No. 10 Baylor women overwhelm Kansas State 95-50

WACO, Texas (AP) — Queen Egbo had 19 points and 16 rebounds, and three other Baylor players had at least 19 points as the 10th-ranked Bears overwhelmed Kansas State 95-50 on Wednesday night.

Jordan Lewis had 24 points while NaLyssa Smith had 22 and Sarah Andrews 19 for the Bears (18-5, 8-3 Big 12). Lewis and Andrews each had seven assists and five 3-pointers. Smith had seven rebounds.

“On a one-day prep, we just really focused on the little parts of our zone offense, really getting the ball into the high post early,” said Baylor coach Nicki Collen, whose team beat Texas on Sunday for the second time in three days. “We did a good job with hustle plays.”

Kansas State center Ayoka Lee, who entered the game leading the Big 12 with 24.7 points a game, was plagued by fouls early and was held to eight points on 3-of-8 shooting over 20 minutes. The 6-foot-6 Lee also had six rebounds.

Brylee Glenn had 10 points to lead Kansas State (17-7, 7-5), which shot 32.7% overall (18 of 55) while making only 3-of-14 3-pointers.

Baylor shot 57.4% (35 of 61) overall, and made 11 of 19 on 3-pointers. The Bears had a 43-23 rebounding advantage.

“We made shots. We got the ball inside, we got it out,” Collen said. “We made the pass and we stepped up and made shots.”

Lee picked up two fouls in in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the game, and went to the bench. The 6-foot-6 center returned with 8:46 left in the second period with the Wildcats down 25-14.

With 4:18 left in the second quarter, Lee picked up her third foul when she and Egbo got tangled up under the Kansas State basket and Egbo went to the floor. Wildcats coach Jeff Mittie was then called for a technical foul while protesting the call, and was still irate about it after the game.

“Well, I think that I’ll say this, I’m tired of not getting the hold. And then they call a bunch of holds later,” Mittie said. “You know, it’s either a hold or it’s not a hold, and so that irritates me. And so I think they were really physical with our guards on the perimeter. But they did a good job on her and then I think she lost her poise in that stretch. She was tired to getting held, and I don’t blame her.”

Mittie said he tried to react more calmly with the officials after the technical because he wanted to avoid getting a second technical and getting ejected from the game.

Baylor led 46-27 at the half and began the third quarter on an 18-4 run, led by a pair of 3s from Andrews. The Bears outscored Kansas State 32-11 during the period and took a 78-38 lead into the fourth quarter.

“It’s a game changer when your All-American picks up her third foul. It’s a game changer when you know they’re hitting 3s after that,” Mittie said. “So certainly they ran away from this point. It’s just hard when they’re hitting 3s like that because they’ve got the big girls underneath too.”

BIG PICTURE

Kansas State: The Wildcats remained in fourth place in the Big 12 standings, 2 1/2 games behind Big 12 co-leaders Iowa State and Oklahoma (both 20-3, 9-2), and 1 1/2 games behind the Bears. Kansas State still doesn’t have consecutive wins against Baylor since winning four in a row in the series from 2002-04. The Bears then won 36 in a row until K-State beat them 68-59 on Jan. 2 in the Big 12 opener for both teams.

Baylor: Even though the three conference losses by the Bears match their combined total for the previous five seasons, they are only a game behind Big 12 co-leaders ninth-ranked Iowa State and 12th-ranked Oklahoma (both 20-3, 9-2) in the standings under first-year coach Nicki Collen. Baylor has won the last 11 Big 12 regular-season titles.

UP NEXT

Kansas State: Plays at Sunflower State rival Kansas on Saturday night.

Baylor: Host West Virginia on Saturday, only two weeks after the Bears won 87-54 at WVU.

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More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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