Waco, Texas ? Kansas University’s women’s basketball team played No. 19 Baylor evenly about 30 minutes Wednesday night.
Then the Bears (15-3, 3-2 Big 12 Conference) buried the Jayhawks (8-8, 1-4) with an 18-1 run.
Baylor rolled to a 85-66 victory down the stretch, handing the Jayhawks’ their 22nd straight loss against ranked opponents.
“You have to make shots, and down the stretch we just couldn’t,” said Kansas coach Marian Washington, whose team has lost four straight to the Bears.
Kansas couldn’t miss in the opening minutes. The Jayhawks hit their first seven shots — with Larisha Graves and Crystal Kemp scoring six points apiece — on the way to a 14-7 lead. KU maintained its seven-point edge until Jessika Stratton hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 26 with a little more than six minutes left in the first half.
The lead went back and forth before KU’s Aquanita Burras nailed a three-pointer, and Kemp hit two free throws in the final two minutes, giving the Jayhawks a 40-37 halftime lead.
There were seven lead changes in the second half before Stratton’s three-point play put Baylor in front 61-59 with a little less than nine minutes remaining. KU was within 63-60 before BU pulled away with an 18-1 surge.
“We played great the entire first half,” Washington said. “In the second half they went to a zone on us and dropped down on our post players. We had a hard time finding them.”
Baylor allowed only one basket in a nine-minute span of the second half and outscored KU 48-26 in the period.
Burras led Kansas with 21 points and eight rebounds. Kemp contributed 20 points, and Larisha Graves scored 12.
Steffanie Blackmon led Baylor with 23 points, and Stratton set a career high with 21. Sophia Young had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Blackmon also had six steals, helping BU outscore Kansas 24-12 in points off turnovers and 12-2 on fastbreak points.
KU owned the glass with a 34-28 rebounding advantage, but Baylor made 7-of-13 three-pointers — compared to 3-of-13 for KU — and made 18-of-22 free throws, while Kansas was 9-of-12.
Kansas will face Missouri (9-6, 0-4) at 3 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. KU defeated the Tigers, 55-52, Jan. 10 at Columbia, Mo. A fight following that game led to suspensions for three Jayhawks and two Tigers.