1 / 7

BYU senior Lauren Gustin celebrates an upset of No. 18 Baylor in the locker room by pouring water on Coach Amber Gustin on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

2 / 7

BYU freshman Amari Whiting (foreground) and head coach Amber Whiting celebrate an upset victory over No. 18 Baylor in the locker room of the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

3 / 7

The BYU women's basketball celebrates in the locker room after a 78-66 upset victory against No. 18 Baylor at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

4 / 7

BYU's Amari Whiting (1) drives to the basket against Baylor during a Big 12 women's basketball game at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

5 / 7

BYU's Lauren Gustin, left, prepares to go up for shot against Baylor during a Big 12 women's basketball game at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

6 / 7

BYU's Lauren Davenport, left, celebrates with Amari Whiting during a Big 12 women's basketball game in the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

7 / 7

BYU's Amari Whiting, left, drives past Baylor's Jana Van Gytenbeek during a Big 12 women's basketball game at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

❮ ❯

BYU picked a great way to celebrate National Girls and Women Sports Day in style.

It’s been a tough start for the Cougars in the Big 12 but they turned in their best performance of the season on Wednesday, shocking No. 18 Baylor 78-66 at the Marriott Center.

The locker room celebration was epic.

“We threw water everywhere and danced a little bit,” said freshman guard Amari Whiting, who played a brilliant floor game and nearly finished with a triple double. “I hate losing, so I just wanted to win.”

Lauren Gustin had a huge game with 23 points and 16 rebounds and Whiting totaled 14 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. Kailey Woolston and Emma Calvert had 14 points each, with Woolston scoring all 14 of hers in the second half. The 78 points was the most BYU has scored in a Big 12 game this season and the Cougars led for all but eight seconds in a dominating performance.

“I’m really, really proud of my women tonight,” BYU head coach Amber Whiting said. “They brought it. They were super focused and they most importantly believed in themselves and believed in each other. That’s what I’ve been preaching all week to them because I feel like we’ve got to get over the hump. It all comes down to them. We can’t prepare them any more than what we’ve been doing. It comes down to players making plays, and they did tonight.”

BYU led by as many as 16 and held the Bears at bay every time they tried to make a push. Baylor got to within ten, 67-57, with just under four minutes to play, but the Cougars answered with a 6-0 run, getting baskets from Woolston, Gustin and Whiting to take a 73-57 lead with 2:06 remaining.

Whiting dribbled out the final seconds and let out a tremendous yell to celebrate the team’s biggest win of the season.

BYU produced perhaps its best first quarter of the year, especially considering the competition. Everything was keyed by Whiting, who connected on a pair of 3-pointers and converted a 3-point play for nine points. She added three rebounds, two assists and a steal as the Cougars shot out to a 14-7 lead at the 4:45 mark. Whiting’s 3-point play gave BYU a 19-11 lead and as the clock wound down, she flew past a defender and delivered a pass to Lauren Davenport in the corner for a 3-pointer and a 22-11 lead.

According to Coach Whiting, a change in the pre-game plan, suggested by the players, made a big difference.

“The captains came to us and talked to us about our warmup and how they wanted to switch some of it up,” she said. “So they switched it up. We shortened the time when we normally come to the gym. When they came out, they felt great. I like having player-led teams and that was all them.”

The Cougars continued to play well in the second period and increased their lead. Gustin scored eight straight points and BYU led by 16, 34-18, with 1:45 to play in the half. The home team took a 35-21 lead into the break.

Gustin finished the first half with 14 points and ten rebounds and the Cougars outrebounded Baylor 28-16 and dominated points in the paint 20-4. The Bears were ice cold in the first half, shooting 7 of 31 (23%) from the field.

The third quarter was played at a furious pace by both teams as Baylor attempted to cut into the lead. Darianna Littlepage-Buggs scored 15 points in the period on an assortment of drives and rebound baskets but the Cougars kept pace with outstanding shooting, making 10 of 15 from the field (67%) and 4 of 6 from the 3-point line (67%). Calvert tossed in nine points in the third, including a pair of 3-pointers.

The Bears scored 25 points in the third but BYU scored 24 and maintained a 59-46 lead entering the final frame.

BYU shot 53% (30 of 57) from the field and 40% from the 3-point line (8 of 20) and outrebounded the visitors 45-32. Baylor had a hot third quarter but ended up shooting 35% (23 of 66) from the field and 32% (9 of 28) from the 3-point line.

“We talked about how we wanted to just come out punching,” Amari Whiting said. “We wanted to punch first. Coach always says don’t let your highs get to high or your lows get to low. We’ll obviously celebrate tonight but then tomorrow we’ve got to lock in on our scout (for a the next game). I honestly think we can hang with any team in the Big 12. It just took us a bit to figure it out. We’ve got to be humble and be hungry.”

Littlepage-Buggs led Baylor (17-5 overall, 6-5 Big 12) with 17 points and Yaya Felder added 15 off the bench.

The Cougars (13-11, 3-8) will travel to Cincinnati on Saturday for a game that tips at 10 a.m. Mountain Time.

Newsletter