What a valiant effort by the ladies! I have to give Baylor credit, they took every push ISU had and answered back. Between their height and quickness they just wore the sisters out. They focused on Carlton and effectively shut her down. They also did a great job of guarding the perimeter. What we had was a young woman named Middleton who played her heart out.
The Bears started out strong and actually built a 12 point lead early. The way the sisters answered back said that this was going to be a wild game. Right up until the fourth quarter the sisters were neck and neck with the number one team in the country. Unfortunately, one of our patented scoring droughts...part defense and part tired legs ended the game with about seven minutes left to play. There was nothing left in the tank.
Again, any team that holds the sisters to 49 points is doing something. For the sisters, not gettin any offensive production out of Wise, Scott and shooting 20% from three will kill the Clones. We had open looks and they just didn’t fall. Two stats will jump out at you (beyond Carlton only scoring 13 points). First, and no surprise, we were out rebounded by ten. Even more startling were the assists. Five for the sisters and 17 for Baylor. Here’s another shocker. Baylor didn’t make (and only shot 3) a single three pointer. You knew they were tough inside and we just don’t have the size to battle with them there. If there is one piece missing from this fantastic team it’s a big on the inside that’s as sizable and talented as what Baylor has.
Losing to Baylor is no surprise. They have advantages no one else in the conference has and Mulkey has built a monster there. Next up is another opportunity to okay back at Hilton. There is a possibility the ladies can get a three seed. At worst a four. Let’s pack that place and cheer the ladies into the sweet 16!
