No. 2 Baylor women beat Iowa St for 48th Big 12 win in row

WACO, Texas (AP) — Juicy Landrum scored 22 points, Te’a Cooper had 19 with a career-high five 3-pointers and No. 2 Baylor won its 48th consecutive regular-season Big 12 game with a 83-62 win over Iowa State on Tuesday night.

Lauren Cox and DiDi Richards both had double-doubles for Baylor, while Queen Egbo had 12 points and eight rebounds. Cox, the preseason AP All-American who missed seven games before Big 12 play with a foot issue, had 16 points and 10 rebounds with five assists in her fourth double-double this season and 32nd in her career. Richards had 10 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

The Lady Bears (18-1, 7-0 Big 12) also have the nation’s longest home court winning streak at 51 games. Their last home loss was 85-79 to Texas on Feb. 6, 2017, which was also the last time they lost a conference game during the regular season.

Iowa State (12-7, 4-4) played without junior starting point guard Rae Johnson, who was out because of back soreness. and Big 12 leading scorer Ashley Joens had a tough night as the Cyclones had their three-game winning streak snapped.

Joens, who entered the game averaging 22.4 points and 10.6 rebounds, finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. She was shooting 48.5% percent, the best for league guards, before going 3-of-11 while defended primarily by Richards.

Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw had 17 points to lead the Cyclones. Kristin Scott had 15 and Jade Thurmon 14.

Cooper’s 3-pointer off a Cyclones turnover started a 12-2 run over the final four minutes of the first quarter for Baylor, and Landrum’s 3 making it 24-13 after the first 10 minutes. Cox scored six points for the Lady Bears in a 10-1 spurt to start the second quarter.

BIG PICTURE

Iowa St: The Cyclones are trailed by 19 points before making their first 3-pointer midway through the second quarter, after missing their first six shots from long range. Espenmiller-McGraw’s 3 got Iowa State within 34-18. … They finished 8-of-25 on 3s and actually outscored Baylor 36-34 after halftime.

Baylor: The Lady Bears have won 67 of their last 68 regular season conference games since losing their Big 12 opener at Oklahoma State on Dec. 30, 2015. … NaLyssa Smith, the leading scorer who missed the last two games with a high ankle sprain, entered the game on the first timeout. She played only 11 minutes, finishing with two points on 1-of-4 shooting with four rebounds.

UP NEXT

Iowa State is on the road again to play at West Virginia on Sunday.

Baylor travels about 100 miles south to play at Texas in a rare Friday night game in the Big 12.