Baylor and TCU to match up a third time for Big 12 tournament championship

However, that is where the Horned Frogs and the Bears find themselves, preparing to face off in the title game of the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship.

Against the backdrop of downtown Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center, the matchup features one of the conference’s oldest and most successful programs lining up against a school that’s only been a member for a little over a decade and has never even appeared in the tournament’s finale.

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Campbell’s culture

Building a culture in the world of modern NCAA athletics is difficult. With the transfer portal as an option, players are seemingly on the move all the time, deciding to jump ship for a plethora of reasons from one roster to another. And with NIL in the mix, players can be tempted by financial promises or exposure to commit to one school over another.

In the changing landscape of college sports, it can be difficult to cultivate an environment built for winning championships.

Albeit in a small sample size, in just his second year at TCU, Mark Campbell has done just that. He’s turned a “rag-tag” group of athletes from all over the country  — and outside of the U.S. — into a machine that’s pumped out 30 wins with six coming against top-25 teams this regular season and an additional seventh in the Big 12 tournament. 

The Horned Frogs have stormed into the top 10 of the AP rankings and now head to their first-ever Big 12 tournament championship game thanks to Campbell’s ability to fulfill his mission.

“This DNA that they have, it’s in their blood,” Campbell told media postgame Saturday. “It’s the way they’re wired. You couldn’t channel it back if you wanted to. … When you get to have these experiences it’s addicting. You want to get back and you want to have a chance to cut nets, and you want to compete for championships.”

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TCU’s current success is a testament to the environment Campbell has cultivated in the locker room. Everyone speaks highly of each other. The players speak highly of Campbell and vice versa. 

Every player on the team has a role to play and does it, no questions asked. The other players as teammates uplift each other even when things may not be going that individual’s way.

In Saturday’s semifinal vs West Virginia, Madison Conner finished the first half just 1-for-3 from outside the arc. In the third quarter, she started to heat up, knocking down two deep shots. And despite her slow start, when TCU needed a bucket up by five with 2:46 left in the fourth quarter, Hailey Van Lith made an effort to get Conner the ball on a wide-open look that she drained.

“How much confidence do I have in her? I don’t care if she is at half court,” Van Lith told media postgame. “If nobody is guarding her, shoot it, Madison. No other shooter like her in the country.”

Conner wasn’t the only player Van Lith highlighted on the press conference podium. Unprompted, she put a spotlight on Donovyn Hunter for being able to navigate the Mountaineers’ suffocating full-court ball pressure.

It’s all a part of Van Lith’s selflessness that Campbell has raved about, despite her being the team’s star. According to him, standout center Sedona Prince is the same way. (However, questions remain about the allegations of abuse against Prince that the Washington Post reported on last month. The topic hasn’t come up in TCU’s press conferences during the Big 12 tournament.) Throughout the season, it hasn’t mattered how much attention they got individually, they’ve always been focused on the team.

“They’re two of the biggest names in college basketball, and the only reason this thing is working is because they’re just selfless,” Campbell said. “They have truly no ego. All they care about is winning and figuring out what the team needs. … It’s easy to get buy-in from everybody else when the two best players play the game that way.”

Campbell’s leadership has truly revolutionized the careers of the players on the team. It’s helped Van Lith find her way back into the upper echelon of women’s college basketball players. It’s unlocked a more versatile Conner that can punish defenses beyond just being a catch-and-shoot player. It’s allowed Prince to show that her game is about more than just her towering 6-foot-7 frame. It has given Hunter a chance to continue to develop as an underclassman and learn from some of the most experienced players in the game. It’s created space for Agnes Emma-Nnopu to step into the light and forge her own reputation as the team’s “backbone.” 

Each of TCU’s players has received the opportunity to thrive individually under Campbell. Because of that, the Horned Frogs now get to thrive together into the Big 12 tournament championship game.

“[Selflessness is] a theme with this group … and it’s also why we’ve come together so quickly,” Campbell said. “There is a really tight locker room, and there is a true sisterhood that we have.”

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Collen’s calling

Since winning its first Big 12 tournament championship in 2005, Baylor has never gone more than four years without a conference title win. Between 2009 and 2021, the Bears stood atop the Big 12 in 10 out of 13 chances.

The Big 12 Baylor dynasty was carefully constructed by Kim Mulkey who served as the program’s leader for 21 years. And since taking over in 2021 after Mulkey’s departure, current head coach Nicki Collen has yet to find herself standing on that same podium.

In her first tournament in 2022, Baylor made it back to the championship game. However, they ultimately lost 75-63 to Texas. In both the 2023 and 2024 tournaments, the Bears were eliminated by Iowa State in the quarterfinals, blocking Collen from having her moment.

Now, in the 2025 iteration, the Bears managed to find a way past the Cyclones, beating them 69-63 in Friday’s quarterfinal game. And instead of the Longhorns, it’s a different team from Texas that stands in their way in the Big 12 title game.

Still, the Bears aren’t backing down, especially since Sunday’s high-stakes matchup represents a chance for them to clear the hurdle that’s tripped them up all year: beating TCU.

“Sometimes it can be hard to beat a team three times,” Baylor’s Sarah Andrews told the Next Saturday. “And I think most of all, in both of those games, we didn’t hit shots at the beginning. I think we got that going now. I think the last two games (against TCU) we hit shots with like 30 seconds to go, but I think we’re one stop away and one bucket away, and it’s just about getting over that hump in the game.”

In both of this season’s previous matchups, the Horned Frogs got the better of the Bears by single digits, first by five points on Jan. 26, then by just three points in the regular season finale on March 2. Baylor’s status as the loser of that game is why they entered the Big 12 tournament field as the No. 2 seed and TCU as the No. 1.

But whereas TCU had the advantage in the regular season, Baylor is known for its Big 12 dominance come tournament time.

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Although almost everything about this year’s Bears’ team is different than the one that won the conference tournament in 2021, there is one similarity; Andrews is still on the roster.

In what was her freshman season, Andrews contributed seven points in five minutes off the bench on 3-for-3 shooting from the field in the 76-50 dredging of West Virginia. Each of Baylor’s wins in the 2021 Big 12 tournament was a blowout affair, much different than the competitive matchups they’ve played this time around, including an overtime affair with Oklahoma State in the semifinals.

Still despite the difference in Baylor’s journeys in each of the tournaments, Andrews is using her championship experience to help prepare her teammates for Sunday’s game.

“I think this team is very capable of walking out of here with a Big 12 championship,” Andrews said. “And being on that team that did it three years ago, I’m able to lead them in the right way to make it happen.”

Succeeding one of the most successful coaches in women’s college basketball history is a tough task, but now Collen has the opportunity to build up her own championship pedigree.

“Obviously, she wouldn’t have took the job if she didn’t think she could do it,” Andrews said. “When she came in, I already knew how to win and welcomed her with open arms. And it was about her bringing in her own team and running her own style, and letting her know that ‘Coach, I’m gonna be with you through thick and thin.’ 

“But I think she’s done a great job, No matter what anybody says about her. She knows at the end of the day, all she needs is the people in this locker room and we the only people that got to believe in her.”

Despite the decades of history sitting on their shoulders, the Bears aren’t feeling any pressure. In their semifinal win, they showed they have the toughness to pick up gritty wins in high-stakes situations. The team – especially Aaronette Vonleh who had a career-high 37 points – showed their ability to power their way to the basket and pick up points in crucial moments.

This championship game win would be just what Baylor needs to make a final statement to the NCAA Selection Committee about their prowess having earned them an opportunity to host the first two rounds.

The Bears reclaiming their thrown would be the perfect way to send a message to the rest of the conference, old and new, that Baylor still runs the Big 12.

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