Monday’s matchup between No. 2 Baylor and No. 9 UCLA was a tale of two halves. The Bruins seemed primed to steer the game away from the home team for the first two quarters. Nonetheless, it was ultimately the Lady Bears’ intensified defense that gave way to their 43-point second half and eventual 84-70 win.
Three straight triples from UCLA (1-1) including two back-to-back from senior guard Kari Korver, contributed to the Bruins’ 33-point second quarter and 48-41 halftime lead. But an early 10-1 run at the start of the third by the Bears combined with their revitalized defensive pressure flipped the score in favor of the home team, giving them a 63-61 lead heading into the final quarter.”
During that same stretch, Baylor’s defense was able to keep UCLA scoreless for nearly two-and-a-half minutes with Baylor redshirt senior guard Alexis Prince recording two consecutive blocks. UCLA junior guard Jordin Canada did all she could to keep her team in the game, scoring the Bruins’ last five points in the quarter en route to her team-high of 23 points.
“I think it was just Baylor’s intensity,” Canada said of the Bears’ second-half performance. “They came out and performed … They know who they are. They hustled after every 50-50 ball. They out-rebounded us. They knew who they wanted to give the ball to. They just play to their strengths.”
The fourth quarter gave the Bears another opportunity to pour in points and extend their lead. An early 18-2 run, including Prince’s fourth 3-pointer, exposed defensive lapses in UCLA’s 2-3 zone, allowing Baylor to build its largest lead of the game at 82-63.
Overall, the Bears found 52 of their 84 points in the paint in addition to 20 offensive rebounds that led to 26 second chance points.
“Baylor is No. 2 in the nation for a reason,” Close said. “The bottom line came down to guarding the war zone, which we call the area right around the basket, and getting defensive rebounds … They’ve got four All-American level players in the inside. And they can just keep them rotating and find which one is hot. And obviously (Baylor sophomore center Kalani Brown) was hot tonight.”
[In Depth: Coach Cori Close studies basketball at every court she steps on.]
UCLA went six minutes without a field goal, falling short on many shot attempts. The Bruins scorched the Bears for 6 of 9 in 3-point shooting and shot at a 51.5 percent clip from the field in the first half. But, they were held to only 22 points in the second half on just 6 of 25 shooting – a consequence Close attributed to straying from the team’s offensive scheme and going into isolations instead.
“It wasn’t just that we didn’t shoot that well. We weren’t running our offense together,” said Close. “In the second half, we played too much one-on-one basketball and we didn’t create easier shots together. That really proved to be the difference in the game.”
The Bears had four players finish with at least 15 points, including Prince, whose nine rebounds added to Baylor’s 52-25 rebounding edge.
Brown recorded career-highs off the bench in points and rebounds, finishing with 25 points and 19 rebounds and tied for a game-high six assists.
“I trust the hearts of this team and so I know that they will let me push them really hard so that we can (improve our defensive rebounding),” Close said. “You’re not going to go into the No. 2 team’s house and expect to win and get doubled up on the boards. We’re going to have to learn from that and hopefully get another shot at them in the NCAA tournament.”