Despite Jada Walker’s Buzzer Beater, Baylor Bears Fall Short vs Iowa State

At the Hilton Coliseum, the Iowa State women’s basketball team upset No. 4 Baylor 66-63 to win their second game against a ranked opponent in the previous four days. In school history, Iowa State has won nine Top 5 games and eighteen Top 10 games. It was the Cyclones’ second consecutive 20-point performance thanks to a game-high 23 points and six rebounds by Audi Crooks. With 15 points and three made triples, Hannah Belanger had a strong afternoon for the Clones as well.

Despite missing out on a double-double, rookie Addy Brown finished with a career-high six steals in addition to nine points and 11 rebounds. But the star of the day was Jada Walker with her impressive buzzer shot.

Jada Walker’s impressive performance

Both teams played a tenacious defense-dominant game; the Cyclones forced 17 Baylor turnovers and took advantage of the Bears’ mistakes to score 21 points. Dre’una Edwards led the Bears in scoring, finishing with 19 points, while Jada Walker had 14 and a game-high six assists. The Bears had already fallen by 21 points against Kansas; therefore, this was their second straight defeat.

Despite the Baylor’s defeat what stood out was the long three-pointer where Jada Walker garnered it from the 3/4 of the court. At the end of the first quarter, Baylor was dominant with 22 points, while Iowa was at 11, but unfortunately, as the game progressed, the situation became vice versa.

Baylor regained momentum after ISU went out to an early 10-5 lead, leading to an 11-10 advantage at 4:16 in the first quarter. But with thirty seconds remaining, the Bears finally claimed a one-point lead. Iowa State took a timeout following the free throws and put up a play to get the ball back to Crooks.

With twenty-four seconds remaining, Brown found her teammate freshman Crooks, who backed down the Baylor defender and finished through contact to draw a two-one and give ISU the lead. With ten seconds remaining, Iowa State led by three points thanks to a Cyclones defensive stop and two Belanger free throws.

Read More: Surging Amid Upsets for Top Ranked Teams, How Kentucky Is Outperforming This Season

Walker’s super stats

With an average of 12.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game across 31 games in 2022–23, Jada Walker topped the SEC in both steals and points per game. She scored in double figures in 21 games, at least 15 points in 12 games, and at least 20 points in four games.

She totaled 95 assists and five blocks. Walker also led Kentucky 16 times in steals, assists, and scoring.

In the 2023 SEC Tournament Second Round, she scored a career-high 24 points, dished out seven assists, stole six rebounds, and pulled down three rebounds. In the same week, Walker was selected SEC Freshman of the Week.

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