Kansas City, MO— No. 4 Baylor, the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 tournament, wasted no time in destroying the Big 12’s No. 9 Oklahoma State 76-36.
For the Pokes, who beat Texas Tech 73-58 in the first round, the game was over before it even started. They laid a goose egg in the first quarter, missing all 13 shots, and trailed 23-0.
For the first time ever in their history, Baylor held a team to a scoreless quarter. Their previous low was against Iowa State when they held the Cyclones to two points up in Ames on January 17, 2018.
Baylor then proceeded to outscore Oklahoma State by 17 points over the next three quarters to win by the aforementioned 40. They also kept the Cowgirls to only seven points in the third quarter and 36 points overall. That is the fewest amount of points ever scored in a Big 12 tournament game.
Former Oklahoma State and now Baylor player Ja’Mee Asberry had a game high 16 points in 33 minutes on six-of-nine shooting. Sara Andrews and Jordan Lewis each had nine points.
Both NaLyssa Smith and Queen Egbo both notched double doubles. Egbo had 15 points, 13 rebounds and added five blocks. Smith had 15 points and 10 rebounds for her 22nd double double of the season (second in Baylor history) and 50th double double of her career (third in Baylor history).
Baylor will face Oklahoma tomorrow at noon on ESPN+ in the Big 12 semifinals. Despite winning the Big 12 regular season for the 12th year in a row, the Bears have lost twice to the Sooners on the year. Each time the Bears blew six-point fourth quarter leads.
If Baylor wants to win their tenth Big 12 Tournament championship in 11 tries, they will need to find a way to get past the Sooners on Saturday.