Baylor tops Texas Tech, extends Big 12 record
Gonzaga women roll to 18th straight win
WACO, Texas, Jan 26, (AP): No. 2 Baylor keeps extending all of its winning streaks. The last two games have just been a little closer without their leading scorer.
With NaLyssa Smith sidelined again because of a right high ankle sprain, Juicy Landrum scored 20 points and the Lady Bears beat Texas Tech 87-79 to extend their Big 12 record to 47 consecutive regular-season conference wins.
It was the second game in a row decided by fewer than 10 points for Baylor (17-1, 6-0 Big 12), which entered the game with a nationalbest average scoring margin of more than 37 points.
Lauren Cox, who missed eight games before Big 12 play because of a foot issue, added 17 points and eight rebounds for Baylor, which also has a national-best 50-game home winning streak over the past three years.
Queen Egbo, who has started both games in place of Smith after starting six times when Cox was hurt, added 16 points and eight rebounds. Te’a Cooper had 15 points with eight assists.
There were five ties and 10 lead changes in the first quarter, but the Lady Bears went ahead for good on Landrum’s 3-pointer that made it 27-26 after the first 10 minutes. Landrum hit another 3 to start the second, part of a 14-2 run.
Brittany Brewer had 24 points and nine rebounds for Texas Tech (13-4, 2-4). Lexi Gordon had 18 points and Chrislyn Carr had 16.
The Lady Raiders made 6 of 16 3-pointers in the first quarter, the highest-scoring quarter against Baylor this season, then went only 6 of 33 from long range the rest of the game.
Smith initially turned her ankle against Oklahoma State on Jan 12, then got stepped on last Saturday against West Virginia. Mulkey said Smith is getting better every day and wants to play.
Gonzaga 78, Loyola Marymount 52
In Spokane, Washington, Jill Townsend scored a career-high 28 points and No. 13 Gonzaga rolled to a 78-52 victory over Loyola Marymount, extending the Bulldogs’ nation-best win streak to 18 games.
Gonzaga (20-1, 9-0 West Coast Conference) is off to the best start in program history and is closing in on the program record of 23 straight wins set during the 200405 season. Meanwhile, LMU hasn’t won in Spokane since 2002.
Townsend shot 11 of 16 including 6 of 8 from the arc for the nation’s fifth-best 3-point shooting team (39% before Saturday). Gonzaga was 11 of 19 from the arc on Saturday for 58%, better than its overall mark of 52%. Jenn Wirth
scored 17 points with 13 rebounds.
Chelsey Gipson scored 14 points and Ciera Ellington 13 for the Lions (7-15, 3-6). Townsend’s first 3-pointer gave the Bulldogs the lead for good early in the first quarter. A 14-3 run in the third quarter put Gonzaga ahead by 18 and the lead remained in double figures.