Post Players Power WBB to 71-64 Victory over UNLV

Sunday, December 8

Waco, Texas

2 PM

Baylor

9-2,0-0Big 12

UNLV

6-3,0-0Mountain West

UNLV

Baylor

Post Players Power WBB to 71-64 Victory over UNLV

12/8/2024 4:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book (PDF)

Littlepage-Buggs scores 21 points, collects 20 rebounds in win

Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

WACO, Texas – Colorful Houston Oilers coach Bum Phillips once said that running back Earl Campbell might not be in a class by himself, "but it don't take long to call the roll."

You can say the same thing about Baylor junior forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, who had 21 points and a career-high 20 rebounds to lead the Bears to a 71-64 win over the UNLV Lady Rebels Sunday afternoon at Foster Pavilion.

The 6-1 junior became just the sixth player in program history to record a 20-20 double-double game, joining Danielle Crockrom, Sophia Young-Malcolm, Brittney Griner, Kalani Brown and NaLyssa Smith.

"Think about that list and then think about the build of the kids," said Baylor coach Nicki Collen, whose team improved to 9-2 with its fifth-straight win. "She's probably the most like Sophia, but Sophia is a little more filled out than Buggs. How Buggs does it, she's just so slippery, she just competes. . . . I think her ability to get on the glass against kids that are more naturally physical just says something about her determination. There's just no quit."

In a pivotal 16-0 run by the Bears in a five-minute stretch of the third quarter, Littlepage-Buggs hit both of her shots from the floor, went 6-of-6 from the line and grabbed seven rebounds, helping Baylor go from five down to 11 up on the Lady Rebels, 58-47.

"It was on the scout: they rebound a lot, and we can't let them get rebounds," Littlepage-Buggs said, "because ultimately that leads to transition or easy points. So, it's always on the back of my mind that we've got to rebound. It wasn't just something just to think about. It's kind of natural, too. But knowing that they're a good team and we can't let them get easy possessions."

Facing a UNLV team (6-3) that had split two previous games against the Big 12 with a win over UCF and loss at Arizona, the Bears struggled on the defensive end early and got down 19-13 on a 3-pointer by Amarachi Kimpson

But Baylor closed the quarter on a 7-0 run that included a 3-pointer and buzzer-beating jumper by Sarah Andrews, who finished with 18 points, eight and seven rebounds.

Yaya Felder, who played some lock-down defense off the bench, said "it's great (Andrews is) coming out of her little (slump)."

"We look at her as a leader, and we want to her to just have big-time games," Felder said.

Colorado transfer Aaronette Vonleh did most of her work early, scoring 18 of her 20 points in the first half. She had a bucket in the Bears' 5-0 run to start the second quarter, giving them an extended 12-0 run and taking a 25-19 lead.

But as they did the whole game, the Lady Rebels answered, going on a 12-2 run of their own to go back up by four and then tied it at 37-37 at the break on a jumper by Kiara Jackson. Like Andrews, Jackson flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 18 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Recording her fourth-straight and sixth double-double of the season, Littlepage-Buggs had a double-double in the third quarter alone with 12 points and 10 rebounds to help Baylor outscore UNLV, 21-13, and lead by as many as 11.

Littlepage-Buggs said she didn't know until late in the game that she had her first 20-20 double-double, but kept with the mindset to "just go rebound, go rebound, go rebound."

"I didn't even know that they had (a 20-20 club), I'm not going to lie," she said. "But that's just awesome to hear. Those are big-time players. So, just to be in that company is great."

The Bears led by eight going into the fourth quarter and were still up by nine with under five minutes to play. But 6-1 forward Alyssa Brown started a 9-1 run with a natural three-point play, then Macie James and Kimpson both drained 3-pointers to make things interesting at 64-63.

In what Collen called "the biggest offensive play of the game," Fontleroy drove inside and made only her second bucket of the game to push the lead to 66-63 and start the closing run by the Bears.

"When you think about, 'Hey, she hadn't scored for a while,''' Collen said, "but late in the game, when she had to make a play, she made a really, really tough play and a little glass finish."

Vonleh scored her only second-half points on a pair of free throws with 48.4 seconds left, then Andrews and Jada Walker combined to hit 3-of-4 free throws to ice the game.

Kimpson (13), Brown (10) and McKinna Brackens (10) also scored in double figures for the Lady Rebels, who kept the game close by hitting 10-of-27 from 3-point range while holding Baylor to just 2-for-9 from outside the arc.

Taking a 10-day break for final exams, the Bears will return to the court to host Utah Tech (4-6) at 11 a.m. Dec. 18 before opening Big 12 play with a road game at Kansas (8-1) on Dec. 21.