NaLyssa Smith another double-double as No. 8 Baylor beats KU

WACO, Texas (AP) - NaLyssa Smith had her 21st career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 8 Baylor beat Kansas 83-50 on Thursday night.

Smith has three double-doubles in a row, and seven in her last eight games.

'œYeah, I feel like in quarantine and the time we had off, I worked a lot on perimeter shots and just ballhandling and little things like that to expand my game,'ť Smith said. 'œSo yeah, when you bring a lot more to the table, it's going to be harder to guard.'ť

DiJonai Carrington had 17 points for the Lady Bears (13-2, 8-1 Big 12). Moon Ursin, a senior in her first season as a starter for Baylor, had 16 points for her seventh double-digit scoring game in a row.

Holly Kersgieter had 21 points with three 3-pointers to lead Kansas (6-9, 2-7), which has lost four games in a row and seven of eight.

Baylor led throughout after Queen Egbo, who finished with 11 rebounds, made three jumpers in the first 1:32 of the game. A jumper by Smith made it 8-0 on the way to a 13-point lead after the first quarter.

A jumper by Kersgieter with 1:34 left in the second quarter got the Jayhawks within 35-26, but they got no closer.

Ursin converted a three-point play on the next possession and Baylor maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game, going ahead 63-38 when Caitlin Bickle made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the third quarter.

Baylor has won 14 in a row against the Jayhawks, and is 32-2 against them in coach Kim Mulkey's 21 seasons.

CARRINGTON'S COMEBACK

Carrington, a graduate transfer from Stanford, has had consecutive 17-point games since coming back from missing four games in a row because of COVID-19 protocols.

'œWhile I was out, I just tried to stay locked in with everything that was going on with the team, staying in contact obviously and continue to just watch film, watch myself do good things and do bad things to learn from,'ť Carrington said. 'œBut also a lot of watching myself do good things with this team just remind myself of what I'm capable of.'ť

LOT OF BOARDS

Baylor outrebounded Kansas 56-25, including 26 offensive rebounds, on the way to a 21-1 edge in second-chance points.

'œThey're really crashing the offensive boards. It's become where we've programmed them in the last week or two that guys, offensive rebounds, offensive rebounds, offensive rebounds,'ť Mulkey said. 'œSo we've got, two games in a row, 23 and 26 offensive boards.'ť

BIG PICTURE

Kansas: The Jayhawks, who had three consecutive games postponed in the first half of January because of COVID-19 protocols, played the third of their four games in a nine-day span.

Baylor: The Lady Bears, who have won the last 10 Big 12 regular-season titles, reached the midpoint of their 18-game conference schedule atop the standings again. They dropped out of first place briefly following their loss to Iowa State on Jan. 16. They have since won their last five games, including a win at Iowa State last Sunday.

UP NEXT

Kansas plays TCU at home on Sunday.

Baylor plays at Kansas State on Sunday.

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