Aaronette Vonleh scores 19, Baylor women beat No. 23 Utah 70-61

By Canadian Press on January 14, 2025.

WACO, Texas (AP) — Aaronette Vonleh scored 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting, Bella Fontleroy and Jada Walker each had a double-double and Baylor beat No. 23 Utah 70-61 on Tuesday night.

Fontleroy finished with a season-high 17 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high five steals and Walker added 12 points and a career-high 12 assists. Yaya Felder scored 12 points for Baylor (15-3, 5-1 Big 12).

Ines Vieira hit a jumper to cut Utah’s deficit to 60-59 with 3:46 left in the game. Vonleh answered with a layup 17 seconds later that sparked a 10-0 run to make it an 11-point game with 23 seconds remaining.

Gianna Kneepkens and Maty Wilke led Utah (13-4, 4-2) with 17 points apiece and Reese Ross scored 12.

Baylor led 43-32 almost 4 minutes into the second half before Wilke hit three 3s in a 16-4 run to give Utah a one-point lead with 41 seconds left in the third quarter. Walker made a layup to make it 49-48 going into the fourth and the Bears never again trailed.

Baylor — which had the sixth-most points amongst teams outside the AP Top 25 in the most recent poll — has won four games in a row and 11 of its last 12.

Fifth-year senior Sarah Andrews set the program record for games played (150) in the NCAA era, moving past Nina Davis. Suzie Snider Eppers (1973-77) appeared in 162 games when the Bears competed in the defunct Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW).

Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Baylor’s leader this season in scoring (14.4 per game — on 53% shooting) and rebounding (10.1), served a one-game suspension. The 6-foot-1 junior was ejected in the second quarter of Saturday’s 78-59 win Arizona State.

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The Associated Press