Jayhawks fall to No. 6 Baylor, 83-48
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s basketball dropped its first Big 12 Conference home game after facing its first nationally-ranked opponent of the season, as the Jayhawks fell to No. 6 Baylor, 83-48, on Saturday afternoon inside Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas (11-4, 2-2 Big 12) remained within 10 points after the first period, but Baylor (14-1, 4-0) took over to beat the Jayhawks for its 11th-straight win of the year. The Jayhawks held Baylor to 83 points and 44 percent (27-of-62) from the field, both of which are below the Lady Bears’ averages of 91.3 points per game and 54.8 percent field goal percentage averages.
KU was led by junior guard Christalah Lyons’ 14th double-digit scoring effort. The Dallas, Texas native netted 15 points while shooting over 40 percent from the field for the 11th time this season. Junior guard Brianna Osorio netted 12 points, while dishing out two assists in the Jayhawks’ loss.
Baylor’s junior center Kalani Brown led all scorers with 22 points, including 10 from the charity stripe. Four other Lady Bears also notched double-digit scoring efforts in the victory on the road. Senior forward Dekeiya Cohen netted 15 points (5-of-9), while sophomore forward Lauren Cox notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Kristy Wallace and sophomore guard Natalie Chou added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Kansas and Baylor traded off the lead throughout the first five minutes of the game. Brown was the first to score, knocking down two free throws to start the game. Richardson answered with 3-point basket from the corner to give the Jayhawks a 3-2 lead, but Wallace added one of her own before Richardson answered with a second long-range basket to keep Kansas on top by one early in the opening frame.
The Jayhawks and Lady Bears alternated the next four baskets, but Kansas kept ahold of an 11-10 lead. Following a layup from freshman center Bailey Helgren, the Jayhawks went cold while Baylor went on a 13-0 run. Redshirt-sophomore center Tyler Johnson scored a layup to end the period, but KU trailed, 25-15, going into the second quarter.
Brown started the second quarter off for the Lady Bears with a 3-point play, but Lyons and Osorio netted the next two baskets to cut Baylor’s lead back to single digits, 28-19.
The Lady Bears went on to outscore the Jayhawks 18-5 for the remainder of the half. Baylor took its first 20-point lead of the game late in the first half and went into the locker room with a 46-24 lead over the Jayhawks. The halftime deficit marked just the second time this season that Kansas has trailed at the intermission.
Baylor knocked in five-straight points to begin the final 20 minutes of the game, but junior guard Kylee Kopatich halted the Lady Bears run with her first 3-pointer of the afternoon. Following BU’s 5-0 run to start the quarter, the Jayhawks only allowed one more 4-0 run in the quarter.
Kansas was able to cut Baylor’s lead to 22 at one point, but despite only being outscored 20-17 in the period, KU trailed 66-41 going into the final 10 minutes.
A Cohen jumper started off the final 10 minutes, but the Jayhawks knocked down the next four points with a free throw and layup from Osorio and a Lyons free throw. The Lady Bears netted seven-straight points before Lyons split up two Baylor runs with a jumper. Baylor followed Lyons’ basket with an 8-1 run to end the game, winning 83-48.
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks complete their two-game homestand with No. 11 West Virginia on Wednesday, Jan. 10, inside Allen Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcast on the Jayhawk Television Network/ESPN3 and the Jayhawk Radio Network.
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