No. 17 WBB Stifles Islanders, 65-42

Sunday, November 17

Waco, Texas

1 PM

Baylor

3-1,0-0Big 12

Texas A&M - Corpus Christi

3-1,0-0Southland

A&M-Corpus Christi

Baylor

No. 17 WBB Stifles Islanders, 65-42

11/17/2024 3:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

WACO, Texas – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi employs a patient offensive game plan that uses as much of the shot clock as the Islanders can get away with at times, a style that is "very uncomfortable" for the 17^th-ranked Baylor women.

"It's even uncomfortable for me coaching, because I don't like slowing it down. I like to get up and down," said Baylor coach Nicki Collen, whose team relied on its defense to pull away for a 65-42 victory Sunday afternoon at the Foster Pavilion.

"When you face a team that runs 20, 25 seconds off the clock on every possession (and they grab the offensive board), now you've got to guard for another 20 seconds. But I thought we did a good job of playing the secondary actions."

Three days after cracking into triple digits with a 104-55 win over East Texas A&M, the Bears scored only 47 points through the first three quarters against the visiting Islanders (3-1), missed nine of 19 shots from the line and turned it over 15 times before knocking down five 3-pointers to pull away in the fourth period.

"If you look at them analytically, this is what they do," Collen said. "So, am I frustrated with our offensive execution and our inability to finish at the rim? Yes. Do I think they had something to do with it? Yes. They make you play to some jump shots. And then, when you get the corner turned, they're usually in rotation or someone's on your hip."

Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, who came in averaging 22 points per game, finished with nine points on 3-for-12 shooting overall and 3-of-6 from the line. She did grab a game-high 12 boards, including six on the offensive end, helping the Bears win a surprisingly tight rebounding battle, 48-43.

"We just didn't finish," Collen said. "As well as Buggs has finished all year, she struggled to finish in the lane today. Jada (Walker) struggled to finish in the lane. Sarah (Andrews) struggled to finish in the line. We just didn't get there and finish. I thought we got to some good shots. You shoot better from 3 than 2, that's not ideal. But we made enough to create separation."

On the defensive end, Baylor got five takes and a career-high five blocks from Bella Fontleroy, forced 21 turnovers and held the Islanders to 30% shooting overall and 1-of-11 from 3-point range.

Fontleroy and guard Yaya Felder scored 12 points apiece and combined for six of the Bears' 11 3-pointers, while Andrews stuffed the stats sheet with 11 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.

A&M-Corpus Christi, which opened the season with a road win at Texas A&M, got 11 points from grad guard Mireia Aguado from Spain.

Felder scored seven of her 12 points off the bench in the first quarter, helping the Bears get out to a 16-11 lead. The Islanders chipped away and got within two, 23-21, at the second-quarter media timeout on back-to-back driving layups by Paige Allen and Monae' Duffy.

Coming out of the timeout, though, Baylor took control with a closing 12-2 run that included bookend 3-pointers by Walker and Andrews, putting the Bears up 35-23 at the break.

Collen credited grad forward Madison Bartley for playing a pivotal role in that stretch, as she finished with a plus-minus of plus-22 in 9 ½ minutes on the floor.

"She didn't try to do too much," Collen said. "She screened, she pursued the ball on the offensive glass. She didn't try to go back up with it. . . . I thought we stayed o the glass. There were so many rebounds in the game because both teams shot so poorly. But I thought we pursued the ball off the rim, and I thought Yaya had some good minutes during that stretch as well."

With the two teams combining to shoot 28% (8-of-29) and score 21 points, Baylor stretched the lead out to 47-32 going into the fourth. But it wasn't until an 11-0 run in the final quarter that the Bears finally put this one away.

Over a three-minute stretch, Felder drained a pair of free throws, followed by a pair of Andrews 3-pointers sandwiched around one by Felder, pushing the lead to 58-35.

Colorado transfer Aaronette Vonleh, who averaged 13.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in the first three games, fouled out in 20 minutes and finished with just nine points, two boards and two blocks.

"I think the fouls kind of got in her head, because I sat her a little bit in the first half," Collen said. "She's still learning to drag, when to rim run. She found herself in no-man's land, a little bit like Oregon again, where she's running the floor really hard and not looking what side the ball's coming down the floor. She's on one side of the court, and the ball is coming down on the other side, so we don't have a drag, we don't have an early post feed."

After winning its third-straight at home, Baylor will head to the Bahamas later this week, facing Southern Miss (2-2) at 12:30 p.m. CT Saturday in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Game notes:

Baylor defeated the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders, 65-42, on Sunday afternoon despite a 33.3%-shooting effort, going 22-of-66.
In 29 games shooing in the 30s, Sunday's game is only the ninth win. The last time BU won a sub-40% performance from the floor was against Oklahoma State, March 3, 2024.
The Bears picked up their 10^th win at Foster Pavilion in their 12^th game at the new crib.
BU shot 11 3-pointers on Sunday, their highest tally and first 10+ performance of the season.
Nicki Collen upped her win total in the month of November to 21 and is 71-6 when leading at the half.
Collen is 77-29 in her fourth season leading the Bears.
The Bears continue to stay undefeated against the Islanders, taking their fourth win after not facing off in 17 years.
Having its best 3-point defensive effort of the season, Baylor held TAMU-CC to .090 (1-of-11) from beyond the arc after the Islanders shot .308, .273 and .611 in the first three games of the season.
Aaronette Vonleh scored her 1,000^th career point 1:02 into the game, off a turnover stolen from Annukka Willstedt.
Vonleh is the fifth Bear on the roster with 1,000+ points at the DI level, giving the Bears the lead among power conferences.
Vonleh fouled out, the first time by a Bear this season, two minutes into the fourth quarter, after a nine-point performance with two blocks.
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs was one point shy of her third double-double of the season but had 12 rebounds for a new season high.
Littlepage-Buggs' 12 rebounds were good enough for the 27^th double-figure rebounding performance of her college career.
Bella Fontleroy and Yaya Felder tied as high-point scorers, both getting 12.
Sunday was Fontleroy's 36^th game ending in double figures and Felder's 48th. Both Bears had their second-straight double-digit performance.
Five blocks are a new career high for Fontleroy, upping her total from four against Virginia Tech in last season's NCAA Tournament.
Jada Walker had eight points and a T-team-high five assists in nearly 33 minutes on the court.
Sarah Andrews had 11 points, her 67^th double-digit game, with five assists and four steals.
Andrews needs 10 assists to reach 500 in her career, which would be top five in program history.
Andrews needs 13 3-pointers to break the all-time Baylor record.
Off the bench, Kyla Abraham and Waiata Jennings combined for four points, as Jennings sunk her second DI 3-pointer.
Baylor started Jada Walker, Sarah Andrews, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Aaronette Vonleh and Bella Fontleroy for the fourth time this season in as many games.
- Walker is 29-9, Andrews is 74-30, Littlepage-Buggs is 41-16, Fontleroy is 24-11 and Vonleh is 3-1 as starters at Baylor.
Baylor begins the 2024 Battle 4 Atlantis from Paradise Island in The Bahamas on Saturday, facing off against Southern Miss at 12:30 p.m. CT. The first two rounds of the tournament will be streamed on FloHoops and the final game will be either on ESPN2 or ESPNU.