WACO, Texas (AP) With Niya Johnson passing at a record pace and Nina Davis scoring almost at will, No. 3 Baylor is well on the way to a fifth consecutive Big 12 title.
Johnson set a Big 12 single-game record with 17 assists, all without committing a turnover, and Davis had 31 points as the Lady Bears stretched their winning streak to 22 games with an 89-66 win over second-place Oklahoma on Wednesday night.
''I had no idea. They handed me that stat sheet in the locker room and I just went `Wow!' It's not just the 17 assists,'' said coach Kim Mulkey, a former championship point guard. ''It's zero turnovers in 30 minutes of play against a team that was trapping you and playing real aggressive and causing deflections and turnovers. That's so impressive.''
Alexis Prince added 16 points and 11 rebounds as the Lady Bears (23-1, 12-0) matched defending national champion UConn for the longest current winning streak. They have a three-game lead over Oklahoma (15-8, 9-3) with six conference games to play.
Davis, who finished 12 of 15 shooting, scored 12 points with two three-point plays in a 20-0 run early in the game and Baylor led throughout. The sophomore post player, the conference's top scorer at 21 points a game coming in, had 20 by halftime to match the Sooners total at that point.
''We weren't connected defensively at all, and early didn't make a lot of shots, and we let it snowball. We let not making a shot on offense carry into the defensive end,'' Sooners coach Sherri Coale said. ''And they're the type of team if they smell you being weak, or they smell you being frustrated, then they come at you even harder, and we were the recipient of that tonight.''
Peyton Little, the sophomore transfer from Texas A&M, had 22 points with five 3-pointers to lead the Sooners. Freshman guard Gabbi Ortiz added 16 points with a quick spurt of 3s after halftime.
Imani Wright added 11 points and Sune Agbuke 11 for Baylor.
Johnson went into the game the national leader with 8.4 assists per game, and third with a 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio - and those numbers only got better.
''She's probably one of the most underrated point guards in the country, and people don't know her name, but her numbers are unbelievable,'' Coale said. ''It's hard to have 17 assists and no turnovers if nobody is guarding you.''
Davis was still outscoring Oklahoma on her own until Sharane Campbell's layup in the final minute cut the Sooners' halftime gap to 42-20.
Ortiz had a layup with 17:21 left in the first half that got the Sooners to 7-5. They then went scoreless for more than 6 1/2 minutes while Baylor went on its big run.
By the first media timeout 93 seconds later, Baylor led 14-5 after Johnson passed the ball to Davis, who was hit while making a layup. Davis added the free throw after the timeout.
"I can't say that I enjoy contact, but I don't run away from it either,'' Davis said. ''I like getting and-one plays, so I'll take the contact if that's what it takes to get an and-one.''
Her second three-point play led into the second media timeout with 11:47 left in the half. Kristy Wallace penetrated into traffic in the lane, then passed ahead to Davis, who again scored while taking contact and added the free throw after the timeout.
TRIO OF 3s
During a span of 4:09 between the first two media timeouts after halftime, Ortiz made three 3-pointers. Little also hit from long range in that span, but Oklahoma only managed to trim its deficit from 21 to 19 points in that stretch.
NO BIG COMEBACK THIS TIME
In their last trip to Waco, the Sooners trailed by 32 points in the second half before a big comeback to get within six in a game Baylor held on to win 96-89. ''When we started the second half, I told them the score is 0-0,'' Mulkey said. ''We just kept attacking them.''
TIP-INS
Oklahoma: The Sooners lead the all-time series 25-20 against Baylor, but have lost the last nine. Oklahoma hasn't won in Waco since 2009. ... Ortiz had her fifth consecutive double-figure scoring game.
Baylor: The Lady Bears had 32 assists on their 35 made field goals. ... Baylor has won 16 consecutive home games, since a loss last year to West Virginia.
UP NEXT
Oklahoma: home Saturday against TCU.
Baylor: home Sunday against West Virginia.
