No. 12 WBB's Comeback Bid Falls Short at Oregon

Sunday, November 10

Eugene, Ore.

9 PM

Baylor

1-1,0-0Big 12

Oregon

3-0,0-0Big Ten

Baylor

Oregon

No. 12 WBB's Comeback Bid Falls Short at Oregon

11/10/2024 11:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book (PDF)

Walker's 24 points not enough as Ducks hold off BU's late rally

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

EUGENE, Ore. – Saving all of her second-half timeouts for the closing four minutes of Sunday's game at Matthew Knight Arena, Baylor coach Nicki Collen saw her 12^th-ranked Bears come back from a 16-point deficit to take a late lead on the Oregon Ducks.

Baylor went on a 17-2 run to get back within one on a Sarah Andrews 3-pointer coming out of the first timeout and then scored seven unanswered points to go up 74-72 on a putback by Colorado transfer and Oregon native Aaronette Vonleh over 6-8 Phillipina Kyei with 1:28 left.

But Collen wasn't able to call her last one in time before Jada Walker had an offensive rebound ripped away by the Ducks' Deja Kelly after an Andrews missed 3-pointer, with Oregon (3-0) scoring the last four points and handing Baylor a 76-74 loss.

"I was trying to get a timeout the minute it got to (Walker's) hands, but I didn't get it soon enough," said Collen, whose team fell to 1-1. "Ultimately, we were in the game after shooting 29 and 27% in the first two quarters. And then, to shoot 53 and 56% in the third and fourth when our backs were up against the wall, I was proud that we competed."

Oregon was able to play keep away to run out the last seven seconds and escape with its first-ever win over Baylor – the Ducks were 0-5 coming into the game, including a Final Four loss in 2019 – and first win over a ranked team since beating No. 14 Arizona on Feb. 23, 2023.

"I couldn't be more thrilled," said Oregon head coach Kelly Graves, who brought in seven portal transfers after a 11-21 season. "We played so, so well for a good portion of the game and lost that big lead, but to come back and make the plays down the stretch like we did, shows a lot of character. Just really proud of our team."

Trailing 66-50 early in the fourth quarter, Baylor started the 17-2 run with back-to-back three-point plays by Andrews and Yaya Felder and forced Graves to call a timeout when a Vonleh layup got the Bears back within 66-62.

After Kelly temporarily stopped the Bears' run with a driving layup, Walker drained a 3-pointer and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs hit a pair of free throws that cut the deficit to 68-67 with 5:39 still left in the game.

Oregon got it back to a five-point cushion, but Andrews knocked down a 3-pointer coming out of a timeout, Walker hit a pair of free throws to tie it and then Vonleh gave Baylor its first lead since early in the second quarter.

But it was the Ducks who had the final answer with a game-tying layup by Kelly and Siena transfer Elisa Mevius' only field goal of the game. Getting a seal from Kyei, Mevius got by Walker and scored on a driving layup to put the Ducks back on top, 76-74, with 22 seconds left.

"We have to get the details stuff right," Collen said. "We had too many breakdowns on the defensive end. If I'm going to make an excuse for our kids, it's that no one's had to play that many minutes, and we play a physical, aggressive defensive style that retires on our ability to sub. And we just weren't in position to do that."

With guard Jana Van Gytenbeek already out with an injury and Bella Fontleroy going down with an apparent ankle injury less than two minutes into the game, Collen used basically a seven-player rotation, and five of them logged at least 29 minutes.

"We're asking them to play a really aggressive, really physical defensive style," Collen said. "And that's hard to do when you're playing them over 30 minutes. Sarah, Yaya (Felder), they haven't even been full-go in practice. But I didn't really have any options. And until (Florida transfer Aliyah Mathura) is available, depending on Bella, we're going to have to adjust how we play. That's just the nature of coaching."

Digging out of an early 13-4 hole, the Bears closed the first quarter on a 10-2 run to pull within 15-14 on a pair of free throws by Littlepage-Buggs, who recorded her 20^th-career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

The Bears reeled off eight-straight points in the second quarter and went up 25-20 on a Felder layup with 6:55 left in the half. But with Littlepage-Buggs on the bench for almost four minutes, Oregon closed with an 11-0 run to take a 35-27 lead into the locker room.

Up by 14 going into the fourth quarter, the Ducks seemed to be in control. But Walker scored seven of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter to spark the rally.

"I'm proud of her for stepping up," Collen said of Walker, who was 9-of-20 from the floor, 2-of-3 from 3-point range and 4-for-4 from the line. "They tried to sink off of her at times in helping in the paint. It wasn't necessarily consistent every possession, but that was kind of the game plan.

"I thought she was doing a really good job getting downhill, but we've got to get her balanced in terms of, 'If I'm going to have the ball in my hands so much, I've got to score for my team, but I've also got to create shots for other people.'''

Andrews, playing 35 minutes, finished with 13 points, six assists and five rebounds and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers. She needs 17 more 3-pointers to break 2024 Hall of Famer Odyssey Sims' all-time record.

Kelly led the Ducks with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Alexis Whitfield and Nani Falatea scored 16 and 12 points, respectively.

Baylor returns home to host East Texas A&M at 7 p.m. Thursday and then Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 1 p.m. next Sunday, Nov. 17, before traveling to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island.

Game notes

The Bears opened their road slate in a 76-74 loss to Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene.
Baylor dropped its first road opener under Nicki Collen, moving to 3-1.
The Bears move to 5-1 all-time against the Ducks in Oregon's first win over BU and first win over a ranked opponent since Feb. 23, 2023, against No. 14 Arizona.
Jada Walker went off for 24 points, her eighth game with 20+ points and 49^th in double figures. In 36 minutes, Walker put up four rebounds and was 4-4 from the line with two clutch shots late.
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs reached double figure scoring for the 39^th time in her career and for the fifth consecutive game.
Littlepage-Buggs had 19 points and 10 rebounds in 36 minutes, her 20^th double-double in her third season with the Bears.
Sarah Andrews had 13 points, five rebounds and six assists, her 66^th game in double figures.
Aaronette Vonleh is 20 points shy of 1,000 in her career.
Andrews needs 23 assists to reach 500 in her career, which would be top five in program history.
Andrews needs 17 3-pointers to break the all-time Baylor record.
Collen is 75-29 in her fourth season leading the Bears.
The Bears are 21-12 under Collen on the road.
Bears drop to 6-19 when trailing at the half.
Baylor is 19-4 under Collen in the month of November.
Baylor is 9-10 under Collen in games decided by less than five points.
Baylor started Jada Walker, Sarah Andrews, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Aaronette Vonleh and Bella Fontleroy in both games this season.
- Walker is 27-9, Andrews is 72-30, Littlepage-Buggs is 39-16, Fontleroy is 22-11 and Vonleh is 1-1 as starters at Baylor.
The first player off the bench in Eugene was Yaya Felder, making an impact with one assist, two rebounds and one point from the charity stripe in the first quarter.
A 10-2 run put the Bears down one at the end of the first quarter, 15-14
Baylor used an 8-0 run in the second quarter to take their first lead of the game, backed by eight points from Jada Walker.
Freshman Kayla Nelms saw court time for the first time in her collegiate career. The Florida native played over three minutes with one rebound and one steal.
BU put up a 17-2 run in the fourth quarter and tied it up at the line by two free throws from Walker
Oregon-native Vonleh put the Bears on top at 74-72 with 1:28 remaining in the game before the Ducks scored four unanswered to win the game.