Blackwell, Edwards have double-doubles, No. 21 Baylor tops Cowgirls 67-45 to close regular season

Updated Mar. 3, 2024 2:22 p.m. ET
Associated Press

WACO, Texas (AP) — Aijha Blackwell scored 20 points and grabbed 18 rebounds and No. 21 Baylor's defense stymied Oklahoma State, leading the Bears to an easy season-ending 67-45 win on Sunday.

Baylor used a 17-0 run bridging halftime to break the game open and held the Cowgirls to 2-of-12 3-point shooting, forced 21 turnovers and snared 23 more rebounds, including 25 on the offensive end.

The Bears hold the No. 5 seed in the Big 12 Conference tournament that begins Thursday in Kansas City. Oklahoma State is the eighth-seed. Both teams play on Friday, OSU against ninth-seed TCU and Baylor against Thursday's Houston-Cincinnati winner..

Dre'una Edwards added 16 points and 10 rebounds for Baylor (23-6, 12-6), which has won five straight. The Bears shot 37% (28 of 75) but had eight 3s and put up 23 more shots.

ADVERTISEMENT

Hannah Gusters had 20 points for Oklahoma State (14-15, 7-11), which shot 38.5% (20 of 52). Quincy Noble had 10 points.

Oklahoma State held the Bears to eight points in the first quarter and led by as many as eight at 16-8 with the first basket of the second quarter. A 3-pointer by Blackwell put the Bears on top for good at 23-20 and the last five points of the half had Baylor up 28-22 at the break.

With Blackwell and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs combining for the first 12 points of the second half, Baylor had a 40-22 lead. After Garzon's 3 for the Cowgirls, Blackwell had two more baskets to propel the Bears to a 46-29 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Littlepage-Buggs had the basket in the final period that made the lead 25.

___ Get alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here ___ AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

share