Rainy Night in Waco

Caitlin Bickle got things started with a Bickle Bucket on the Bears’ first possession of the game followed by a three on the next trip down the court. Madi Williams and Taylor Robertson each knocked down a three to get the Sooners going offensively.

Another Bickle 3-pointer got the crowd on their feet. Sarah Andrews scored on a drive to make it 16-10 Baylor with four minutes left in the first quarter. The refs were quiet in this quarter, with only two shooting fouls called, both against Baylor in the last 2:30. The Bears finished on top 22-18 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter started off with turnovers for both teams before Oklahoma’s Taylor Robertson knocked down a mid-range shot. Jana Van Gytenbeek lit things up with a corner three. Baylor kept their foot on the gas with threes by Owens and Bickle, as well as two Buggets from Darianna Littlepage-Buggs.

Taylor Robertson hit a three with 3:55 left in the half to cool off the Bears scoring run. Not to be stopped, Sarah Andrews swished a three, followed by a huge block from Jaden Owens and ANOTHER Andrews three. Oklahoma head coach Jenny Baranczyk was forced to call a timeout to regroup with 3:30 to go until halftime.

Coach Baranczyk’s timeout did exactly what she hoped, quenching the Bears run and helping Oklahoma find their rhythm offensively. Baylor turnovers and Oklahoma offensive rebounds helped the Sooners score eight points in less than two minutes. Coach Collen called a timeout with 1:15 left to stop Oklahoma’s momentum, and the Bears went into halftime up 46-40.

Baylor came out hot in the second half, scoring in the paint and stepping up to take charges against Oklahoma. Oklahoma cut Baylor’s lead down to three by creating points off of turnovers and offensive rebounds. After a Baylor timeout, Ja’Mee Asberry got two quick layups off of turnovers, giving the Bears a 58-51 lead with 5:06 left in the quarter.

Things got a little heated with 36 seconds to go in the third. A foul was called on Oklahoma’s Culliton, and her teammate Skylar Vann had some words to say to Littlepage-Buggs. After a lengthy review by officials, Kennedy Tucker received a technical foul for shoving Asberry during the exchange. Buggs and Bickle each made their two free throws to make it 66-58 Bears.

Ana Llanusa hit a three to start the fourth quarter, cutting Baylor’s lead to five. Jana Van Gytenbeek brought a spark off the bench with a three-point play to put Baylor up 71-63 with 7:13 left to play. Asberry hit a big three to get the Ferrell Center pumped up, and Oklahoma called a timeout with 6:16 to go. Shots were hard to come by for both teams, but the crowd helped get Baylor through the offensive drought by getting loud on defense. With 1:44 left to play, Andrews hit another three to give the Bears a five point advantage.

A Baylor turnover led to a Taylor Robertson three to tie the game with 14.3 seconds left. Baylor couldn’t score on their last possession of regulation, so to overtime we go, tied at 83.

Bears won the tip but couldn’t find the bucket. Oklahoma went on a 4-0 run before fouling Bickle again. Bickle hit both free throws to keep it a one possession game, 87-90 with 2:30 left to play. Sarah Andrews stepped up and made a three to tie it up once again, 90-90 with 1:42 to go. Baylor couldn’t get a basket, and Oklahoma sunk all their free throws, making it 92-97 Sooners with 12.7 seconds to go in overtime. A desperate shot by Bickle didn’t hit and Oklahoma dribbled out to end the game.

Tonight was a crushing loss for the Bears. Coach Collen said herself postgame that Baylor was the better team for 39 minutes of the game. The Bears struggled to execute in the last 16 seconds, which resulted in turnovers and allowed Oklahoma to tie it up and take it into overtime. Baylor ran out of gas at the end and couldn’t get ahead in overtime.