No. 4 Baylor women roll past Texas Tech 82-51
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Baylor's reserves nearly outscored Texas Tech's starters.
Kalani Brown scored 17 points and Kristy Wallace added 15 to help No. 4 Baylor defeat the Lady Raiders 82-51 in a Big 12 quarterfinal on Saturday. The Lady Bears' reserves, led by Brown and Wallace, outscored Texas Tech's 45-3.
"I've just got a lot of weapons and a lot of things I can do," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "It just depends on the flow of the game."
Texas Tech coach Candi Whitaker said Baylor's depth is rare, especially in the post. Brown is a 6-foot-7 freshman, and the team also has 6-4 freshman Beatrice Mompremier and 6-3 junior Khadijiah Cave.
"There is no one else in the country that can do that, to my knowledge," Whitaker said. "There are some teams with size, but not the kind of depth they have with the type of size. So when you can keep post players fresh, you know, you're in business.
Alexis Jones scored 12 points and Alexis Prince scored all 10 of her points in the second half for the Lady Bears (31-1), who won their 18th straight. Nina Davis, the team's leading scorer for the season, scored just six points and played just 16 minutes.
Baylor advanced to play Oklahoma in a semifinal on Sunday. Oklahoma defeated rival Oklahoma State 61-43 Saturday after losing to the Cowgirls twice in the regular season.
Baylor beat Oklahoma 78-68 at home and 78-70 on the road this season. Oklahoma's Derica Wyatt said the Sooners didn't play to their potential in the earlier meetings. That hit a nerve with Mulkey.
"Sometimes when you don't play up to your potential, you might better give your opponent credit," Mulkey said. "If I lose ball games, the first thing I do is come in and say, 'Hey, we got beat,' and give the opponent credit."
With Oklahoma playing about a half hour from campus, the Sooners should have a homecourt advantage.
"They're playing in an area that's close to home for them," Mulkey said. "I would imagine they will have lots of fans here. We will do the best that we can and, you know, they're good."
Japreece Dean scored 17 points and Ivonne CookTaylor added 16 and Zuri Sanders chipped in 11 points and 15 rebounds for Texas Tech (13-18). Baylor led 38-26 at halftime as Wallace and Brown each scored nine points. The Lady Bears forced the Lady Raiders into nine turnovers before the break.
The Lady Bears extended their lead in the third quarter. A 16-4 run pushed Baylor's lead to 61-32. The Lady Bears outscored Tech 29-10 in the third quarter and led 67-36 heading into the fourth.
Texas Tech made just 4-of-18 shots in the third period, while Baylor made 10 of 17.
"We just want to go out there and get it done and keep pushing forward, keep pushing the lead," Wallace said.
STAT LINES
Baylor shot 50 percent from the field and committed just nine turnovers.
QUOTABLE
Whitaker on why Baylor is so good: "They're extremely difficult to guard. They have great perimeters, huge inside presence that keeps coming at you. In order to beat them, we wanted to really try to take away as much transition baskets way as possible, as many second-chance shots away as possible, and we needed to shoot it well from the three."
TIP-INS
Texas Tech: Made just 2-of-17 3-pointers. ... Dean made 8-of-23 shots. ... Tech was outrebounded 45-34.
Baylor: Niya Johnson, the nation's leader in assists, finished with five. ... Baylor won the regular-season games against Tech 69-43 and 66-36. ... Baylor won both regular-season meetings with Oklahoma.
UP NEXT:
Baylor: Faces Oklahoma in semifinal of Big 12 tournament on Sunday.
Texas Tech: Done for season.
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Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP .
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This version corrects the spelling of Khadijiah Cave's name in the fourth paragraph.