Baylor Bears continue Big 12 women’s basketball dominance with tournament title
The Big 12 remains the domain of Baylor women’s basketball.
The Bears defeated West Virginia 76-50 on Sunday in the Big 12 Tournament championship game at Municipal Auditorium.
Sixth-ranked Baylor dominated the paint and made things difficult for the Mountaineers on both ends of the floor. The Bears got double-doubles from Queen Egbo (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Moon Ursin (12 points and 10 rebounds), plus 14 points from Dijonai Carrington.
Baylor scored 54 points in the paint and outrebounded the Mountaineers 46-33.
A third-quarter play that typified the advantage: DiDi Richards fired a pass from the wing to NaLyssa Smith, who was closely fronted by West Virginia’s Jayla Hemingway. But good defense didn’t matter here. Smith went high to catch the pass, score and was fouled. The three-point play increased Baylor’s lead to 46-32.
The Bears (25-2) won their third straight Big 12 Tournament and ninth in 10 years. Baylor has won 11 of the 24 Big 12 Tournaments contested.
The all-tournament team: Baylor’s Smith, Ursin and Carrington, West Virginia’s Kysre Gondrezick and Oklahoma State’s Natasha Mack. Smith was named the event’s most outstanding player.
Attendance on Sunday was listed at 720. It was the first women’s tournament at Municipal Auditorium since 2012 and attendance was limited by COVID-19 restrictions.
The women’s NCAA Tournament field will be announced at 6 p.m. Monday In ESPN’s latest projected bracket, five Big 12 teams — Baylor, West Virginia, Texas, Iowa State and Oklahoma State — appear safely in the field with Oklahoma as a bubble team.
The entire women’s tournament will held in Texas with first round games at San Antonio, Austin and San Marcos. The Alamodome in San Antonio will be the site of the Final Four, Elite Eight and Sweet 16 games. The tournament begins March 21.
This story was originally published March 14, 2021 at 2:03 PM.