By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
PORTLAND, Ore. – Living up to the hype, USC freshman All-American JuJu Watkins poured in 30 points and scored nine of her team’s last 10 points to help the top-seeded Trojans hold off fifth-seeded Baylor, 74-70, Saturday afternoon in the region semifinals at the Moda Center.
The Bears (26-8), playing in their first Sweet 16 under third-year head coach Nicki Collen, had a four-point lead going into the fourth quarter and were up by two with under four minutes to play. But USC (29-5) reeled off eight unanswered points and survived a pair of 3-pointers by Sarah Andrews down the stretch.
Watkins was 7-of-7 from the line in the fourth quarter and 12-of-13 for the game, adding six rebounds, four blocks and four assists.
Andrews knocked down five 3-pointers and scored a team-high 17 points, but the senior guard missed a deep 3-pointer with about 10 seconds left that would have tied it up. Coming off a career-high 28 points in the second-round win over Virginia Tech, Jada Walker chipped in with 15 points and seven assists.
Sophomore Darianna Littlepage-Buggs had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while senior forward Dre’Una Edwards had nine points and 12 boards to help the Bears win the rebounding battle against the taller Trojans, 44-41. This was just the second time in 23 games this season that Baylor lost while winning the battle of the boards.
Complementing Watkins, junior forward Rayah Marshall had a double-double as well with 11 points and 16 rebounds; and Harvard transfer McKenzie Forbes matched her season average with 14 points.
USC advances to the region finals for the first time in 30 years and will face either third-seeded UConn (31-5) or seventh-seeded Duke (22-11) on Monday for a spot in the Final Four. The Bears were denied a spot in their 11th all-time Elite Eight and first since 2021, when they lost to UConn.
Baylor Bear Insider
PORTLAND, Ore. – Living up to the hype, USC freshman All-American JuJu Watkins poured in 30 points and scored nine of her team’s last 10 points to help the top-seeded Trojans hold off fifth-seeded Baylor, 74-70, Saturday afternoon in the region semifinals at the Moda Center.
The Bears (26-8), playing in their first Sweet 16 under third-year head coach Nicki Collen, had a four-point lead going into the fourth quarter and were up by two with under four minutes to play. But USC (29-5) reeled off eight unanswered points and survived a pair of 3-pointers by Sarah Andrews down the stretch.
Watkins was 7-of-7 from the line in the fourth quarter and 12-of-13 for the game, adding six rebounds, four blocks and four assists.
Andrews knocked down five 3-pointers and scored a team-high 17 points, but the senior guard missed a deep 3-pointer with about 10 seconds left that would have tied it up. Coming off a career-high 28 points in the second-round win over Virginia Tech, Jada Walker chipped in with 15 points and seven assists.
Sophomore Darianna Littlepage-Buggs had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while senior forward Dre’Una Edwards had nine points and 12 boards to help the Bears win the rebounding battle against the taller Trojans, 44-41. This was just the second time in 23 games this season that Baylor lost while winning the battle of the boards.
Complementing Watkins, junior forward Rayah Marshall had a double-double as well with 11 points and 16 rebounds; and Harvard transfer McKenzie Forbes matched her season average with 14 points.
USC advances to the region finals for the first time in 30 years and will face either third-seeded UConn (31-5) or seventh-seeded Duke (22-11) on Monday for a spot in the Final Four. The Bears were denied a spot in their 11th all-time Elite Eight and first since 2021, when they lost to UConn.
GAME NOTES
- The five-seeded Baylor women’s basketball team fell to top-seeded USC, 74-70, at the Moda Center in the Sweet 16 round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
- The Bears’ appearance in the Big Dance marked the 20th-straight for BU which is the fourth-longest active streak in the country.
- Baylor’s trip to the Sweet 16 marked the 13th in the last 15 seasons and 16th in program history.
- The Bears are 57-19 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
- BU’s appearance in the Sweet 16 as a five seed marked the first for the Bears in program history. The only other time Baylor was a five seed (2007), the Bears lost in the second round.
- Senior Sarah Andrews led the Bears offensively with 17 points, going a season-high 5-for-13 from 3-point range.
- Andrews has connected from behind the arc in 31 of 34 games this season and hit three-or-more from range 14 times.
- Andrews’ five treys are tied for the second-most in an NCAA Tournament game in program history and just the third time a BU player has hit five 3-pointers in at least the round of 16.
- With her eighth point of the game, Jada Walker reached 1,000 for her career as the junior finished with 15 on the night. She added team-high seven assists and finished with three rebounds in 35 minutes of action.
- A pair of Bears finished in double figures on the glass led by Dre’Una Edwards‘ 12 rebounds.
- Darianna Littlepage-Buggs added 11 rebounds to 12 points, finishing with her fifth double-double of the season and 19th in her career.
- Littlepage-Buggs scored eight of her 12 points in the third quarter.
- Baylor bested USC on the boards, outrebounding the Trojans, 44-41. It marked the 23rd time this season that the Bears grabbed more rebounds than their opponent.
- The Bears shot 34.6% from 3-point range, marking the highest in the NCAA Tournament game for BU this year.
First appeared on baylorbears.com