No. 7 Texas Longhorns upset No. 4 Baylor Bears for Big 12 Tournament women’s title
The No. 7-ranked Texas Longhorns pulled off an upset in the women’s Big 12 Tournament championship game on Sunday at Municipal Auditorium.
The third-seeded Longhorns took down the top-seeded and fourth-ranked Baylor Bears 67-58 behind a stingy defensive effort to claim their first conference tournament title since 2003.
“I just couldn’t be more proud of my team,” Texas head coach Vic Schaefer said. “We came here to win a championship. I think you saw today some really determined kids — these young ladies were absolutely not going to be denied. They’re not intimidated, they’re not afraid. They had a warrior mentality.”
Nearly 3,500 people watched the championship game in Kansas City, the tournament’s best attendance for the final since 2016. The semifinal and quarterfinal rounds featured the event’s largest crowds since 2013.
“We fought hard to get the women’s tournament back to Kansas City and it’s gratifying to see such strong attendance the first year we’ve had full capacity at Municipal Auditorium,” said Kathy Nelson, President and CEO of the Kansas City Sports Commission and Visit KC. “As we’ve seen with the success of the KC Current, demand for women’s sports continues to gain momentum, both in Kansas City and around the country.”
Both teams entered the matchup on lengthy win streaks. Texas (27-6) hadn’t lost a game since Feb. 6, Baylor (27-6) since Feb. 2. The Longhorns’ last two defeats came at the hands of the Bears in back-to-back games and they were sure to get their revenge with a title on the line on Sunday.
“We’re not worried about the past,” said Rori Harmon, who was voted most outstanding player of the tournament. “We’re not really worried about the loss, but we are trying to improve on our mistakes from those. I mean obviously, we came focused and ready to go, played the game five minutes at a time. And we won every five minutes.”
Harmon, a freshman, led Texas in scoring with 20 points on 8 of 10 shooting, while also adding five assists and five rebounds. Joanne Allen-Taylor had 14 points and Aaliyah Moore had 12 points and five rebounds.
Led by its defensive effort, Texas forced 16 turnovers, which it converted into 19 points.
NaLyssa Smith, the unanimous Big 12 player of the year, turned heads with a 37-point performance — the second-most ever for a player in the tournament — in Baylor’s semifinal win over Oklahoma on Saturday. However, the Longhorns wouldn’t let her get anything easy on Sunday, holding her to seven points through the first three quarters, though she finished with 21.
“I knew my team can compete with her,” Allen-Taylor said. “And that’s what they did. They played the game and we got the win because of it. And Aaliyah (Moore) stepped up big time.”
Texas pulled away in the second quarter. The Longhorns took a 20-14 lead with two shots at the free-throw line from Moore. They then forced a turnover and Allen-Taylor scored a layup, extending the advantage to 22-14.
Harmon drew a charge on Smith to give her her third foul with a little over four minutes left in the second quarter, at which point the Baylor star had five points and three rebounds. Right after she exited the game, wing Audrey Warren scored a bucket to extend Texas’ lead to 30-21.
“It’s just what we do,” Schaefer said of Harmon drawing the charge. “It’s how we do it and it’s a really important part of what we do. It’s the saying in our locker room: it’s not what we do, but how we do it that separates us from the rest of the country. ... Just how hard we play. We’re fearless. We’re pretty tough and nothing really rattles us or shakes us.”
The Longhorns entered halftime with a 39-28 edge after holding the Bears to 40.9% shooting from the field.
Texas maintained a double digit lead until the final seconds of the third quarter, when guard Ja’Mee Asberry hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to trim the deficit to 50-41.
Baylor tried to make a push in the fourth quarter as Smith found her rhythm and scored 14 points in the quarter, but Texas had a response each time. After Smith got two buckets in a row, sandwiched by a rebound, to trim the lead to six points, Aliyah Matharu splashed in a three-pointer — her first field goal of the night — to put her team back in control.
After the final buzzer sounded, the Longhorns launched the ball in the air and began jumping and hugging in jubilation at center court, in celebration of their first title since 2003.
“I just feel everything right now, I can’t even describe it,” Allen-Taylor said. “I’m so blessed to play with these girls, to be coached by this man. ... This win means everything to me.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2022 at 3:06 PM.
