No. 11 Baylor kept its unbeaten run rolling Thursday night, edging Oklahoma State 2-1 in its home conference opener at Betty Lou Mays Field in Waco.
The Bears had to dig for it. Oklahoma State grabbed the first punch in the fourth minute when Laudan Wilson finished off a pass from Sonora De Fini, and Baylor answered soon after.
Aryanna Jimison tied it in the 12th minute for her fourth goal of the season, with Olivia Hess and Theresa McCullough collecting the assists. The teams went to halftime locked at 1-1.
The deciding moment came in the 56th minute, when Noelle Sather buried the winner off a setup from Sydney Miller. It was Sather’s second goal of the season and her first match back after missing seven games while playing for Canada at the U-20 World Cup in Poland.
Baylor’s win moved the Bears to 5-0 in one-score matches this season and stretched their unbeaten streak to seven matches. It also ended Oklahoma State’s five-game unbeaten run.
Azul Alvarez handled the rest in goal, finishing with four saves, split evenly between the two halves. Baylor outshot the Cowgirls 19-9 and put 12 of those attempts up in the second half. Oklahoma State’s goalkeeper was forced into six saves.
After the match, Baylor head coach summed up the night this way: "Every single game is like this. It's a fight to the end.
It's super difficult because everyone is good. We're at home, we need to get points at home, we did that tonight and we had to work for it, that's for sure.
We maybe could have given ourselves a little more of a breather. We had a couple more opportunities in that game, but a win is a win, and three points are important right now, so we'll take it and move on."
Baylor returns to Betty Lou Mays Field on Sunday afternoon to host Cincinnati. The match is set for 1 p.m. and will feature a "Beat the Heat" promotion with a cooling towel giveaway while supplies last. Admission is free, and the match will stream live on ESPN+.
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The absences already include tight end Charlie Williams and running back Henderson, which could force Colorado to adjust its game plan and lean on players who have had to fill bigger roles. Even in the middle of that uncertainty, some replacements have begun to settle in, including kicker Elliot Arnold stepping up for injured teammates, but the overall picture still leaves plenty to sort out before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor's Biggest Colorado Worry Could Decide More Than The Opener
Safety Devin Turners expected return gives Baylor another layer in the secondary, which is a welcome development as the Bears get ready for Colorado. That area looks like one of the more stable parts of the roster, with enough experience and playmaking to help Baylor match up on the back end while the offense sorts through its own early-season questions.
The bigger concern is up front, where the line has to handle both run blocking and pass protection against a Colorado defense that will test it in different ways. Baylor has pieces in the passing game to lean on, including Gavin Freeman, Louis Brown IV, Jayden McGowan and Drelon Miller, the Colorado transfer who adds an extra wrinkle to this opener. If the line settles in, the Bears can make that group matter quickly, but if it does not, the matchup could become more complicated than a simple first-game warmup. [Read more 🡒]