A BENCH ASSIST
3/21/2026 12:48:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Baylor’s challenge of a flagrant foul led to closing run in 67-62 win
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
DURHAM, N.C. – Taliah Scott scored nine of her team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs recorded her 14th double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in Friday's NCAA Tournament first-round game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
But it was Baylor assistant coach Aaron Sternecker and his iPad that came up big in the game's pivotal moment with 3:48 left, when he suggested that head coach Nicki Collen challenge a call on the court of a held ball, resulting in a flagrant foul against Nebraska's Jessica Petrie and a three-point possession in the Bears' 67-62 win over the Cornhuskers.
"Both Aaron and Michael (Motta) were really confident that (Petrie) had pulled her down," Collen said. "The worst thing that was going to happen to us is we were going to get the ball. But when you think about it, we got the ball, we saved the arrow, so the possession arrow stayed with us. We get Taliah going to the line, and we ended up with a three-point possession because Buggs got fouled and made one of two."
That was part of a 15-3 run that gave the Bears (25-8) the lead for good, with Scott knocking down 7-of-8 free throws in the final minutes to seal Baylor's 23rd-consecutive first-round win in the NCAA Tournament.
"It flipped the game on its head a little bit," said Fontleroy, who tied up Petrie for one of the Bears' 10 steals before getting pulled down to the floor. "It got us in the right headspace, and we really continued to be aggressive and compete after that, and we were able to finish the game strong."
Nebraska coach Amy Williams said the flagrant foul was a "momentum-shifting call . . . I think it could have gone either way."
"I think we'll watch some men's tournament for the next several days, and we will see that type of play happen many, many times," said Williams, whose team finished 19-13 after a First Four win over Richmond on Wednesday. "It was an unfortunate incident that ended up kind of shifting the momentum, but certainly a game that had a lot of physicality."
Scott gave the Bears the lead for good with two free throws after the flagrant foul and then made a driving, banked layup that pushed the lead to 64-59 with 21.9 seconds left.
"I feel like we came out with a different intensity, a different type of energy that we needed to win the game," Scott said. "I think we picked it up on the defensive side of the ball. We were like, 'We're not going to allow them to get the easy stuff that they were getting in the first half.' I think we just changed the game for ourselves with that energy and our intensity."
That was a switch that flipped after the third quarter, when the Bears were outscored 19-14 and fell behind 47-41.
In the team huddle, Collen looked at Scott and the four seniors and said, "You've got 10 minutes left, that's it, in your career. How do you want it to go? It's up to you guys. How do you want it to go. You have to play like it's the last 10 minutes of your career."
"I thought that was as tough a five minutes as we've ever played," Collen said. "I thought it was our defense, intensity and ball pressure. It was a really hard-fought battle. I'm happy to survive and advance."
Baylor advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth-straight time under Collen and will face third seeded and No. 8/10 Duke (25-8) at 3 p.m. CT Sunday, with a spot on the Sweet 16 on the line.
This is a rematch of this year's season opener in Paris, when Scott scored 12 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter in a 58-52 win over the Blue Devils. Sunday's game will be broadcast by ESPN.
"We didn't want to go home," Littlepage-Buggs said of the fourth-quarter comeback. "We wanted to make a statement one last time."
Baylor Bear Insider
DURHAM, N.C. – Taliah Scott scored nine of her team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs recorded her 14th double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in Friday's NCAA Tournament first-round game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
But it was Baylor assistant coach Aaron Sternecker and his iPad that came up big in the game's pivotal moment with 3:48 left, when he suggested that head coach Nicki Collen challenge a call on the court of a held ball, resulting in a flagrant foul against Nebraska's Jessica Petrie and a three-point possession in the Bears' 67-62 win over the Cornhuskers.
"Both Aaron and Michael (Motta) were really confident that (Petrie) had pulled her down," Collen said. "The worst thing that was going to happen to us is we were going to get the ball. But when you think about it, we got the ball, we saved the arrow, so the possession arrow stayed with us. We get Taliah going to the line, and we ended up with a three-point possession because Buggs got fouled and made one of two."
That was part of a 15-3 run that gave the Bears (25-8) the lead for good, with Scott knocking down 7-of-8 free throws in the final minutes to seal Baylor's 23rd-consecutive first-round win in the NCAA Tournament.
"It flipped the game on its head a little bit," said Fontleroy, who tied up Petrie for one of the Bears' 10 steals before getting pulled down to the floor. "It got us in the right headspace, and we really continued to be aggressive and compete after that, and we were able to finish the game strong."
Nebraska coach Amy Williams said the flagrant foul was a "momentum-shifting call . . . I think it could have gone either way."
"I think we'll watch some men's tournament for the next several days, and we will see that type of play happen many, many times," said Williams, whose team finished 19-13 after a First Four win over Richmond on Wednesday. "It was an unfortunate incident that ended up kind of shifting the momentum, but certainly a game that had a lot of physicality."
Scott gave the Bears the lead for good with two free throws after the flagrant foul and then made a driving, banked layup that pushed the lead to 64-59 with 21.9 seconds left.
"I feel like we came out with a different intensity, a different type of energy that we needed to win the game," Scott said. "I think we picked it up on the defensive side of the ball. We were like, 'We're not going to allow them to get the easy stuff that they were getting in the first half.' I think we just changed the game for ourselves with that energy and our intensity."
That was a switch that flipped after the third quarter, when the Bears were outscored 19-14 and fell behind 47-41.
In the team huddle, Collen looked at Scott and the four seniors and said, "You've got 10 minutes left, that's it, in your career. How do you want it to go? It's up to you guys. How do you want it to go. You have to play like it's the last 10 minutes of your career."
"I thought that was as tough a five minutes as we've ever played," Collen said. "I thought it was our defense, intensity and ball pressure. It was a really hard-fought battle. I'm happy to survive and advance."
Baylor advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth-straight time under Collen and will face third seeded and No. 8/10 Duke (25-8) at 3 p.m. CT Sunday, with a spot on the Sweet 16 on the line.
This is a rematch of this year's season opener in Paris, when Scott scored 12 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter in a 58-52 win over the Blue Devils. Sunday's game will be broadcast by ESPN.
"We didn't want to go home," Littlepage-Buggs said of the fourth-quarter comeback. "We wanted to make a statement one last time."
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballBaylor Basketball (W): Postgame vs. Nebraska | NCAA Tournament First Round | March 19, 2026
Friday, March 20
Baylor Basketball (W): Pregame Press Conference | NCAA Tournament First Round | March 19, 2026
Thursday, March 19
Baylor Basketball (W): NCAA Selection Show Presser | March 15, 2026
Monday, March 16
Baylor Basketball (W): Postgame at Big 12 Tournament | vs. Colorado | March 6, 2026
Monday, March 09
