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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

AUSTIN - This meant something.

Monday night's 93-87 shootout was more than just another win. It was more than the third-ranked Baylor Lady Bears beating the No. 6 Texas Longhorns for the 18th time in the last 19 meetings and eighth in a row in Austin.

This was about winning a championship.

Seniors Dekeiya Cohen and Kristy Wallace combined for 47 points to help the Lady Bears (26-1, 16-0) knock off a hot-shooting Texas team (22-5, 13-3) and win their eighth consecutive Big 12 regular-season championship. If you're keeping count, that's back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back conference champions.

"That matters. Eight in a row, guys, please don't take that for granted," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "Do you guys really understand how hard that is to do? And then, to do it on the road in a (tough) environment against a good team like Texas, we don't take it for granted. . . . It means something for us to win a Big 12 championship.

"These kids don't come to Baylor to win games, they come to win championships. And they don't run their mouths about how many championships they're going to win. They just go out and play hard. They have a competitive fire within. And they have a coach that has a competitive fire that tries to bring it out in them."

The Lady Bears needed every bit of that competitive fire to hold off Brooke McCarty and a Longhorn team that shot 51.5 percent from the field (34-of-66) and 9-of-18 from outside the arc. After hitting just 5-of-19 and scoring 16 points in an 81-56 loss last month in Waco, McCarty was a sizzling 7-of-9 from 3-point distance and scored a career-high 32 points.

At the end of the third quarter, she heaved up a desperation hook shot at the buzzer that found nothing but net.

"We're going to get everybody's best shot," said Mulkey, whose team won its 23rd game in a row. "Texas played good today, and we expect that. Sometimes, you'd like to relax a little bit and think, 'Can't somebody miss a shot that isn't a banked shot from 3?' McCarty throws up an off-balance 3. It happens to us in every game. But, that's respect, that's people trying to beat you."

From the very start, this game was far different than the 25-point blowout in Waco.

"I think everybody's question was whether we were going to be competitive today," Texas coach Karen Aston said. "I think we definitely answered that."

The Longhorns turned it over six times in the first quarter, but found themselves down by just four, 23-19. Kalani Brown had a huge first quarter for the Lady Bears, scoring 11 points, hitting 4-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the line.

With McCarty scoring 12 points in the first half, Texas stayed within striking distance and got within four, 39-35, on a pair of free throws by freshman center Rellah Boothe. But, freshman guard Alexis Morris hit a pair of jumpers in the last 38 seconds in a perfect 2-for-1 execution as Baylor went into the break with a 43-35 lead.

Aerial Atkins tied it up at 45-45 with a pair of free throws, capping off a 10-2 run, and then gave the Longhorns a 51-50 lead on a driving layup at the 5:33 mark in the third quarter. With Brown on the bench with her third foul, Texas had a golden chance to take control of the game.

But, that was the moment when Wallace took over. She drove in for a layup that gave the Lady Bears the lead for good and scored 10 points in an 18-5 run that put them up by double digits, 68-56.

"I just wanted to do what I could to help my team," said Wallace, who had 23 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals after scoring a career-high 27 in the first game against Texas. "Kalani was out with some fouls. That's just a lot of scoring out of the game. I just found my opportunities, and my teammates set me up, and we were able to take it to the rack a few times."

In that critical stretch, Mulkey said, "we ran some different things to make sure the right person has the ball in her hands and the right one is shooting it."

McCarty's fluke 3-pointer buzzer-beater cut the deficit back to single digits, 68-59. But, the Longhorns went three minutes without scoring to start the fourth quarter as Baylor stretched the lead back to 15.

Hitting 6-of-7 from outside the arc in the period, the Longhorns had a chance to make things interesting. But, Cohen came up with two big offensive rebounds down the stretch and the Lady Bears hit 8-of-9 free throws in the last 65 seconds to keep them at bay.

Cohen, who had 24 points and eight rebounds, played most of her 39 minutes in the post area with Brown (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Lauren Cox (15 points) in foul trouble.

"We practice it a lot," she said. "I think I can handle myself pretty well, so there's no need to panic. Me and Lauren, we make adjustments, we match up, and I just defend as best I can."

Cohen and Wallace finish out a perfect 4-for-4 in conference regular-season championships.

"It's incredible," Wallace said. "It's such an opportunity. I'm so thankful. Thankful to God, thankful to my family, just to have this opportunity to be here. Thankful to Kim, thankful to the coaches. It's incredible, and I'm so blessed to be on this team and to even be competing for championships."

Baylor closes out the regular season with matchups against TCU (17-9, 8-7) at 5 p.m. Saturday in Fort Worth and West Virginia (19-8, 7-8) for Senior Day at 8 p.m. next Monday at the Ferrell Center. The Lady Bears will be the top seeds for the Big 12 Championship that starts March 2 at Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Energy Arena.