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No. 4 Baylor cruises past Iowa State 77-61

Jan 23, 2016 - 8:58 PM AMES, Iowa (AP) Baylor paired its size with some impressive shooting to avoid a letdown after its biggest win of the season.

Khadijiah Cave scored 18 points with 13 rebounds and fourth-ranked Baylor cruised past Iowa State 77-61 Saturday for its sixth straight win.

Nina Davis and Kristy Wallace each had 14 for the Lady Bears (19-1, 6-1 Big 12), which shot 50 percent and outrebounded the undersized Cyclones 40-25.

Baylor went on a 25-9 run midway through the second half, turning a tight game into a rout just six days a convincing 80-67 victory over sixth-ranked and previously unbeaten Texas.

''You've got to be able to nail some shots if you really want to be a good basketball team. Everybody knows we're big inside. Nobody is just going to hand us layups,'' Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said.

Seanna Johnson scored 22 points for Iowa State (11-7, 3-4), which has lost four of five after an encouraging start to league play.

Last season, the Lady Bears fell to an unranked Iowa State team in Ames.

The Cyclones didn't have much of a chance this time around though.

Baylor exploited its distinct size advantage over the Cyclones - who lost 6-foot-5 starting center Bryanna Fernstrom when she abruptly left the team two weeks ago - from the first quarter on.

The Lady Bears scored 20 of their first 32 points in the paint in building a 12-point lead. Johnson kept the Cyclones within striking distance with six straight points, but Baylor still led 37-26 at halftime.

A quick run got Iowa State within five, but inside baskets by Beatrice Mompremier and Cave made it 52-38 Baylor midway through the third quarter.

''Coming in we knew we could dominate in the post. I just tried to come in and dominate as much as I could,'' Cave said.

Johnson, who was averaging 17.4 points and 10.2 rebounds a game entering play, then went down after going up for a rebound.

Johnson had to be helped into the Cyclones locker room, but she was back by the first whistle of the fourth quarter.

Johnson's return was too late for Iowa State though, as Baylor cruised to its fifth Big 12 victory by at least 10 points.

''Sometimes you compete and the other guys are better. They were better in every phase of the game,'' Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. ''When you lose to a better team, there's nothing to be embarrassed about.''

TIP-INS

Baylor: The Lady Bears had four of their shots blocked in the first two quarters. The Cyclones didn't register a block in either of their previous two games...Baylor dished out 20 assists.

Iowa State: Bridget Carleton was the only Big 12 freshman to score at least 10 points in every league game. But she scored just nine points in 40 minutes. ... Johnson was the only Iowa State player to hit more than one field goal in the first half.

STAT LINES

Cave's 13 rebounds were a career high. She had 11 in two previous games. ... Jadda Buckley had nine assists against just one turnover. ... Alexis Jones, who had 29 for Baylor in the win over Texas, had nine points and five rebounds as the Bears ran most of their offense through Cave, Wallace and Davis.

QUOTABLE

''If you want to win the Big 12, you've got to be able to sneak into some places and win on the road,'' Mulkey said.

UP NEXT

Baylor hosts Texas Tech on Wednesday.

Iowa State hosts TCU on Wednesday.