How vengeful Baylor and unpredictable Oklahoma State made the Big 12 Tournament semifinals

While Saturday’s earlier matchup between TCU and West Virginia may be the first to catch someone’s eye, the later matchup between Baylor and Oklahoma State will see a collision between the tournament’s winningest team and one that’s never claimed the trophy.

Both teams are looking to improve their NCAA Tournament stock and position themselves favorably in the bracket. But first, the Bears and Cowgirls will have to go through each other after eking out 6-point and 3-point wins, respectively, in the quarterfinals.

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Baylor bites back

The saying is that revenge is a dish best served cold, and with chilly 40-degree weather outside, that’s exactly how No. 2 seed Baylor served it up to No. 7 seed Iowa State in the Bears’ 69-63 quarterfinal victory.

The Bears, making their 2025 Big 12 Tournament debut on Friday, finally downed the team that had cut their experience in Kansas City short in the quarterfinals the last two years.

“I feel like we got over that hump that we were [on] the last few years going against them,” Baylor guard Sarah Andrews told reporters postgame. “You’ve got to weather the storm when they go on runs. We just put it behind us when they went on a run and came back at them.”

Back in 2023, which was head coach Nicki Collen’s second season in Waco, the No. 6 seed Bears and the No. 3 seed Cyclones entered halftime tied 37-37. But the Cyclones outscored Baylor 37-26 in the second half to win 74-63. That Iowa State team went on to win the Big 12 Tournament. 

With the 2023 loss in the back of their minds, the Bears went into the 2024 quarterfinals energized. As the No. 5 seed, they had already survived a matchup with Texas Tech the day before. This time, the Bears led by 6 points with 3:30 left. But the Bears failed to score again from the field, going 0-for-9 and losing 67-62.

On Friday, in another game that went down to the wire, Collen and Baylor finally got the result they wanted.

“This seems to be an annual thing, Baylor and Iowa State in Kansas City,” Collen said Friday. “And they’ve all been nail-biters, and it feels good to be on the [winning] side of it this year.”

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This time when the pressure built in “Hilton South,” as Iowa State likes to refer to the T-Mobile Center, the Bears kept their composure. They didn’t let the raucous opposing crowd unsettle them or knock them off their game.

At the 4:20 mark, Baylor regained the lead and held it to the final buzzer. Even when Iowa State led at two different points in the fourth quarter, Baylor didn’t look rattled. Both times the Bears responded, first with a layup by Aaronette Vonleh and later with a 3-pointer by Jada Walker made possible by Bella Fontleroy’s hustle that resulted in a held ball in Baylor’s favor. The 3-pointer started a 7-0 run for the Bears that put the game on ice.

“I think last year they went up with two minutes or something left,” Andrews said. “And this time I just kept telling everybody when they went on their run, ‘There’s still a lot of game left. Keep our heads up. We’re going to fight till the end. … They’re going to go on a run, but it’s about us punching back.’”

That punch back was a knockout that landed Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2022, when it beat Oklahoma before losing to Texas in the finals.

Instead of the Sooners or Longhorns, this time it’s Oklahoma State and the winner of TCU-West Virginia standing in the way of Baylor’s first Big 12 Tournament championship since 2021.

Cowgirl dream crushers

If No. 14 seed Texas Tech was the lovable Cinderella of this year’s Big 12 Tournament, then No. 3 Oklahoma State was the wicked stepmother keeping the Red Raiders from the title-game ball.

After surviving the first two days with wins over Kansas and Utah, Texas Tech’s surprising run came to a halt Friday against the Cowgirls.

Despite shooting just 30% from the field and 27% from deep, Oklahoma State pulled off the 62-59 win to advance to Saturday’s semifinal.

“It was ugly. It was all heart because there was nothing pretty about it,” Oklahoma State head coach Jacie Hoyt told reporters on Friday. “To play a team that’s already played two games … that’s a little bit challenging.”

Playing spoiler is no strange thing for this season’s Cowgirls. They served as the thorn in the side of several of the conference’s top teams, setting Iowa State and Baylor back in their hunts for spots in the AP top 25 and knocking West Virginia, TCU and Kansas State down a few pegs.

Few expected the Cowgirls to land in the top half of the conference, let alone knock off some of its best teams. They checked in at No. 11 out of 16 teams in the Big 12 preseason poll, four points behind Texas Tech at No. 10.

Oklahoma State’s ability to win big games late in the season helped it land its own spot in the top 25. After beating then-No. 17 West Virginia on Jan. 11, the voters had seen enough to insert the Cowgirls at No. 24.

After losing to Houston the day after the poll’s release, the Cowgirls fought their way back into the top 25 with a 1-point win over No. 9 TCU. Since then, the Cowgirls have maintained their spot as one of the nation’s top teams, claiming the No. 21 spot heading into the conference tournament.

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Still, the Red Raiders pushed the Cowgirls to the edge on Friday, proving just how competitive games are and how unexpected results can be.

“[The Big 12 is] one of the best conferences in the country from top to bottom,” Hoyt said. “You’re going to be challenged every day. That’s the beauty of this conference. … This is the time of year where it doesn’t matter what the rest of your season was like. Anyone can get hot at any point.”

The Cowgirls are looking to carry that spirit with them into Saturday’s matchup, where they will be the underdog. The Bears finished the season one spot ahead of them in the Big 12 and currently sit four spots ahead in the AP poll.

But with the Cowgirls winning the pair’s only previous matchup this season, they’re hoping the pendulum swings in their favor on Saturday.