Jones leads No. 5 Baylor to 109-38 rout of SE Louisiana

WACO, Texas -- The only way to slow down No. 2 Baylor for an undersized team like Southeastern Louisiana is pack the lane and force jump shots.

But once the Lady Bears started making those, there was no chance to keep them from scoring at will.

Alexis Jones made a career-high six 3-pointers on her way to a 24-point night, and the Lady Bears cruised to a 109-38 victory Tuesday night.

"It was what they were giving me, and it was just one of those nights," Jones said.

Baylor (4-1) dominated from the opening tip and shot 64.2 percent from the floor to break 100 points for the second straight game. The Lady Beasr also went 8-for-12 from 3-point range as a team and made 33 of their 50 free throw attempts. Southeastern Louisiana didn't shoot a free throw until 7:17 remained in the third quarter.

"When you miss 17 free throws, that's not a positive," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "I spoke to them about that in the locker room. Get up there and make your free throws. Getting to the line that many times is a positive, but missing 17 is not a positive."

Lauren Cox had 21 points, and Beatrice Mompremier and Alexis Prince added 18 and 10, respectively. Twelve of Baylor's 13 players recorded at least one point.

"It seems like (Cox is) getting a lot more comfortable," Jones said. "She's a great player and she wants to be out there on the floor with us. She's going to keep working hard, and we're seeing progression in her every single day."

Baylor's size contributed to a 43-14 rebounding advantage and helped stifle the Lady Lions (1-3) to a 28.6 percent mark shooting. The Lady Bears started the game in a zone defense, but quickly went back to their traditional man-to-man after Southeastern Louisiana made a few shots.

Taylin Underwood scored eight of her team-high nine points in the first quarter for Southeastern Louisiana, but missed her last 10 shots after starting 3-for-6.

"Taylin is the only returning starter from last year's team, and she's the most experienced," Southeastern Louisiana coach Errol Gauff said. "So she's probably been in this type of venue and atmosphere more than our other young ladies, so she was probably a little more relaxed."

BIG PICTURE

Southeastern Louisiana: The Lady Lions face a long and challenging road -- with the emphasis on road. Five of their last six nonconference games are away from home before they open Southland Conference play by hosting defending champion Abilene Christian.

Baylor: Cox, the nation's No. 1 recruit, had the best game of her young career with 21 points and nine rebounds. She and the rest of Baylor's prized class struggled last week against top-10 foes UCLA and UConn and are still trying to adjust to the college game.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Baylor dropped three spots after a road loss to UConn, but the Lady Bears figure to climb if they put together a perfect week because two teams ahead of them -- No. 3 South Carolina and No. 4 Louisville -- are scheduled to clash Sunday.

UP NEXT

Southeastern Louisiana will return home to meet Bethune-Cookman before what figures to be a difficult trip next week against a Colorado team that is just outside the Top 25 and Colorado State.

Baylor has a chance to make some noise this weekend at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Florida. After opening with Kent State on Friday, the Lady Bears could meet No. 18 DePaul in the semifinals and No. 8 Ohio State in the final.