, and finished with 30 assists on 35 field goals.
Baylor scored at least 10 straight points at the start of each of the first three quarters.
With a 27-13 lead after the first quarter, Brown scored six points as the Lady Bears opened the second quarter with a 12-0 run. She then scored the first six points after halftime in an 11-0 spurt that made it 56-27.
"Just wedging and asking for the ball and going toward the spots that are open," Brown said.
SHOULDER POP
For the second game in a row, Mompremier's shoulder popped out of place. It's not likely to be the last for the 6-4 post player. "We've got to get it fixed at the end of the year but it's not going to stop her from playing," Mulkey said. "She's tough and she'll pop it back in. ... I've watched it happen since I've been recruiting her."
EXTENDING THE STREAK
Baylor won its 156th consecutive home game against unranked opponents, since a loss to Auburn in the WNIT final April 4, 2003.
TIP-INS
Northwestern State: Lady Demons guard Janelle Perez has started every game of her collegiate career, 106 games in a row.
Baylor: The Lady Bears are 8-0 for the fifth time under Mulkey. The last was 2011-12, the season they went 40-0 for their last national championship.
UP NEXT
The next game for both teams is against Grambling State. Baylor hosts Grambling on Sunday, while Northwestern State has an extended break before playing the Lady Tigers at home Dec. 12.