Game 3: No. 5 Texas 84, No. 4 Iowa State 82
Box Score - Quotes - Notes - Photos
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – No. 5-seed Texas survived No. 4 Iowa State’s solid defense in an 84-82 overtime win in the first quarterfinal of the 2021 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship.
The Longhorns (11-7) and Cyclones (12-6) stayed neck-and-neck, with the Cyclones ahead of the Longhorns 19-18 at the end of the first quarter. Junior Ashley Joens led the Cyclones in points (28) and rebounds (14) while registering the 30th double-double of her career and her second double-double in a Big 12 Championship game. Her first and only other double-double in the Big 12 tournament also came against Texas in 2019 when she tabbed 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Texas went into halftime leading the Cyclones, 32-27. Iowa State’s defense stood firm in the first half, holding Texas’ top scorer Charlie Collier to just seven points and six rebounds in the first half.
ISU came out firing going on an 8-0 run for over a minute early in the third quarter, but Texas rallied, scoring 27 points off of threes to go into the final quarter leading 51-45. Texas’ Kyra Lambert led the team with 23 points and a career-high six 3-pointers, putting her in a four-way tie for third-most in a second-round game.
The final quarter saw a continued contested battle with five lead changes. Iowa State held Texas on the final possession, ending regulation knotted at 69-69. Texas scored 13 points off forced turnovers and finished with 21 second-chance points. The Longhorns made 13 three-pointers in the contest, tying them for second with Oklahoma (13, 2014) in a second-round game.
Texas’ win puts them second in the Big 12 record books for highest-scoring overtime win to be decided by five points or less in a Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship game. This was the seventh overtime game in Championship history to be decided by five-points or less
The No. 5 Longhorns advance to Saturday’s semifinal match at noon to face the winner of No. 1 seed Baylor and No. 8 seed TCU at Noon CT on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Game 4: No. 1 Baylor 92, No. 8 TCU 55
Box Score - Notes - Quotes - Photos
The Baylor Lady Bears continued their quest for another Big 12 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship title by winning 92-55 over TCU in a quarterfinal round matchup.
The Lady Bears entered the contest after finishing the regular season 22-2, with a 17-1 conference record making them the outright conference champions for 11 consecutive seasons. This was just the second meeting between BU and TCU in the conference tournament, with the first matchup coming in 2018 in the semifinals where the Lady Bears won 94-48. With the win, BU has now won 12-straight second round games and is 17-4 in second round play.
Big 12 Player of the Year NaLyssa Smith outscored the entire TCU team in the first quarter, shooting 3-of-4 from the field and tallying up a total of eight points. Baylor’s defense held TCU to seven points in the first quarter, the second-lowest point total in a quarter in a second-round game (tied with Kansas State, 1st Quarter, 2018).
TCU narrowed the deficit in the second quarter by cutting the Baylor lead to 13, with BU leading 36-23 going into the locker rooms for halftime. Going into halftime Baylor’s Smith was the game’s leading scorer with 12 points and four rebounds, to TCU’s leading scorer Tavy Diggs with seven points and four rebounds.
Baylor’s lead was cut to 10 in the third quarter, however it never got closer than double digits as the Lady Bears took a 59-43 lead into the fourth quarter. Baylor was perfect from the free-throw line, shooting 14-14 and tying both the Big 12 tournament (three times, last by Kansas State, 2018, 11-11) and second-round (twice, last by Kansas State, 2018) records of 1.00.
Smith (26 points) and Diggs (22 points) both finished the game as their respective team’s leading scorers. Smith also ended with 12 boards for a double-double. Baylor had two other players finish the game in double digits in DiJonai Carrington (17 points) and Jordyn Oliver (11 points), where TCU had Yummy Morris with 10 points. This was the sophomore Diggs’ second-straight 20+ point performance in the conference tournament, scoring 20 points in the opening round yesterday against Kansas.
While Baylor advances to the semifinals for the 17th time, they will face off against in-state rivals No. 5 Texas for just the second time in conference tournament history. The last time Texas beat Baylor in the semifinals was in 2004 where the roles were reversed. Baylor was the No. 5 seed and Texas No. 1 seed, and UT beat Baylor 63-59.
Tip off for the first semifinal matchup on Saturday, March 13, begins at Noon CT on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.