Baylor beats Texas for Big 12 title
The first half clock counted only seconds and the Baylor lead was cut to single digits when Alexis Jones scrambled for the ball she dribbled off her foot among swarming Texas defenders.
Jones spun the leather back within reach, a crossover provided a sliver of separation, and a contested 3-pointer found the bottom of the net.
“I was out of control during that possession,” Jones said, “but I didn’t want to miss the shot.”
Texas took the inbounds, sprinted in transition, and point guard Celina Rodrigo went up for a lay-in as time expired — only to have the ball swatted out of bounds by Baylor center Beatrice Mom premier.
“Instead of going down at halftime maybe 4 or 5 down, we went in 10 or 11 down,” Texas coach Karen Aston said. “That was a significant factor.”
The Lady Bears never looked back.
Baylor rolled to a 79-63 victory Monday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena to claim its sixth straight Big 12 Tournament title and its eighth since 2005. Forward Nina Davis led all scorers with 22 points.
Three more players finished with double-digit scoring efforts: Jones (16), Mompremier (15) and point guard Niya Johnson (11).
Texas (28-4, 15-3 Big 12) trailed Baylor (33-1, 17-1 Big 12) by just seven points midway through the second quarter. It also held the deep Lady Bear bench to just eight points. Freshman reserve guard Lashann Higgs led Texas in scoring with 15 points.
But the Longhorns were held scoreless for nearly three minutes to start the third quarter and faced multi-minute scoring droughts throughout the second half.
“To beat a team like them, you have to play every single possession,” Aston said. “You can’t miss one. You can’t not go back down the floor. You can’t give up competitive-wise and not reverse the ball because it's hard... They force you to be uncomfortable and they make you make decisions that aren’t the best. They’re also pretty good offensively.”
Even with the loss, Texas enters the NCAA Tournamentnation’s top teams. among The the Longhorns are currently listed as a two-seed per ESPN’s latest projections. Baylor is listed as a one-seed. “You’re happy for all of your players, but the freshmen and the new ones, this is to their make first sure and you you keep needit exciting,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. “You make sure that it means as much to you today as it did the very first one that you won, and you let them enjoy it.” The opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament
begin March 18-19.