Baylor
South Dakota
No. 2 WBB Readies for No. 10 South Dakota
3/19/2022 12:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Bears to host final game in Ferrell for 2021-22 season
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7/5 BAYLOR BEARS (28-6) Location: Waco,Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Nicki Collen (Marquette, 1998) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (28-6) vs. SOUTH DAKOTA (28-5) March 20, 2022 • 5 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN2 Talent: Elise Woodward (pxp) and Andrea Lloyd (analyst) LISTEN: ESPN Central Texas, BaylorBears.com Talent: Derek Smith (pxp), Sophia Young-Malcolm (Analyst) Baylor Social Media:    |
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SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (28-5) Location: Vermillion, S.D. Conference/Affiliation: Summit League Head Coach: Dawn Plitzuweit (Michigan Tech, 1995) Roster | Stats (PDF) | Game Notes (PDF) |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
As just a pure basketball fan, Dawn Plitzuweit finds the second-seeded Baylor women "really fun to watch."
Only problem is she won't be watching as a fan when her 10th-seeded South Dakota Coyotes (28-5) face the Bears (28-6) in an NCAA Tournament second-round game at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Ferrell Center.
Coming off its first-ever NCAA Tournament win – a dominant 75-61 upset of seventh-seeded Ole Miss – South Dakota has to get through the monster that is Baylor to make it to the Sweet 16 next weekend in Wichita, Kan.
Plitzuweit, who was the head coach at Northern Kentucky when first-year Baylor coach Nicki Collen was an assistant at ASUN-rival Florida Gulf Coast, said Collen "stepped into a potentially challenging situation" at Baylor.
"You're following a legend. That's really hard," Plitzuweit said of Collen following Hall of Fame coach Kim Mulkey, who won three national championships at Baylor.
"I think she's done a tremendous job, because the toughness and the grittiness defensively of Baylor women's basketball has continued. On top of that, they also shoot the ball at a very high percentage and shoot it more. And then, they stretch the floor, so it makes it even tougher. It's really fun to watch, until you have to play against them and see that."
In Friday's semifinal win over Ole Miss, the Coyotes shut down 6-5 center Shakira Austin, holding her to just nine points on 3-of-16 shooting. Here's the challenge for South Dakota, though: Baylor has two of them.
All-American NaLyssa Smith is averaging 22.4 points and 11.8 rebounds, while fellow senior Queen Egbo contributes 10.9 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. The 6-4 Smith exploded for 17 third-quarter points in recording her 25th double-double of the season with 23 points and 14 rebounds, complemented by Egbo getting 10 points, 14 boards and two blocks.
Every time the 6-5 Austin touched the ball, the Coyotes were "literally triple-teaming her, sending four people around her," Egbo said. If they do that with Smith, they will leave either Egbo or one of the guards wide open.
"They pack the paint so much, the guards should be able to knock down shots and get easy looks, and that will open things up for us in the paint," Egbo said. "But initially, we're going to look to dominate. We're going to look to crash the glass and finish those easy bunnies around the rim. But, I feel like as much as it is our game, it's going to be (the guards') game as well."
Collen laughs at Egbo's assessment, though, that this is going to be a "guards' game."
"I think she feels like that because of how good they are at digging in and how much of a gap team they are, that we're going to have to make some perimeter shots," Collen said. "There's some truth to that, but I think you can attack their gaps and make the next play. . . . When you look at the balance of both teams, inside and out, I don't really think it's going to be one or the other, to be honest with you."
South Dakota is an older team led by a trio of fifth-year seniors that all returned for an extra year. Chloe Lamb (16.1 ppg, 3.0 assists) earned Summit League Player of the Year honors, 6-2 center Hannah Sjerven (15.0 ppg, 7.8 rebounds) is the league's Defensive Player of the Year and 5-10 guard Liv Korngable (12.8 ppg) is a second-team all-conference pick.
Lamb and Sjerven had 20 points apiece in the win over Ole Miss, with Korngable hitting two 3-pointers and scoring 10 points to go with seven assists and two steals.
"They have been playing together for four years now," junior guard Ja'Mee Asberry (9.7 ppg) said of South Dakota's super seniors. "They do the little things that help them that people may not notice. They can drive, they can shoot, they can rebound. They have all the good things, the good qualities, within their team."
Collen calls both Lamb and Sjerven WNBA Draft picks and said she "was not surprised" by South Dakota's win over Ole Miss. After a 2-4 start that included losses to Oklahoma, South Carolina, Northwestern and Texas A&M, the Coyotes have won 26 of their last 27 games and have strung together 10-straight since a 75-65 loss on the road at in-state rival South Dakota State on Feb. 5.
"They're a really, really good basketball team," Collen said. "Probably under-seeded with respect to their league, but probably because of those early non-conference games that they didn't win against A&M at a neutral-site tournament, teams like that. They didn't have those feather-in-their-cap marquee non-conference wins, but they're really good."
They also don't have NaLyssa Smith, who has had eight-straight double-doubles and scored 30 or more points five times already. She had a career-high 37 points in a Big 12 Tournament semifinal win over Oklahoma.
"Has anybody really found a way to stop her? If they have, that would be a great game plan to come with," Plitzuweit said. "She's very special, she's elite. She's like a point guard out there. She handles the ball in transition, gets to the rim, sees the floor, can just make a multitude of moves. She's a handful. Fun to watch when you don't have to coach against her. Not so much fun in our shoes."
The winner advances to a region semifinal matchup next Saturday in Wichita against the winner of Monday's second-round game between third-seeded Michigan (23-6) and No. 11 seed Villanova (24-8).
Baylor lost a neutral-site game to Michigan, 74-68, in overtime on Dec. 19 at the Women's Hall of Fame Classic in Uncasville, Conn., and beat the Wolverines, 78-75, in last year's Sweet 16 matchup in San Antonio.
Sunday's game will be broadcast by ESPN2, with Elise Woodward and Andrea Lloyd calling the action.
NCAA FIRST AND SECOND ROUND NOTABLES
• Baylor is 18-1 all-time in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Since dropping its first first-round contest in 2001, the Bears have strung together 17-straight dubs in the opening round of NCAA play.
• BU is 16-2 in NCAA Second Round play.
• Baylor has never faced South Dakota - which picked up its first NCAA Tournament win in program history with Friday's victory over Ole Miss.
• Baylor set a new school record in NCAA play with 43 defensive rebounds against Hawaii. The Bears were two points for tying the eighth-best scoring mark in an NCAA Tournament game in program history.
• Jordan Lewis tied for fifth all-time in NCAA tourney play with her 7-for-8 showing from the floor on Friday.
• For the first time in program history, Baylor had two players pull down 14 rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game. NaLyssa Smith and Queen Egbo each had 14.
• Jaden Owens tied her career high with three steals vs. Hawaii.
• Baylor tied the fifth-best mark in program history in an NCAA Tournament game with 56 boards.
• BU is hosting the first and second rounds for the 10th time in program history. Baylor hosted from 2013-19 with the streak ending a season ago due to the entire tournament being held in San Antonio because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
NCAA NOTABLES
• Baylor was named a No. 2 seed, marking the 11th-straight year that BU is at least a two seed or higher.
• The Bears are making their 18th-straight NCAA appearance, a streak that ranks 13th all-time and is the fifth-longest active streak.
• Baylor has advanced to 20 NCAA Tournaments all-time.
• Baylor is 54-16 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• Baylor earned trips to the Final Four in 2005, 2010, 2012 and 2019. BU won the NCAA titles in 2005, 2012 and 2019.
• Baylor is 10-5 all-time in Sweet 16 contests.
• Baylor is 4-6 all-time in Elite Eight contests.
• Baylor's 54 wins in the NCAA Tournament is eighth-most all-time.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP NOTABLES
• Baylor advanced to its 11th-straight Big 12 Championship title game. Nicki Collen became the first first-year head coach to advance to the title game since 1997.
• NaLyssa Smith, named to the all-tournament team, went off for a career-best 37 points in the semifinal win over Oklahoma. That mark is good for second in Big 12 championship semifinal history.
• Caitlin Bickle also had a career day against Oklahoma with 21 points.
• Baylor's 91 points against the Sooners tied for fourth-most all-time in a Big 12 semifinal contest.
• Baylor set a Big 12 Championship record with two turnovers. That mark also tied a program record that was set on Feb. 1, 2014, against Texas.
• Baylor set a program record, a Big 12 Championship record and tied an NCAA record when it held Oklahoma State scoreless in the first quarter of the Big 12 quarterfinal vs. Oklahoma State.
• Overall, BU held Oklahoma State to 36 points, a Big 12 Championship record and won by 40 points, which stands for second in league tournament win margin.
QUICK HITS
• Baylor clinched a share of the regular-season Big 12 title with a 25-point win at then-No. 8 Iowa State in front of a record crowd at Hilton Coliseum.
• BU's streak of 12 regular-season titles is the longest active streak in the country in men's AND women's hoops.
• The streak ties for fourth all-time in WBB history behind Green Bay (20, 1999-18); Louisiana Tech (15, 2003-17); Stanford (14, 2001-14) and Old Dominion (12, 1993-04).
• Baylor became the first school since Texas Tech in 2000 to start league play 0-2 and end up winning the conference title.
• Baylor racked up conference honors as every member of the starting five received recognition. Smith was the unanimous pick for Player of the Year, receiving the honor in back-to-back seasons. Jordan Lewis became the fourth-straight Bear to pick up Newcomer of the Year. Smith and Lewis were each named to the All-Big 12 First Team. Sarah Andrews received Second Team honors, while Asberry and Queen Egbo were named Honorable Mention.
• Smith has already been named a first-team All-American by three different entities this season - Sports Illustrated, The Athletic and the Associated Press.
• Smith is third in the country with 24 double-doubles. That mark sets a program record for double-doubles in a single season. She's third in BU history with 52 career double-doubles.
• The senior is top-10 nationally with 22.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.
• Smith reached the 2,000 career point / 1,000 career rebound mark this season.
• Baylor has now set a program record for 3s made (221) and 3s attempted (631) in a single season.
• From 2013-14 to 2020-21, Baylor made 10 or more 3-pointers in a game only five times across a total of 281 games (1.78 percent). BU has done so five times this season.
• At Kansas, Baylor nearly set a record with a 14-for-29 display from the perimeter. BU's 14 treys marked the second most in
• Ja'Mee Asberry is second in program history with 79 3s made this season.
