It had been just four days since Baylor's girls had beaten St. Cecilia by 17 in the final game of the basketball regular season, and for much of the first half Tuesday it was obvious that the Lady Red Raiders believed this would be another easy win.
Sleepwalking through the first 12 minutes left Baylor with only a three-point lead and coach John Gibson short-tempered. The Lady Raiders closed the first half on an 11-2 run and then - inspired by a halftime attitude adjustment from Gibson - held visiting St. Cecilia to two points in the third quarter on the way to a 66-32 win in the first round of the Division II-AA state tournament.
"We talked a lot about how this is the start of the postseason and we have to be ready to play at our best, but kids are kids and they remembered that we had beaten them pretty good just a few days ago," said Gibson, whose team has won five straight games. "I wasn't real happy with our effort at the start, but I thought once we got rolling we really picked it up and finished strong.
"Those last few minutes of the first half, when we turned it on, I think they got tired and that was the difference. Our young kids keep getting better and better, and what few seniors we do have know when to go to another gear at this point in the season."
Third-seeded Baylor (19-9) will travel to Memphis to play second-seeded Hutchison in the quarterfinal round Friday.
Seven of the Lady Raiders' 12 scorers were freshmen, led by Raegyn Conley with 14 points and Brooklyn Gordon with 12. Senior JuToreyia Willis added 10 points with 10 assists and six steals.
Baylor picked up where it left off in the final minutes of the second quarter, opening the second half with a 10-2 surge, and held the Scarabs to six field goals through the first three quarters.
The Lady Raiders are looking to return to the state tournament's final four after being knocked out in the quarterfinals last year.
"We struggled for a while to start the game, and Coach definitely let us know he wasn't happy at halftime," Willis said. "But we all came out motivated for the second half and played like we can."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.