Saturday, March 18
Storrs, Conn.
Approx. 4:30 PM
Baylor
20-12,10-8Big 12
78
vs
74
Alabama
20-11,9-7SEC
1
2
3
4
F
Alabama
22
19
18
15
74
Baylor
4
26
24
24
78
WBB Completes Comeback Against Alabama, 78-74
3/18/2023 7:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Bears move into second round after four players score in double-digits
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
STORRS, Conn. – Starting out on fire, 10th-seeded Alabama threw more than a few haymakers in the first quarter of Saturday's NCAA Tournament first-round game and jumped out to a 22-4 lead on the seventh-seeded Baylor Bears.
But the Crimson Tide never got in the knockout punch.
Sparked by a career-high seven 3-pointers and season-high 26 points from Ja'Mee Asberry, Baylor (20-12) dug out of that early 18-point hole and then scored the last seven points to defeat Alabama, 78-74, Saturday evening at Gampel Pavilion. It ties for the third-largest comeback in NCAA Tournament history.
"I just kept saying we've got to stick together," said junior guard Sarah Andrews, who hit four 3-pointers and scored all 14 of her points in the second half. "I felt like everything they shot was going in for them. We just stuck together, and we knew sooner or later we were going to knock down shots. It wasn't about trading baskets, it was about us playing defense."
Which sounds kind of funny when Alabama (20-11) shoots 49% overall and an unconscious 14-of-26 from 3-point distance. But the Crimson Tide turned it over 13 times in the second half, including two critical ones in the last 20 seconds.
"I thought we were scrappy and we started to turn them over," said Baylor second-year head coach Nicki Collen, whose team advances to play second-seeded and sixth-ranked UConn (30-5) in a second-round matchup at 8 p.m. CT Monday on the Huskies' home floor.
"I told my team this week that defense and rebounding travels. I guess offense, ultimately, traveled here today. But I just thought we made some plays, we forced a travel. We were just there, we were really tight on the catch."
This one could not have started much worse or ended any better.
The Bears missed their first nine shots from the floor and were a dismal 2-for-16 in the first quarter, falling behind 12-0 right out of the chute. Freshman Dariana Littlepage-Buggs hit a second-chance layup nearly five minutes into the game for Baylor's first points, but it was 22-4 after the first period.
"Obviously, we didn't come out how we wanted to start against them," said senior forward Caitlin Bickle, who finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists. "We missed a ton of defensive assignments that we usually wouldn't miss. I think for us, it was just getting one stop, one score at a time. Second half, we just came out and started playing Baylor defense."
After going 0-for-7 from outside the arc in the first quarter, the Bears came back to drain 7-of-8 from distance in an explosive second quarter that saw them outscore 'Bama, 26-19. Asberry nailed all four of her 3-point attempts to help shoot Baylor back in it, trailing just 41-30 at the break.
Two days ago, Asberry got a text from her dad, James Asberry, encouraging her to "make this game about (your mom)." March 16 would have been the birthday of Tylda Asberry, who died when Ja'Mee was 16 years old.
"When I was at halftime, I was just sitting there, and I was quiet," said Asberry, whose previous best this season was 21 points against Kansas State on Feb. 15. "I was just praying to her like, 'If I'm going to go out, let me go out with a bang.' Thankfully, we won, and I think that that game's for her."
The Bears had actually cut the deficit to single digits before Sarah Ashlee Barker hit a layup off an inbounds play with 4.5 seconds left in the half.
At halftime, Collen challenged her players to fix the defensive mistakes and "how we needed to compete."
"There wasn't anything we hadn't taught them how to guard, we just had to do what we were taught to do," she said.
Freshman Bella Fontleroy said the defense "really locked in and focused on that" after Collen's halftime message.
"It's one we've heard before. It was, 'Y'all have to come out and execute better. We have to defend better, we have to be in their face,''' Fontleroy said. "We have to be in their shorts, basically. We have to guard their actions the right way."
Scoreless in the first half, Andrews knocked down three three-pointers in a 16-3 run that pushed Baylor on top, 46-44, about 4 ½ minutes into the third quarter.
"We're a team, we feed off of our defense," said Andrews, who had 14 points, five assists, two steals and a career-high four blocks. "When we're able to get stops and rebounds, we're a great team in transition. So, we started playing some defense and getting stops. . . . I was just locked-in. I felt like I could jump out of the gym all of a sudden."
Alabama answered with 15 points in the last five minutes of the third quarter and went back up by eight, 62-54, when Aaliyah Nye knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game. Andrews capped off a 9-0 run with her fourth 3-pointer of the night, giving the Bears a three-point lead, 71-68, with 3 ½ minutes to play.
Brittany Davis, who scored a career-high 33 points, tied it with a 3-pointer and then assisted on a three-point play by 6-4 center Jada Rice that gave the Crimson Tide a 74-71 lead with 53.5 seconds left.
"If that was Brittany Davis' last game, holy cow, she was fantastic," Collen said of the fifth-year senior. "There were times where we made mistakes on her, and there were times when we were right there and she was just better than us one-on-one. But just her efficiency, 33 points on 16 shots is insane. She was unbelievable."
Rice's three-point play, though, turned out to be Alabama's last points of the game.
After Fontleroy hit a pair of free throws to pull the Bears within one, Bickle was fouled by Nye after a defensive rebound and calmly sank both free throws for a 75-74 lead with 38.4 seconds left.
"I take pride at the free throw line, I don't often miss," said Bickle, who was 6-for-6 in the game and is shooting 81.2% for the season. "And when I do (miss), I'm kind of like, that's not normal. But definitely, I'm never not confident at the free throw line. They all look to me like, 'You've got this.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, I know I've got this. We're good.'''
Asberry forced Hannah Barber into a turnover, then made 3-of-4 free throws to clinch it. After a missed free throw, Fontleroy grabbed the offensive rebound, which proved to be the defining play in a game that saw Baylor edge 'Bama on the boards, 29-28.
"(It felt) amazing," said Fontleroy, who had 10 points, four rebounds, one steal and a block. "They had such a big post presence inside. When they were shooting free throws, I had my hands up or whatever. I was like, 'Okay, I'm going to get low and we're going to (cross paths), and if it comes off the rim, one of us is going to go get it.' And it just happened to be me."
In Saturday's other first-round game at Gampel Pavilion, junior forward Aaliyah Edwards was 13-of-15 from the floor and scored 28 points in UConn's 95-52 dismantling of the 15th-seeded Vermont Catamounts (25-7). The Huskies hold a 5-4 lead in the all-time series with Baylor and are trying to make their 15th-straight Final Four.
NOTABLES
Baylor Bear Insider
STORRS, Conn. – Starting out on fire, 10th-seeded Alabama threw more than a few haymakers in the first quarter of Saturday's NCAA Tournament first-round game and jumped out to a 22-4 lead on the seventh-seeded Baylor Bears.
But the Crimson Tide never got in the knockout punch.
Sparked by a career-high seven 3-pointers and season-high 26 points from Ja'Mee Asberry, Baylor (20-12) dug out of that early 18-point hole and then scored the last seven points to defeat Alabama, 78-74, Saturday evening at Gampel Pavilion. It ties for the third-largest comeback in NCAA Tournament history.
"I just kept saying we've got to stick together," said junior guard Sarah Andrews, who hit four 3-pointers and scored all 14 of her points in the second half. "I felt like everything they shot was going in for them. We just stuck together, and we knew sooner or later we were going to knock down shots. It wasn't about trading baskets, it was about us playing defense."
Which sounds kind of funny when Alabama (20-11) shoots 49% overall and an unconscious 14-of-26 from 3-point distance. But the Crimson Tide turned it over 13 times in the second half, including two critical ones in the last 20 seconds.
"I thought we were scrappy and we started to turn them over," said Baylor second-year head coach Nicki Collen, whose team advances to play second-seeded and sixth-ranked UConn (30-5) in a second-round matchup at 8 p.m. CT Monday on the Huskies' home floor.
"I told my team this week that defense and rebounding travels. I guess offense, ultimately, traveled here today. But I just thought we made some plays, we forced a travel. We were just there, we were really tight on the catch."
This one could not have started much worse or ended any better.
The Bears missed their first nine shots from the floor and were a dismal 2-for-16 in the first quarter, falling behind 12-0 right out of the chute. Freshman Dariana Littlepage-Buggs hit a second-chance layup nearly five minutes into the game for Baylor's first points, but it was 22-4 after the first period.
"Obviously, we didn't come out how we wanted to start against them," said senior forward Caitlin Bickle, who finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists. "We missed a ton of defensive assignments that we usually wouldn't miss. I think for us, it was just getting one stop, one score at a time. Second half, we just came out and started playing Baylor defense."
After going 0-for-7 from outside the arc in the first quarter, the Bears came back to drain 7-of-8 from distance in an explosive second quarter that saw them outscore 'Bama, 26-19. Asberry nailed all four of her 3-point attempts to help shoot Baylor back in it, trailing just 41-30 at the break.
Two days ago, Asberry got a text from her dad, James Asberry, encouraging her to "make this game about (your mom)." March 16 would have been the birthday of Tylda Asberry, who died when Ja'Mee was 16 years old.
"When I was at halftime, I was just sitting there, and I was quiet," said Asberry, whose previous best this season was 21 points against Kansas State on Feb. 15. "I was just praying to her like, 'If I'm going to go out, let me go out with a bang.' Thankfully, we won, and I think that that game's for her."
The Bears had actually cut the deficit to single digits before Sarah Ashlee Barker hit a layup off an inbounds play with 4.5 seconds left in the half.
At halftime, Collen challenged her players to fix the defensive mistakes and "how we needed to compete."
"There wasn't anything we hadn't taught them how to guard, we just had to do what we were taught to do," she said.
Freshman Bella Fontleroy said the defense "really locked in and focused on that" after Collen's halftime message.
"It's one we've heard before. It was, 'Y'all have to come out and execute better. We have to defend better, we have to be in their face,''' Fontleroy said. "We have to be in their shorts, basically. We have to guard their actions the right way."
Scoreless in the first half, Andrews knocked down three three-pointers in a 16-3 run that pushed Baylor on top, 46-44, about 4 ½ minutes into the third quarter.
"We're a team, we feed off of our defense," said Andrews, who had 14 points, five assists, two steals and a career-high four blocks. "When we're able to get stops and rebounds, we're a great team in transition. So, we started playing some defense and getting stops. . . . I was just locked-in. I felt like I could jump out of the gym all of a sudden."
Alabama answered with 15 points in the last five minutes of the third quarter and went back up by eight, 62-54, when Aaliyah Nye knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game. Andrews capped off a 9-0 run with her fourth 3-pointer of the night, giving the Bears a three-point lead, 71-68, with 3 ½ minutes to play.
Brittany Davis, who scored a career-high 33 points, tied it with a 3-pointer and then assisted on a three-point play by 6-4 center Jada Rice that gave the Crimson Tide a 74-71 lead with 53.5 seconds left.
"If that was Brittany Davis' last game, holy cow, she was fantastic," Collen said of the fifth-year senior. "There were times where we made mistakes on her, and there were times when we were right there and she was just better than us one-on-one. But just her efficiency, 33 points on 16 shots is insane. She was unbelievable."
Rice's three-point play, though, turned out to be Alabama's last points of the game.
After Fontleroy hit a pair of free throws to pull the Bears within one, Bickle was fouled by Nye after a defensive rebound and calmly sank both free throws for a 75-74 lead with 38.4 seconds left.
"I take pride at the free throw line, I don't often miss," said Bickle, who was 6-for-6 in the game and is shooting 81.2% for the season. "And when I do (miss), I'm kind of like, that's not normal. But definitely, I'm never not confident at the free throw line. They all look to me like, 'You've got this.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, I know I've got this. We're good.'''
Asberry forced Hannah Barber into a turnover, then made 3-of-4 free throws to clinch it. After a missed free throw, Fontleroy grabbed the offensive rebound, which proved to be the defining play in a game that saw Baylor edge 'Bama on the boards, 29-28.
"(It felt) amazing," said Fontleroy, who had 10 points, four rebounds, one steal and a block. "They had such a big post presence inside. When they were shooting free throws, I had my hands up or whatever. I was like, 'Okay, I'm going to get low and we're going to (cross paths), and if it comes off the rim, one of us is going to go get it.' And it just happened to be me."
In Saturday's other first-round game at Gampel Pavilion, junior forward Aaliyah Edwards was 13-of-15 from the floor and scored 28 points in UConn's 95-52 dismantling of the 15th-seeded Vermont Catamounts (25-7). The Huskies hold a 5-4 lead in the all-time series with Baylor and are trying to make their 15th-straight Final Four.
NOTABLES
- Baylor women's basketball erased an 18-point deficit on Saturday night in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at Gampel Pavilion, topping Alabama, 78-74.
- The comeback was tied for the third-largest deficit overcome in NCAA Tournament history.
- The victory signified the Bears' 20th win of the season marking the 23rd-consecutive 20-plus win season for Baylor. It is the second-longest active streak among Division I programs behind UConn, who leads the way with 30-straight seasons.
- BU moved to 55-17 all-time in the Big Dance.
- Alabama became the first SEC women's basketball team to lose in the 2022-23 postseason in both the NCAA Tournament and WNIT.
- The Bears set a team NCAA Tournament game record with 14-made 3-pointers.
- Ja'Mee Asberry led the way with a season-high 26 points and a career-high seven-made 3-pointers. The guard's seven triples were an individual game record for a Bear in an NCAA Tournament game, surpassing Alexis Jones, Odyssey Sims and Emily Niemann who all recorded five in respective games.
- Caitlin Bickle, Sarah Andrews and Bella Fontleroy joined Asberry in double figures. Both Bickle and Andrews finished with 14 points after being held scoreless in the opening half.
- Andrews finished with a career-high four blocks, while Jaden Owens led the team for the 21st time this year in assists, dishing out eight.
- Bickle and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs grabbed a team-high seven rebounds apiece.
- Monday will be the 10th meeting all-time between the Bears and the Huskies and second meeting in the postseason between the two programs.
- UConn holds the slim 5-4 advantage in the all-time series.
- Baylor and UConn last met in the Elite Eight round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Huskies outlasted the Bears, 69-67, in San Antonio. Caitlin Bickle and Sarah Andrews are the only two on the current roster that were on that team.
- The Bears have won two of the last three matchups with the Huskies.
- Monday's contest will be just the second meeting between the two programs in Storrs.
Team Stats
Bama
Baylor
FG%
.491
.455
3FG%
.538
.500
FT%
.889
.875
RB
28
29
TO
19
15
STL
9
9
Game Leaders
Pts
26
FGM
8
3FGM
7
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
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