DURHAM, North Carolina (KXXV) — Baylor started their season off with a bang after beating Duke in France — but this time, the stakes are higher.
"I know people are going to talk a lot about it being a rematch, but ultimately, it's just two teams competing to get to the next round of the NCAA tournament. So, we've got our work cut out for us," head coach Nicki Collen said.
Round of 32🗣️#SicEm | #GreaterThan pic.twitter.com/ortUtLY7ig
— Baylor Women's Basketball (@BaylorWBB) March 21, 2026
"They're still the same team, you know, they've just gotten better and we've gotten better. It's going to be fun being able to play on their own home court, still going to have to do the same scout, you know, look into some more recent games they've played, but, just doing the same things and keeping it about us," senior Kiersten Johnson said.
The Bears entered the NCAA Tournament without freshman Marcayla Johnson, who tore her ACL in practice. For that, other players have had to step up and rally behind the energy Johnson brings.
"She's just someone that everyone wants to root for because she loves basketball and she loves to compete. I don't know that anything changes from an emotional leadership perspective, I think her team is going to rally around her," Collen said.
"I think that I have to sort of step into her role and help the team in that way. So just being able to step in every game and be ready when my name is called to bring energy and intensity to the team," junior Ella Brow said.
This is an emotional tournament for the Bears. The seniors spoke on how they don't want this season to end and that feeling lifted them to victory against Nebraska.
"It means a lot to us, you know, this team really takes that and they listen to us and we want to listen to them. As a group of seniors that have played such a big role, like we really had to step up and that's what we did in that fourth quarter because, the game hadn't been pretty, but you have to forget the 30 minutes passed and focus on the 10 in front of you and I think that's something we did," Johnson said.
Baylor and Duke tip off on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.
