- Baylor defeated BYU 69-58, completing a Beehive sweep, led by Taliah Scott.
- Scott scored 25 points with six rebounds as Baylor improved to 17-3 overall.
- BYU's Delaney Gibb scored 20 points but couldn't overcome Baylor's strong performance.
PROVO — Every time BYU women's basketball tried to make up for a start that fell into as much as a 17-point deficit against No. 18 Baylor, Taliah Scott was ready to close the door.
The ultimate closer poured in 25 points, six rebounds and five assists, and No. 18 Baylor pulled away for a 69-58 win over BYU in front of 3,251 fans Saturday afternoon at the Marriott Center.
Bella Fontleroy added 12 points and five boards for the Bears (17-3, 6-1 Big 12), who never trailed three days after a 61-45 win at Utah for the best start through 20 games in Nicki Collen's five seasons as head coach.
Delaney Gibb led BYU with 20 points, six rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal, and Olivia Hamlin scored 10 points with two steals as the Cougars (14-4, 3-3 Big 12) scored 18 points off 18 turnovers and gave away just 15 turnovers — three fewer than their average.
But while BYU fielded a lineup where seven of their top nine players were freshmen and sophomores, Scott — a redshirt sophomore from Orange Park, Florida by way of Auburn — also played well beyond her years in a fourth consecutive win and third in seven days.
"She's not always the fastest, and obviously doesn't jump the highest," Collen said of Scott. "But she has elite basketball IQ. She does a good job in her reads, knowing they were going to switch everything and how to settle in between the switch.
"We talk a lot in college women's basketball about three-level scorers, but there aren't many," she added. "There are a lot of elite two-level scorers that can hit threes and get to the rim, but the ability to do that and hit the pull-up is really what makes her special. She is a player with an elite understanding the game, of angles, and of drawing fouls. That's an elite separator."
LIV HAMLIN CAN'T BE STOPPED
— BYU Women's Hoops (@byuwbb) January 17, 2026
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Scott had 7 points, three rebounds and two assists in the first quarter, and Baylor used a 14-2 run midway through the opening frame to jump out to a 23-13 advantage.
The Bears held BYU to 27% shooting in the first half, including scoreless from beyond the arc until Sydney Benally drained a three with 5 seconds left in the first quarter.
But Scott finished the half with 10 points, and Fontleroy added 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting including a pair of triples to take a 37-27 halftime lead.
Gibb found her rhythm in the third quarter, connecting on a pair of 3-pointers for 6 points, shot a pass. to Brinley Cannon for two more, and Hamlin capped an 8-0 run to pull the Cougars as close as 46-42 with 3:14 remaining.
"That's a really young team out there," Collen said of BYU. "Obviously, Gibb is an elite scorer and playmaker. But I thought Hamlin bothered the heck out of our guards — and they just compete.
BYU forced seven turnovers in the final 4:23 of the third quarter to pull within 51-46 with 10 minutes to play. But the Bears opened the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run, including Scott's fourth 3-pointer, and Gibb shot 2-of-6 from the field and 0-for-4 from 3-point range in the fourth as Baylor pulled away for good.
"This is a good win," Collen said. "We came in here and played really poorly two years ago, so I'm just happy to get a win. There were moments where we lost our poise, but I think that had a lot to do with BYU."
