The NCAA.com Team of the Week, Baylor and senior All-American NaLyssa Smith had an amazing week, scoring three wins that helped to clinch a 12th-consecutive Big 12 Conference championship for the Bears.
Fifth-ranked Baylor clinched at least a share of the Big 12 regular-season title with an 87-62 blowout victory over the No. 9 Iowa State Cyclones Monday night at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa in what amounted to a de facto championship game. Smith had a monster double-double for Baylor in the win with 28 points, 20 rebounds and four blocked shots, while Jordan Lewis was 5-of-5 from 3-point range in the second half, when she scored 17 of her 23 points. For Smith, it was her 20th double-double of the season and 49th of her distinguished career.
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The Bears, winning their ninth in a row and 14th of their last 15 games since an 0-2 start in conference, improved to 24-5 and atop the Big 12 standings at 14-3. With a two-game sweep of the series with Iowa State (24-5, 13-4), Baylor also wraps up the No. 1 seed for next week's Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, Mo.
Baylor started the 3-0 week with a 65-58 win at Oklahoma State on Feb. 23 as Smith had 19 points and 15 rebounds to lead the way.
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On Feb. 26 at home against Kansas, Smith scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 16 rebounds as the Bears rolled the Jayhawks, 85-77.
Seeded fifth in the latest Division I Women’s Basketball Committee top-16 reveal on Feb. 28, Baylor will close out the regular season on March 6 at home versus Texas Tech.
