Texas Falls to NaLyssa Smith and Baylor, 75-63

The No. 13 Texas Longhorns found itself at the mercy of NaLyssa Smith and a tepid shooting night as they lost to the No. 9 Baylor Bears, 75-63, on Friday at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.

Baylor (16-5, 6-3 in Big 12) was coming off a one-point loss to Oklahoma on Wednesday, while Texas (15-5, 5-4) hadn’t played since a two-point loss to Oklahoma on Sunday. The Bears shot 49 percent from the floor and shot out to a 14-point lead in the first half, thanks in part of Smith, the reigning Wade Trophy winner as the 2021 Women’s Player of the Year.

With the loss, Texas is now two losses behind front-running Iowa State and Oklahoma in the Big 12 standings. Baylor remained one loss behind both.

Smith made her first six shots of the game and ended up with 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting. She also scored six of Baylor’s first eight points in the fourth quarter as the Bears rebuilt their double-digit lead after Texas nearly came back to tie the game. Smith ended the game with a 3-pointer in the final minute.

Texas shot 37 percent from the field. Just as important, the Longhorns committed 20 turnovers and the Bears turned those mistakes into 25 points. Texas head coach Vic Schaefer made the decision to bring his leading scorer, Aliyah Matharu, off the bench in the second quarter as opposed to starting her. Matharu ended up leading the Longhorns with 17 points, including four 3-pointers. But foul trouble dogged her all night and she ended up playing just 18 minutes.

With Matharu on the bench to start the game, the Bears raced out to a 23-15 lead after the first quarter and never gave up the lead.

Texas hung around and had one chance to draw even with Baylor. The Longhorns cut the Bears’ lead to 48-45 with 2:22 left in the third quarter. But things got away from Texas, as the Bears went on an 8-0 run to end the quarter, with Sarah Andrews scoring the last four points for Baylor.

The Longhorns’ frustrations against the Bears continued, even after coaching turnover at Baylor, with Nicki Collen replacing Kim Mulkey. The Bears have now won 12 straight, and 26 of their last 27 games, against Texas.

The pair will play against in Austin on Sunday at 3 p.m. on ESPN2. Friday’s game was the rescheduled game after it was postponed in early January due to Baylor’s COVID-19 pause.

Fouls became a significant part of the game entering the fourth quarter. For Baylor, Queen Egbo had four, while Smith, Jordan Lewis and Andrews had three fouls each. For Texas, both Lauren Ebo and Matharu had four fouls, while Joanne Allen-Taylor had three fouls. Egbo and Ebo both fouled out.

Rori Harmon was the only other Longhorn in double figures with 10 points. She also had three rebounds and six assists.

Andrews had 17 points for Baylor while Ja’Mee Asberry had 15 points. While Andrews did a good part of her damage from the free-throw line, going 6-of-7, Asberry connected on four 3-pointers.

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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