Wow. We haven't had this in a while. The top-seeded Bears proved Friday night in a 72-67 win over No. 2 OR that they can clench their jaws and hold off a fearless, hot-shooting opponent down the stretch just as well as they crushed overmatched ones by halftime.
Baylor improved to 36-1 with its 28th consecutive victory, which came 14 years to the day of their first national championship.
OR reached the women's Final Four for the first time and after taking Baylor to the final minute the Ducks vow to return to the sport's biggest stage.
OR lost to Baylor in the national semifinals Friday night.
"How can you do a better job defensively on the 3-point line", ESPN's Holly Rowe asked Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey between the third and fourth quarters.
"I bet from the outside looking in, when people see me, and they see this season we've had as a team and this season I've had as a player - you know, they probably think: she's gotta go pro". We saw bits and pieces of it here and there.
Baylor's size played out on the defensive end as well. Cox and Brown found their rhythm and scored in double digits, but again it was Richards who got to shine. Though her point total (four) was far from her average, she had nine rebounds, four of which came on offense.
Ionescu made a gorgeous pass to Oti Gildon in the closing minute of the first half, but Cox swatted it away. Baylor is the number one overall seed in the tournament, and the Bears are on track to establish themselves as the new superpower in women's basketball.
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But Ionescu found her stride in the second quarter, scoring 12 of Oregon's 19 point in the stanza that included a four-point play to give the Ducks a 34-33 lead heading into halftime. "But we had to adjust, and we didn't".
Locked in a close game for the first time in weeks, Baylor never flinched.
After Crystal Dangerfield of the Huskies (35-3) missed a shot, Ogunbowale made two free throws to give the Irish a three-point advantage with 58.3 seconds left. She won the Wade Trophy this season, awarded by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association for national player of the year, and a second straight Nancy Lieberman Award given to the nation's top point guard in women's basketball. They see Oregon Women's Basketball playing in the Final Four.... nearly making the title game.
But Baylor never anxious about how it'd handle a tight game, even when it trailed 64-61 with 6:10 left. "No magical words", Mulkey said.
Cox answered with a quick basket, and Baylor's defense tightened. If we have a normal shooting night, those threes for twos are more successful.
Baylor's bigs didn't come up with its biggest score.
After that miss, Baylor senior Chloe Jackson relied on a screen from Brown to convert the eventual game-winning layup.
OR made program history this year and will be in position to build on it next year.
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