San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
East Central’s Smith blossoms for Bears
NaLyssa Smith’s transformation into college basketball superstar took root two years ago.
Saddled in a supporting role on Baylor’s 2019 national championship team headed by a pair of AllAmericans — Kalani Brown and Lauren Cox — Smith took notes.
“I got to watch two amazing people — Kalani Brown and Lauren Cox,” said Smith, the East Central product who was selected as the Express-News Player of the Year in 2018. “I got to learn from them on the bench. Seeing what they did. They got to coach me up a lot. They were great leaders. Now that I’m in that position, I know how to help our freshman and our underclassmen the way they helped me.”
Smith, a 6-foot-2 junior power forward, has implemented that knowledge this season in which she has landed spots on the Associated Press and ESPN’s All-America first teams. In addition, Smith was named the Big 12 player of the year and the Big 12 tournament’s most outstanding player. A year ago, Smith was an Associated Press honorable mention AllAmerican.
“It’s a blessing,” Smith said. “I remember last year being honorable mention, so to be in the position to be the first-team All-American, it just shows how much work I’ve put in over the year.”
When Smith arrived at Waco a few months removed from playing in the McDonald’s All-American Game in 2018, she was part of a talented five-player class that was named one of the nation’s best. Three remain with the team, including junior 6-3 center Queen Egbo and junior 6-0 forward Caitlin Bickle.
Of that group, Smith was the only one who played in all of Baylor’s 38 games (one start) during the championship season two years ago. She averaged 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds.
“When we recruited her out of high school and that freshman group, they knew Kalani Brown was here,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. “They know Lauren Cox was here. They knew the history of our post players, back-to-thebasket post players and athletic face-the-basket post players. She knew when she signed here who she would be playing with, and I think she embraced that.”
Smith played a key role in the 2019 NCAA championship game against Notre Dame when she scored 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting after replacing Cox, who was injured late in the third quarter. The Bears edged the Fighting Irish 8281 to secure their third national title.
“NaLyssa as a freshman — I like to use this analogy — was kind of like the forgotten one,” Mulkey said. “Most of the attention was on Cox and Kalani Brown. NaLyssa won so many games for us because she’d run in there and get an offensive board and she wasn’t the focus on scouting reports, which was fine. We loved it. Then those other two finished and her role completely changed.”
Smith averaged 14.3 points and 8.3 rebounds a year ago in her first season as a full-time starter. She played alongside Egbo in the inside, but Smith showed enough versatility to effectively play with her face or back to the basket.
This season, Smith is averaging 18.1 points and 9.1 rebounds for the second-seeded Bears (25-2), who face No. 15 Jackson State (19-5) in a first-round game at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Alamodome.
“Lyss is really fun and easy to play with knowing you have a post player next to you who is different,” said Egbo, who averages 11.3 points and 6.3 rebounds. “I feel like we complement each other. If a shot goes up and I don’t get it, I know Lyss has it and vice versa.”
Senior guard Moon Ursin said Smith has done a good job of handling the role of sixth man two years ago to the focal player on the team this year.
“Lyss is a great player,” Ursin said. “You can watch one or two games to figure that out. From where she started to where she is now, all you can do is give her credit. She’s worked hard.”
Mulkey said Smith has settling in as the team’s go-to player. The biggest thing is Smith understands she doesn’t have to do everything. That wasn’t necessarily the case early in the season as she battled through some shooting struggles.
Smith was 21 of 77 (38 percent) from the field through the first six games, including 7 of 31 over the first two. Smith has made 156 of 264 (59 percent) of her shots from the field since the first six games.
“I felt she was trying to be a bigtime scoring player and maybe feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders,” Mulkey said. “She finally realized, ‘I’m on a good team, and I’m going to shine. I’m going to relax here and shoot the basketball better. ’ ”
Smith athleticism has shined this year as one of the rare players who can play efficiently in the air.
“How many girls do you ever watch who can catch the ball in the air and just finish like she does and get and-ones?” Mulkey said. “She’s just a remarkable player, and when she’s playing good and doing well, we’re certainly going good as a team.”