Baylor
Utah
WBB Preps for First Ranked Test Against No. 23 Utah
1/13/2025 3:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball
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RV/RV BAYLOR BEARS (14-3, 4-1 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Nicki Collen (Marquette, 1998) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
RV/RV BAYLOR (14-3, 4-1 Big 12) vs 23/22 UTAH UTES (13-3, 4-1 Big 12) Jan. 14, 2025 • 7 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Foster Pavilion (7,500) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN+ TALENT: Kyle Youmans (pxp), Jim Haller (analyst), Jordan Lewis (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Media Network via FOX Sports Radio 93.9FM in Central Texas and worldwide at centexsportsfan.com. Talent: Derek Smith (pxp), Lori Fogleman (analyst) Baylor Social Media:    |
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23/22 UTAH UTES (13-3, 4-1 Big 12) Location: Salt Lake City, Utah Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Gavin Petersen (Hawaii Pacific, 1999) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Playing three games in seven days, including two on the road, is tough enough. Having to play their first game of the season against a ranked team without their leading scorer and rebounder makes it even tougher.
Riding a three-game winning streak, including a 2-0 swing through the Grand Canyon state, the Baylor Bears (14-3, 4-1) will host the 23rd-ranked Utah Utes (13-3, 4-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Foster Pavilion with 6-1 junior forward Dariana Littlepage Buggs serving a one-game suspension.
In Saturday's 78-59 win at Arizona State, Littlepage-Buggs (14.4 ppg, 10.3 rebounds) and the Sun Devils' Kennedy Fauntleroy were both ejected in the second quarter with a fighting technical foul, which also comes with a one-game suspension.
"Just really, really disappointed, quite frankly, with the ruling," Baylor coach Nicki Collen said. "Really proud of how Buggs handled herself. When you look at the lead up to the incident, I feel like the whistle could have blown on the first sucker punch to the stomach or the elbow to the head or the elbow to the back that kind of led to the incident.
"But quite frankly, I don't know what Buggs could have done better except turn and run. I was just really proud of her poise in that situation. At that point, they deem it a fight, so it's a fight. And there's a penalty for a fight. But I'm just really proud of my kid. I know who Dariana Littlepage-Buggs is, and she fights by getting offensive rebounds, by getting defensive stops."
With Littlepage-Buggs out, "everyone needs to pull more weight and crash the boards," said 6-3 junior forward Kyla Abraham, who is third on the team with 28 offensive rebounds.
Collen said 6-0 junior guard/forward Bella Fontleroy (8.6 ppg, 5.9 rebounds) will likely switch from the wing to Littlepage-Buggs' "4" or power forward position.
"Bella is capable of rebounding like Buggs," Collen said. "She's capable of defending multiple positions, which she's done all year. Bella is our best defender, and I think from that perspective, we need her to be. But she's going to need to be an offensive rebounding presence."
While 5-8 senior guard Yaya Felder (11.6 ppg, 3.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists) is expected to make only her second start in 51 games with Baylor, Collen said the Bears could "play big at times" with Abraham or 6-3 grad forward Madison Bartley joining 6-3 senior center Aaronette Vonleh (13.7 ppg, 5.4 rebounds).
But they could also go smaller, with Florida transfer Aliyah Matharu getting more playing time after scoring 14 points in the win over ASU.
"We're going to need her scoring against Utah," Collen said of the 5-7 Matharu, the second-leading scorer in the SEC last year with 19.0 points per game. "I don't know that it's one person (to replace Littlepage-Buggs). "I certainly think Bella shifts down to the 4, which quite frankly might be her more natural position, anyway. But we're going to need the intangibles. We're going to need the offensive rebounding, the pressure on the rim, the pressure in transition."
While Littlepage-Buggs is missing just her second game in three years, fifth-year senior guard Sarah Andrews (12.2 ppg, 5.3 assists) will break the Baylor program's NCAA-era record with 150 career games played. She is currently tied with Nina Davis at 149 and is 13 shy of the all-time mark (162) set by Suzie Snider Eppers.
Utah, which has won eight of its last nine in a stretch that began with a 78-67 win over third-ranked Notre Dame, has a trio of double-digit scorers led by two-time All-Pac-12 guard Gianna Kneepkens (16.9 ppg, 4.5 rebounds).
With Kennady McQueen (11.2 ppg) sidelined by an ankle injury the last two games, Rhode Island transfer Mayé Touré (13.8 ppg, 6.3 rebounds) stepped up with 22 points and 12 rebounds in the Utes' 69-42 win over Houston on Saturday.
"We're going to have to essentially run them off the 3-point line," Abraham said. "That's where this team gets a lot of their points from. They also have a lot of 50-40-90 (field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and free throw percentage). That's another concern for us, not fouling. That's something we've struggled with in the past."
Tuesday's game will be streamed by ESPN+, with Kyle Youmans, former Baylor men's basketball coach Jim Haller and former women's basketball standout Jordan Lewis calling the action.
Game Notes
• Baylor is back home hosting Utah Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Foster Pavilion after a 2-0 trip to Arizona.
• The Bears are facing the first ranked opponent of the year in the Utes and enter the contest 48-10 against ranked opponents at home since the 2010-11 season. The last home ranked win came for BU in a 65-58 defeat of No. 22 West Virginia at Foster Pavilion on Feb. 10, 2024.
• Baylor has its best start to conference play in the Nicki Collen era with a 4-1 record through five games. In each of the past three seasons, Collen and her staff had a 3-2 mark through their first five Big 12 games.
• In only the third all-time meeting, the Bears hold a 2-0 advantage over the Utes with the previous matchup taking place last season at the Ferrell Center. Then-No. 21 defeated the fourth-ranked Utah squad by seven points in front of the largest student crowd (4,800) in Baylor women's basketball history.
• Outside of last season, BU and Utah played one additional time in the 1977 AIAW Tournament.
• Utah's leading scorer is Gianna Kneepkins at 16.9 points per game, and she is joined by Mayè Tourè (13.8) and Kennady McQueen (11.2) with double-digit points averaged after 16 games. Tourè and Reese Ross lead the rebounding efforts for Utah at 6.3 and 6.1 boards per game, respectively.
• Fifth-year senior Sarah Andrews, who has spent all five years in a Baylor uniform, will break the program's record for games played in the NCAA era against Utah at 150. Andrews also has started in enough games to be No. 6 in the history books at BU.
• 149 games played, where she sits before taking the court against the Utes, ties her with Nina Davis for the program's record in NCAA competition. The overall record of 162 is held by Suzie Snider Eppers from 1973-77 while the Bears competed in the AIAW. Andrews could break the all-time record and be at 163 games in Baylor's March 2 matchup against TCU.
• BU had five in double figures for the third-straight game in its 78-59 win over Arizona State at Desert Financial Arena.
• Aliyah Matharu fell right into place in her first big game for the Bears, scoring 14 points and four rebounds and a pair of 3-pointers.
• Andrews led scoring for Baylor with 16, nailing four triples in 26 minutes of action.
• Darianna Littlepage-Buggs was 5-of-6 in 13 minutes played, tying the No. 2 mark this season for best field goal percentage (83.3%) with at least five made.
