Northwestern State Falls in First Round of NCAA Tournament
WACO, Texas – The Northwestern State women's basketball team knew what it faced when it drew second-seeded Baylor in Friday's opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
That didn't stop the Lady Demons, the shortest team on average in the tournament, from running their offense the same way they had for 33 games.
However, Northwestern State could not overcome Baylor's size advantage and fell to the Oklahoma City Region's No. 2 seed, 77-36, at the Ferrell Center on Baylor's campus Friday.
"We just faced a very good team," said third-year co-head coach
Brooke Stoehr, whose squad became the first in program history to advance to consecutive NCAA Tournaments. "They're balanced, and they have a lot of size and depth – obviously a very difficult opponent for us to match up against size-wise. But, I'm extremely proud of this team and our group and the way they competed. They weren't afraid. They've been in this situation before, and it says a lot about their character and who they are.
"Obviously, Baylor's size affected our shots, but our kids continued to compete and execute offensively, and I'm very proud of that."
The Lady Demons (19-15) held strong through an initial Baylor surge, as the Lady Bears (31-3) scored the game's first five points.
NSU answered with the next five – on a
Tia Youngblood jumper and a
Chelsea Rogers 3-pointer – with Rogers' 59
th 3 of the season coming at the 16:40 mark of the first half.
A little more than two minutes later, after Baylor scored six of the next eight points, NSU cut the lead to two on a pair of
Beatrice Attura free throws with 14:16 to play in the first half.
"This is our second appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and we played Tennessee last year," Rogers said. "We knew we had to play with heart, because we were going to be outsized and outweighed and just go out there and be ourselves and play like we did all year."
After Attura's free throws, Baylor took off on a 10-0 run in a three-minute span opening a 12-point lead. The Lady Demons knocked the lead back to single digits when
Janelle Perez connected on a 3-pointer with 10:10 to play in the half.
Perez led the Lady Demons with 10 points and posted a 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. It was Perez' 25
th double-figure scoring game of the season and 60
th of her career.
Presley Owens added eight points and had the first multiple 3-pointer game of her career, hitting a pair in her final contest.
"The biggest thing is that we stick to who we are and play fearless in tournaments like this," she said. "It's fun to go out and compete, and that's what it's all about. I'm just glad we got another opportunity at this."
Baylor finished the half by scoring 17 of the final 23 points, taking advantage of its size advantage on the interior. Twenty-four of the Lady Bears' 41 first-half points came in the paint, and Baylor scored 48 of its overall points in the lane.
In the second half, the Lady Bears continued to work the ball inside and shot 57.7 percent (15-for-26) in the the final 20 minutes.
Nina Davis led three Lady Bears in double figures with 17 points while Alexis Prince (14 points) and Khadijah Cave (12 points) joined her.
Despite the final score, Stoehr said she understands what mattered most to her staff and her players.
"It's difficult from an outsider's point of view, just looking at the scoreboard and saying, 'Well, they got 40-pointed,'" Stoehr said, "but you have to look in terms of how they competed each possession. These kids never put their heads down, and I'm proud of that."