# 2023–24 Baylor Bears women's basketball team

The 2023–24 Baylor Bears women's basketball team represented Baylor University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bears were led by third-year head coach Nicki Collen and played their 2023 home games at the Ferrell Center and 2024 games at the Foster Pavilion. The Baylor Bears competed as members of the Big 12 Conference.

## Previous season

The 2022–23 Baylor Bears women's basketball team finished the 2022–23 season 20–13, 10–8 in Big 12 play to finish in a 3 way tie for fourth place. As the No. 6 seed in the Big 12 tournament, they lost in the quarterfinals to Iowa State. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA women's tournament as a No. 7 seed in the Seattle Region 3, where they defeated Alabama in the first round before losing to UConn in the second round.

## Offseason
### Departures

Baylor Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Jaden Owens | 10 | G | 5'8" | Senior | Plano, TX | Graduate transferred to TCU |
| Erika Porter | 20 | F | 6'0 | Junior | West Windsor, NJ | Transferred to Bowling Green |
| Ja'Mee Asberry | 21 | G | 5'5" | GS Senior | Tulsa, OK | Graduated |
| Kendra Gillispie | 25 | F | 6'2" | Sophomore | Norman, OK | Transferred to Arkansas State |
| Caitlin Bickle | 51 | F | 6'0" | GS Senior | Cave Creek, AZ | Graduated |

### Incoming

Baylor Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Denae Fritz | 1 | G | 5'11" | Sophomore | Maryville, TN | Iowa State |
| Yaya Felder | 2 | G | 5'11" | Junior | Hartford, CT | Ohio |
| Madison Bartley | 3 | F | 6'3" | Senior | Kettering, OH | Belmont |
| Jada Walker | 11 | G | 5'7" | Junior | Richmond, VA | Kentucky |

#### Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Letycia Vasconcelos P | Montverde, FL | Montverde Academy | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 95 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2024 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on December 5, 2023. ||||||

#### Recruiting class of 2024

US college sports recruiting information for 2024 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Kayla Nelms F | Miami, FL | Miami Country Day School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 94 |||||||
| Ines Goryanova PG | Daytona Beach, FL | DME Academy | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 92 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2024 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on December 5, 2023. |||||||

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 3, 2023* 6:00 p.m. | No. 19 | Hardin-Simmons | W 120–41 | | Ferrell Center Waco, TX |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 6, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 19 | Southern | W 85–53 | 1–0 | Ferrell Center (3,570) Waco, TX |
| November 14, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 21 | No. 4 Utah Preseason WNIT | W 84–77 | 2–0 | Ferrell Center (4,808) Waco, TX |
| November 19, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 21 | Harvard | W 81–71 | 3–0 | Ferrell Center (3,812) Waco, TX |
| November 24, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 14 | McNeese | W 124–44 | 4–0 | Ferrell Center (3,713) Waco, TX |
| November 26, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 14 | Alcorn State | W 93–47 | 5–0 | Ferrell Center (3,709) Waco, TX |
| November 30, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 13 | at SMU | W 85–61 | 6–0 | Moody Coliseum (2,294) University Park, TX |
| December 3, 2023* 1:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 13 | Oregon | W 71–51 | 7–0 | Ferrell Center (4,340) Waco, TX |
| December 14, 2023* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | No. 10 | Delaware State Final Game at Farrell Center | W 99–37 | 8–0 | Ferrell Center (9,898) Waco, TX |
| December 16, 2023* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 10 | vs. No. 24 Miami (FL) Hall of Fame Series | W 75–57 | 9–0 | Frost Bank Center (2,279) San Antonio, TX |
| December 20, 2023* 2:30 p.m., FloSports | No. 10 | vs. Providence West Palm Beach Classic | W 61–36 | 10–0 | Massimino Court (313) West Palm Beach, FL |
| December 21, 2023* 2:30 p.m., FloSports | No. 10 | vs. South Florida West Palm Beach Classic | W 73–50 | 11–0 | Massimino Court (452) West Palm Beach, FL |
| Big 12 Conference regular season ||||||
| December 30, 2023 1:00 p.m., FOX | No. 10 | at No. 5 Texas | W 85–79 | 12–0 (1–0) | Moody Center (8,207) Austin, TX |
| January 3, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 6 | No. 23 TCU First Game at Foster Pavilion | W 71–50 | 13–0 (2–0) | Foster Pavilion (5,905) Waco, TX |
| January 6, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 6 | Houston | W 87–58 | 14–0 (3–0) | Foster Pavilion (4,530) Waco, TX |
| January 10, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 4 | at Kansas | L 66–87 | 14–1 (3–1) | Allen Fieldhouse (2,971) Lawrence, KS |
| January 13, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 4 | at Iowa State | L 63–66 | 14–2 (3–2) | Hilton Coliseum (9,420) Ames, IA |
| January 20, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 12 | UCF | W 77–74 | 15–2 (4–2) | Foster Pavilion (5,089) Waco, TX |
| January 22, 2024 7:30 p.m., FS1 | No. 13 | No. 4 Kansas State | L 55–58 | 15–3 (4–3) | Foster Pavilion (4,536) Waco, TX |
| January 28, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 13 | at Oklahoma State | W 72–60 | 16–3 (5–3) | Gallagher-Iba Arena (2,437) Stillwater, OK |
| February 1, 2024 7:30 p.m., ESPN | No. 13 | No. 12 Texas | L 55–67 | 16–4 (5–4) | Foster Pavilion (6,015) Waco, TX |
| February 4, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 13 | at Houston | W 83–60 | 17–4 (6–4) | Fertitta Center (2,069) Houston, TX |
| February 7, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 18 | at BYU | L 66–78 | 17–5 (6–5) | Marriott Center (1,525) Provo, UT |
| February 10, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 18 | No. 22 West Virginia | W 65–58 | 18–5 (7–5) | Foster Pavilion (4,944) Waco, TX |
| February 14, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 21 | at No. 23 Oklahoma | L 73–84 | 18–6 (7–6) | Lloyd Noble Center (4,552) Norman, OK |
| February 18, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 21 | Texas Tech | W 61–32 | 19–6 (8–6) | Foster Pavilion (7,093) Waco, TX |
| February 21, 2024 7:00 p.m., BIG12/ESPN+ | No. 24 | Kansas | W 69–61 | 20–6 (9–6) | Foster Pavilion (4,238) Waco, TX |
| February 24, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 24 | at No. 22 West Virginia | W 66–65 | 21–6 (10–6) | WVU Coliseum (5,616) Morgantown, WV |
| February 27, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 21 | at Cincinnati | W 74–55 | 22–6 (11–6) | Fifth Third Arena (1,488) Cincinnati, OH |
| March 3, 2024 11:00 a.m., ESPN2 | No. 21 | Oklahoma State | W 67–45 | 23–6 (12–6) | Foster Pavilion (4,280) Waco, TX |
| Big 12 Conference Tournament ||||||
| March 8, 2024 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | (5) No. 17 | vs. (12) Texas Tech Second Round | W 71–60 | 24–6 | T-Mobile Center Kansas City, MO |
| March 9, 2024 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | (5) No. 17 | vs. (4) Iowa State Quarterfinals | L 62–67 | 24–7 | T-Mobile Center Kansas City, MO |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 22, 2024* 5:00 p.m., ESPNU | (5 P3) No. 19 | vs. (12 P3) Vanderbilt First Round | W 80–63 | 25–7 | Cassell Coliseum (8,925) Blacksburg, VA |
| March 24, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN | (5 P3) No. 19 | at (4 P3) No. 13 Virginia Tech Second Round | W 75–72 | 26–7 | Cassell Coliseum (8,925) Blacksburg, VA |
| March 30, 2024* 4:30 p.m., ESPN | (5 P3) No. 19 | vs. (1 P3) No. 3 USC Sweet Sixteen | L 70-74 | 26-8 | Moda Center Portland, OR |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. P3=Portland 3. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | 19 | 21 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 18 | 21 | 24 | 21 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 13 |
| Coaches | 20 | 23 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 17 | 21 | 24 | 21 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 15 |