NO FEAR

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

WACO, Texas – With leading scorers Taliah Scott, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs and Bella Fontleroy fouled out and sitting on the bench beside her, Baylor coach Nicki Collen didn't have a lot of options at the end of Saturday's game against Davidson at the WBA Showcase in Orlando, Fla.

But when she turned to 6-2 sophomore guard Yuting Deng, "I didn't see any fear in her eyes."

Coming in averaging just 4.0 points and 13 minutes through the Bears' first five games, Deng went one-on-one and drove in for the go-ahead bucket with 3.7 seconds left that lifted the Bears (5-1) to a 74-72 overtime over the Wildcats.

"The look in her eyes was not fear. When I said to go one-on-one, she said, 'Okay, good,''' Collen said. "After she made the shot, she told (assistant coach Tez Dumars), 'This is just the beginning.' I do think it's a big confidence builder for her."

The Bears, who dropped from seventh to 15^th in the AP poll after a 57-52 loss to Iowa in their first game in Orlando, return to Waco to host Louisiana Tech (3-2) at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Foster Pavilion.

"I think it's good to know that we're going to be home for a little while," Collen said of the five-game homestand. "I think it's tough on your body and tough mentally to be on the road as much as we've been on the road."

On the road for most of November, Baylor opened the season with a 58-52 win over then-No. 7 Duke at the Oui-Play Game in Paris, France, held off UNLV, 62-54, for a road win and then split the two games in Orlando.

"I certainly think it shows more quickly your strengths versus your weaknesses and what you have to work on," Collen said. "When you don't play as difficult a schedule, some of your weaknesses get glazed over a little bit because of the level of competition. We have a lot of growth to do, especially on the offensive side, but we also learned how to win and understand that when you have three people foul out, you can still find a way to win."

Deng, an SEC All-Freshman Team selection last year at Auburn, is "elite offensively," Collen said. She averaged 11.8 points per game and shot 36.5% from 3-point range for the Tigers before joining Auburn teammate Scott and former head coach Johnnie Harris at Baylor.

"Some of it is just building confidence in what we're doing and how she fits in with what we're doing and understanding that she's really valuable to us," Collen said of Deng, who is averaging 5.3 points while shooting an efficient 58.3% (14-of-24).

"I think her defensive growth has been pretty exponential in terms of what she looked like in October compared to now. . . . When she understands who's she's guarding and what her advantage versus disadvantage is, I think she's going to be a better than serviceable defender and an elite offensive player. Just really happy for her."

Scott (25.3 ppg, 3.8 assists), Baylor's biggest "volume scorer" since All-American NaLyssa Smith in Collen's debut season in 2021-22, has recorded six-straight 20-point games. But she is coming off her toughest shooting night, shooting 25% from 3-point range (2-for-8) and 28.3% overall (5-of-19) and turning it over nine times in the OT win over Davidson.

"I think the unique challenge is, when Taliah starts with the ball in her hands, the ball doesn't touch other people's hands, keeping them engaged," Collen said. "Taliah is going to be a first-team All-American when she isn't just a scorer but a playmaker. Sometimes, that's finding your open teammate. It's figuring out where your teammates are, where the help is coming from. And she's going to have to trust her teammates, because they're going to make those shots."

Blown out by Baylor last year, 98-54, Louisiana Tech is the preseason favorite in Conference USA and coming off a trip to last year's WNIT quarterfinals. The reigning CUSA Freshman of the Year, 5-9 sophomore guard Paris Bradley is the preseason conference Player of the Year and is averaging 15.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

"They're a team that is very different from the team a year ago," Collen said. "They're going to pressure and jump out and hedge our ball screens and sometimes even trap our ball screens. We've got to be ready for a lot of different things, but we've got to get a piece of the paint one way or the other and make good decisions once we touch the paint."

Players Mentioned

Yuting Deng

Bella Fontleroy

Darianna Littlepage-Buggs

Taliah Scott

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