No. 17 Baylor women beat Iowa State 69-63 to advance to the Big 12 Tournament semifinals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jada Walker scored 18 points to help 17th-ranked Baylor beat No. 7 seed Iowa State 69-63 on Friday night to advance to the Big 12 Tournament semifinals.

It was Baylor’s first Big 12 quarterfinal victory in three seasons after Iowa State knocked them out the past two times.

Baylor scored the opening 10 points of the game and extended the run to 16-2 after four minutes.

Baylor led by as many as 14 points in the second quarter as Iowa State went without a field goal for five-plus minutes. But the Cyclones closed the half on a 9-0 run to get within 38-33. Iowa State also ended the first quarter on a 9-0 run to shrink a 14-point deficit.

Walker made a wide open 3-pointer from the corner with 4:20 remaining in the fourth to give Baylor a 63-61 lead. It snapped a string of 13 straight misses from 3-point range. Yaya Felder added a floater on the baseline and Walker sank a jumper from the free-throw line to make it 67-61 with 2:10 left.

Iowa State went scoreless for three minutes before Audi Crooks pulled her team within 67-63 with 1:23 left. Walker sealed it at the line.

Aaronette Vonleh, Bella Fontleroy and reserve Aliyah Matharu each scored 12 points for Baylor (26-6), which also beat Iowa State 67-52 on Feb. 22.

Crooks led Iowa State (22-11) with 32 points on 14-of-18 shooting.

Arianna Jackson rattled in a 3-pointer with 5:29 remaining in the fourth quarter to give Iowa State its first lead of the game at 59-58.

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