No. 2 WBB Falls to No. 10 South Dakota in the Round of 32

Sunday, March 20

Waco, Texas

5 PM

Baylor

28-7,15-3Big 12

South Dakota

29-5,17-1Summit League

South Dakota

Baylor

No. 2 WBB Falls to No. 10 South Dakota in the Round of 32

3/20/2022 7:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Final Book (PDF)

Queen Egbo scores a team-high 13 in the loss

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
             Fueled by Ja'Mee Asberry, Jordan Lewis and Sarah Andrews, who had the freedom to shoot at will from outside the arc, Baylor set a school record with 228 made 3-pointers coming into Sunday's NCAA second-round game against South Dakota.
            Even with All-American NaLyssa Smith inside, the Bears lived by the 3, riding it to a 12^th-straight Big 12 regular-season championship and 28 wins under first-year head coach Nicki Collen.
            On Sunday, they died by it, hitting just 5-of-26 (19.2%) from distance in a shocking 61-47 upset loss to 10^th-seeded South Dakota (29-5) before a crowd of 3,684 at the Ferrell Center as the Coyotes earned their first-ever berth in the Sweet 16.
            The Bears (28-7), who had won 66-straight non-conference home games (since 2014) and 17-consecutive NCAA Tournament games at the Ferrell Center, had their earliest exit since a 67-59 loss to sixth-seeded Pitt in a second-round game in 2008.
            "I think we just came out slow," said senior forward Caitlin Bickle, who had six points, two assists and a steal. "We didn't come out with enough energy from the start. . . . I think if we had played our best game, our best Baylor basketball, without a doubt I think we could have won. But, that wasn't the case, and South Dakota did play their best game."
            The last time the Baylor women didn't make it out of the first weekend, South Dakota lost to Northern Kentucky in the 2008 NCAA Division II national championship game.
            Until two days ago, the Coyotes had never won an NCAA Division I Tournament game. Now, they're headed to Wichita, Kan., for a region semifinal matchup against the winner of Monday's second-round game between third-seeded Michigan and 11^th-seeded Villanova.
            "Besides exhaustion, it's been a tough three days, but it's a joy," said fifth-year senior guard Liv Korngable, who had 11 points and five assists. It was a great experience to play in this atmosphere. And yes, it's setting in that there is only 16 teams left playing in the tournament. It's very cool."
            South Dakota made its first four shots and jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the first three minutes, with Chloe Lamb hitting back-to-back 3-pointers.          Senior Hannah Sjerven opened the scoring with a 3-pointer at the top of the key after stealing an Asberry pass.
            "Hannah started the game off with another 3," SD head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said. "I think we kind of smiled and relaxed, because that was not necessarily the game plan. But, it certainly worked out pretty well for us. I thought our kids played really hard, played fearless and made a lot of good things happen. They've earned this, and now they have a chance to enjoy it."
            Digging that early hole, the Bears scored just four points in the first quarter and trailed 34-23 at halftime.
            "I don't think it was a frustration thing," Bickle said. "I think it's more when you get down 11-0, you're playing from behind the entire time."
            Struggling out of the gates, Baylor turned it over 10 times in the first quarter, missed all six shots from outside the arc and was just 2-of-13 overall.             Smith, who was averaging 22.4 points and 11.6 rebounds coming into the game, didn't score her first bucket until the second quarter and had as many turnovers as points (2) in the first half.
            "They do a great job of gapping and not exactly letting our posts post against them," Bickle said. "I think we just needed to get into screen action, rolls, things like that. Obviously, the back side was open. But, they were very much in help, and they did it very, very well."
            In Thursday's 89-49 first-round win over Hawaii, Smith overcame a slow start to score 17 of her 23 points in the third quarter. This time, she never really got going, finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds.
            "Just not letting her go one-on-one," Sjerven said of defending the 6-4 Smith. "When she goes one-on-one, she's probably going to score and it's hard to defend her. When we can help each other to guard her, it's a lot easier."
            In easily its best stretch of the game, Baylor got 3-pointers from Asberry, Andrews and Lewis and pulled within 25-21 with 2:42 left in the first half. Sjerven, who scored 14 of her game-high 16 points in the first half, hit a 3-pointer and a jumper in a closing 9-2 run that pushed the Coyotes' lead back to 34-23 going into the break.
            "When you play against Oklahoma, nine points is nothing, for them or you. It's just not," Collen said. "An 11-0 run is going to happen at three points during that game. In this game, sometimes being down 10 feels like 20, because you're slugging it out every possession and having to work."
            Things didn't go any better for Baylor in the second half, with the three guards going 1-of-10 from 3-point range and turning it over four times.
            "When our guards were missing shots that they're more than capable of making, they lost their confidence," Collen said. "They made turnovers because they didn't want to take the shot. That's when you kind of know you're beat, when you've got three really good guards that are really good shooters who are turning down shots.
            "When we got deep in the lane and attacking the paint, we had people that knew they were open, but we were trying to play over them rather than under them or between them. Sometimes, it needed to be one more dribble."
            South Dakota didn't score in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter, but the Bears weren't able to capitalize enough. They did have their longest run with six-straight points to whittle the deficit to seven, 49-42.
            But, Maddie Krull turned in one of the biggest plays of the game, when she attacked in the paint, hit a short jumper and the follow free throw after getting fouled by Andrews. South Dakota sealed the deal by making six free throws in the last minute.
            Smith matched her season-low with 10 points and failed to record her 26^th double-double of the season with eight rebounds. Queen Egbo led the Bears, scoring 10 of her team-high 13 points in the first half.
Struggling from outside the arc all day, Baylor was 0-for-8 in the fourth quarter and just 5-of-26 for the game. Lewis, a grad transfer from Alabama trying to make her first Sweet 16, was just 2-of-12 from the floor and finished with five points, eight rebounds and five assists.
            South Dakota's super seniors dominated the scoring for the Coyotes. Sjerven had 16 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter, while Chloe Lamb and Korngable scored 15 and 11, respectively.