No. 4 Baylor Cruises Past Jayhawks, 81-49

Box Score

WACO, Texas – Three double-digit scoring efforts including a career-high afternoon for freshman guard Aisia Robertson weren’t enough for Kansas to mount an upset over No. 4 Baylor, as the Lady Bears defeated the Jayhawks, 81-49, Saturday inside the Ferrell Center.
 
Turnovers were plentiful for both teams all game, combining for 45 total between the two squads. Baylor’s ability to capitalize off Kansas’ giveaways helped the fourth-ranked team in the nation claim the victory, scoring 24 points off turnovers to just 10 for the Jayhawks.
 
Baylor’s (23-1, 10-1 Big 12) post players asserted their dominance from start to finish, finishing with 50 points in the paint and outrebounding the Jayhawks, 48-24. The Lady Bears also earned 23 trips to the charity stripe and converted on 15 attempts, compared to Kansas’ 1-of-2 performance at the free throw line.
 
The Jayhawks (5-18, 0-12 Big 12) saw double-figure scoring from three different players for the first time in Big 12 play this season. Freshman guard Kylee Kopatich tallied a team-high 14 points on 50 percent shooting, knocking down more field goals (six) than any other Jayhawk. Sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge also drained 50 percent of her attempts, connecting on 4-of-8 buckets from beyond the arc for 12 points. Freshman guard Aisia Robertson reached a new career high with 10 points, and filled her line with five rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.
 
Four Lady Bears tallied double-digit points to lead their Baylor squad its 10th-straight conference win. Freshman forward Beatrice Mompremier notched the only double-double of the contest with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Freshman forward Kalani Brown came off the bench to lead the Lady Bears in scoring with 18 points, her 12th double-figure scoring effort of the season and highest mark in conference action. Redshirt junior guard Alexis Prince and junior forward Nina Davis logged 14 and 11 points, respectively.
 
Nearly four minutes ticked off the clock before Aldridge put Kansas on the board with a three from the corner to end Baylor’s 8-0 run to start the game. A 1-of-5 stretch from the field from the Lady Bears slowed the BU’s attack halfway through the quarter, but the Jayhawks could not capitalize, missing six consecutive shots over the same span.
 
Kansas ended the opening period on just 3-of-12 shooting, but the cold shooting proved to be less problematic than the KU’s turnovers. The Jayhawks committed nine turnovers over the first 10 minutes of play, leading to 10 of Baylor’s 16 points.
 
The second quarter looked much like the first, starting with the Lady Bears grabbing the first eight points of the period. Baylor continued to exploit its strength inside, racking up 26 points in the paint in the first half, accounting for all 13 of the team’s field goals. The Jayhawk deficit reached as much as 22 points, but back-to-back triples from Aldridge and Robertson in the final minute of the first half helped cut the margin back to 18 by halftime, 36-18.
 
A 5-0 run early in the second half brought Kansas within 15 points, but Baylor answered in a big way. The Lady Bears followed up with an 18-2 streak over the next six and a half minutes to grow their lead to an insurmountable level for the Jayhawks. Baylor’s 18th field goal with 5:08 left in the third quarter marked its first points of the game not earned from inside the paint or at the free throw line. The three-ball from Wallace would not be the last of the quarter for Baylor, as Prince followed up the effort with two long-range buckets of her own.
 
Kopatich recorded half of her points on the afternoon in the fourth quarter, sinking three field goals for seven points. The lead only continued to grow for Baylor, as the Lady Bears hit the mark on five of its first six attempts. Redshirt junior guard Timeka O’Neal connected on a triple with 1:32 left in the contest for her first made field goal of the day. At the final buzzer, the Lady Bears emerged with the 81-49 victory to maintain its place at the top of the Big 12 conference.

POSTGAME NOTES
Baylor 81, Kansas 49
Feb. 6, 2016 – Waco, Texas
 
Ferrell Center
Attendance: 6,709 (Capacity: 10,284)

SERIES INFORMATION

• Kansas drops to 8-25 all-time against Baylor and 2-12 when facing the Lady Bears inside the Ferrell Center.
• KU drops to 119-205 all-time record against Big 12 Conference foes.
• Kansas drops to 364-409 away from Allen Fieldhouse.

 
TEAM NOTES

• The Jayhawks have faced five nationally-ranked opponents in 2015-16. Kansas is 0-4 against opponents ranked in the Top-10 and 0-5 when facing a program ranked in the Top-25.
• Kansas scored just 18 first-half points against the Lady Bears, marking the eighth time during Big 12 action where KU has netted under 20 points in the opening half.
• KU ended the contest shooting 34.5 percent from the three-point line. Kansas has shot 30 percent or higher 13 times this season and on eight occasions during Big 12 Conference play.
• The Jayhawks dished out 13 assists against the nationally-ranked Lady Bears, a team-high in Big 12 Conference action. KU’s 12 assists is the most by the Jayhawks since tallying 14 against St. John’s (12/6).

 
INDIVIDUAL

• Freshman guard Aisia Robertson tallied eight first-half points, which tied her career-high set against Memphis (11/19). The San Francisco, California native finished the afternoon with 10 points, for a new career-best mark.
• Sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge ended the afternoon connecting on 50 percent of her shots from beyond the arc. The Marshfield, Missouri native has shot 50 percent or higher from the three-point line eight times in 2015-16.
• Aldridge’s 12 points marked her team-leading 15th double-digit scoring effort of the year.
• Freshman guard Kylee Kopatich finished the night with 14 points behind 6-of-12 shooting to lead the Jayhawks. Kopatich has led the team in scoring on six occasions and tallied 13 double-figure scoring efforts.

POSTGAME QUOTES
Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider
Opening statement:
“They were, obviously, very talented, very well coached. I said this to coach Mulkey at our place, ‘I think they’re looking potentially at another Final Four.’ She was worried about their depth, but it’s nice to see they’re getting some guys back healthy. I’m, obviously, disappointed in the score of today’s game and the fact that we lost but I hope that those who watched felt that Kansas continued to fight for 40 minutes. We fought really hard and I was really proud of them.
 
On Baylor’s size being a problem:
“Baylor’s size is a problem for a lot of people. And not just on the inside. Especially for us, when we give up four or five inches on the perimeter, it makes it difficult to really have an effect on the ball. They can go over the top of you to find those post players. But yes, their size presents a challenge for, I think, everyone in the league.”
 
On the free throw discrepancy:
“Well, I think it was difficult for us to get the ball in the paint because of their size. I didn’t think the discrepancy was at all because of the officials. They’re bigger and athletically superior to us at multiple positions, and I think that causes you to be in a position where you commit fouls.”
 
Freshman guard Aisia Robertson
On what to take away from a game like this:
“I know that our coaches will show me the film and we’ll continue to grow and get better for the next game.”

NEXT UP
The Jayhawks head to Manhattan for the season’s second installment of the Sunflower Showdown. Kansas will wrap up the 2016 series with the Wildcats on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m., inside Bramlage Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on Cox Cable, the Time Warner Cable SportsChannel, ESPN3 and the Jayhawk Radio Network. 
 
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