Tribune-Herald staff report

ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands – What would a visit to the islands of the Caribbean be without a game of “Survivor?”

After opening the season with five double-digit victories, the sixth-ranked Baylor Lady Bears survived a scare from Villanova before winning, 62-57, in second-day action at the Paradise Jam Tournament Friday at the University of the Virgin Islands.

Baylor (6-0) built a lead of 21 points with just under six minutes to play in the first half, but Villanova (2-3) surged back in the second, trimming the gap to three at 57-54 on a pair of Heather Scanlon free throws with 2:29 remaining in the game.

“It was a very good basketball game,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said in her postgame radio interview. “I said beforehand, I’m not going to outcoach that guy (veteran Villanova coach Harry Perretta). They have a tremendous motion offense.”

Baylor was able to stave off the Wildcats thanks to some little plays that produced big results in the final 120 seconds. Melissa Jones came up with a key offensive rebound after a missed shot by Jhasmin Player, and the Lady Bears also stole the ball away from Villanova’s Lisa Karcic on a potential game-tying possession with 40 seconds to play.

Baylor’s Jessica Morrow and Kelli Griffin combined to hit four of four free throws in the last 15 seconds to salt the game away.

“Those free throws we hit down the stretch, that helped win us the ball game,” Mulkey said. “It made a huge difference.”

Morrow, shooting 28 percent from the field on the season coming into the game, broke out of her slump in twine-tickling fashion. She hit six of 11 shots for a team-high 17 points and buried three shots from 3-point land, including a halftime buzzer beater off a set play.

“It was good to see Jess shooting the ball well again,” Mulkey said. “The best thing is, we’ve been getting on her to go to the boards, and she had three or four rebounds in that first half.”

“I’ve been struggling on the offensive end, but tonight I was just able to come out and hit some shots when we needed them most,” Morrow said. “Hopefully I can keep that going.”

Behind Morrow’s shooting and some frenetic hustle on the defensive end, Baylor grabbed control of the game out of the gate, building a 24-6 lead after the first 12 minutes.

“I thought the defense we played in the first half was as good as I’ve seen in a long time,” Mulkey said. “We just had so much energy, and consequently we were able to build a 16-point halftime lead. But you know a team like that’s not going away.”

Villanova shot itself back into the game by routinely launching bombs from the perimeter. The Wildcats made 10 of 27 shots from behind the 3-point arc, including four from starting guard Maria Getty, who scored 14 points.

Villanova’s defense wasn’t too bad, either. The Wildcats held Baylor without a bucket for a six-minute stretch in the second half, and blocked nine shots.

Rachel Allison and Jhasmin Player joined Morrow in double figures with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Laura Kurz topped Villanova with 17.

Baylor will close out the round-robin Paradise Jam tourney against Wisconsin at 2:30 p.m. today. The Badgers defeated BU’s first-round foe Central Florida, 65-61, earlier on Friday.

NOTE: A reference to senior forward Rachel Allison being stung by a jellyfish in Friday’s Tribune-Herald was incorrect. Graduate assistant Edfel Hamilton actually suffered the sting.