By Brice Cherry

Tribune-Herald staff writer

Charged up and eager to avenge their first loss of the season, nobody was going to pull the plug on the Baylor Lady Bears.

In a game that was delayed 15 minutes because of a Ferrell Center power outage earlier in the day, 10th-ranked Baylor lit up the scoreboard early and coasted home late to thwart previously unbeaten St. John’s, 75-65, before a crowd of 6,047 Saturday night.

The win was like sweet medicine to the Lady Bears (7-1), who were sick over the way their tropical excursion to the U.S. Virgin Islands ended last week, with a 59-58 loss to Wisconsin.

SLIDESHOW

• Lady Bears vs. St. John's

Baylor guard Jhasmin Player grabs a rebound in front of St. John's Monique McLean. (Duane A. Laverty photo)

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“Always, it’s always good to get a win,” said senior forward Rachel Allison, who led Baylor with 18 points and seven rebounds. “This is what we’ve been fighting for (in practice) all week. It’s good to get back home and regain some of the confidence we might have lost against Wisconsin.”

After trailing by as many as 24 points in the second half, St. John’s (7-1) ignited late in the game, burying a variety of well-guarded perimeter shots and off-balance, fadeaway jumpers. Baylor held the Red Storm to 35.7 percent shooting in the first half, but St. John’s shot a sizzling 63.6 percent in the second.

“It’s disappointing when you’ve got a 20-point lead and then it ends up as a 10-point game,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. “I’ll have to look at the film to determine the exact reasoning why. It’s a win, and there’s always excitement when you win, but we’ve got to do a better job maintaining leads.”

Baylor exploited St. John’s in the paint early in the game, as Danielle Wilson pounded her way inside for eight of the Lady Bears’ first 13 points. A New York native who was recruited by St. John’s out of high school, Wilson finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.

St. John’s drew as close as 15-10 on a Arica Mitchell turnaround before Baylor began to establish its dominance. The Lady Bears built a 39-23 halftime edge, shooting 51.7 percent from the field — a welcome uptick from their Virgin Islands trip, where they shot 39.3 percent over the course of three games.

“We got better looks and we finished shots when the clock was winding down,” Mulkey said. “We still stood a lot in some of the things were were running, but we did shoot a better percentage, almost 50 percent.”

Mulkey said she was particularly proud of the offensive spark provided by Ashley Field (six points on 3-of-4 shooting) and Jessica Morrow (13 points) off the bench. Mulkey said she used Kelli Griffin in Morrow’s usual place in the starting lineup because she wanted an extra ballhandler against St. John’s pressing defense.

“Whatever Coach wants to do is fine,” Morrow said. “She’s smart, and she knows what’s best for the team. That’s what I want too, what’s best for the team. I’m not big on whether I start or come off the bench.”

Locked down by Jhasmin Player defensively for much of the first half, the Red Storm’s leading scorer Monique McLean finally escaped and found her rhythm. She finished with a team-high 16 points — right at her season average of 16.1.

St. John’s stole away the momentum at various times in the second half, particularly during a 90-second stretch about three minutes in when the Red Storm capitalized on three borderline calls made by the same official.

Mulkey and the Lady Bears were clearly exasperated by the calls, but they regained their composure after Allison scored on a drive while being fouled to push the gap back to 15.

“We always try to remember that quote from Coach — ‘Keep a cool head and a hot game,’” Allison said. “Early on in the game, we could see (St. John’s) getting frustrated after a couple of calls didn’t go their way, kind of nitpicking and arguing with each other. We don’t want that on our team.”

Baylor will return to the court at 7 p.m. Monday against Lamar, which is coached by former BU assistant Larry Tidwell.

BEAR FACTS: With 997 career points, Morrow is just three away from becoming the 25th Baylor player to reach the 1,000-point club. ... Griffin tallied a career-high seven assists. ... Saturday’s game marked the first time since the season opener that Baylor recorded more assists (17) than turnovers (16).