JuToreyia Willis leads Baylor by Bruisers, 46-26

Basketball hoop background
Basketball hoop background

GPS managed seven baskets against Baylor in Saturday's Division II-AA East/Middle Region game at GPS. That was the same number the Lady Red Raiders' JuToreyia Willis had - in the first half.

As a result, Baylor had little trouble on its way to a 46-26 victory in the region opener for both teams.

Two of the Bruisers' field goals were 3-pointers. But five of Willis's eight total field goals were 3s. She had all eight of Baylor's first-quarter points, then scored seven during a 12-3 half-closing run that stretched a 13-8 lead to 14 points at the break.

"I felt like we were OK in the first quarter," GPS coach James Watts said. "The second quarter they went on a run. After that we started doing some things differently than what we prepared for, and it kind of snowballed on us."

The Lady Raiders led by 24 late in the third quarter. GPS (4-1) was limited to single-digit scoring in each of the first three periods.

"We moved the ball around a little bit and made some shots," Baylor coach John Gibson said of the second-quarter stretch that allowed his team to take control. "Once we settled down a little bit and got JuToreyia going, we started getting some putbacks, and we found a way to get to the free-throw line. But I thought we defended well the whole game."

Willis scored 18 of her 21 points in the first half. Cheyenne Lindsey paced the rebounding edge for Baylor (4-3) with 15.

"We definitely have a size advantage," Gibson said. "We try to use it more defensively, being long, whether against them in a zone or man-to-man. We're trying to make it hard for them to get the ball side to side."

J.J. Dunigan topped the Bruisers with 10 points, and Mackenzie Jennings added nine.

"Everything we did was about a second or two behind what it should've been," Watts said. "Then their pressure made it worse, and we were not reacting the right way to it. We've come a long way since the beginning of the season. We play them again later on."

Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.

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