Tribune-Herald staff report

EUGENE, Ore. — Under the most challenging of circumstances, the Baylor women’s basketball team was able to tally an emotional win Saturday night.

Fueled by a 11-0 run midway through the second half, the No. 7 Lady Bears rallied from a three-point halftime hole to defeat Oregon, 81-71, at McArthur Court.

The victory brought some temporary solace for the Lady Bears, who learned Friday that the mother of junior forward Morghan Medlock had been killed by her boyfriend in Little Rock., Ark., in an apparent murder-suicide.

“It is very difficult to coach or to play under these kind of circumstances,” said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey in her postgame radio interview. “What you do is you gather the troops. We gathered ourselves last night, and what this team did tonight was special. I don’t know how many more games we’ll win, I don’t know what we’ll do in the Big 12, but for this team to do what it did under these circumstances, that’s special.”

Medlock, who told her team Friday that “you’re my family now,” started the game for the Lady Bears and scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds, including six points in the second half when Baylor made its run.

“I don’t think there’s many people that could go out there and do what Morghan did,” Mulkey said.

“It speaks volumes about Mo’s character,” said Danielle Wilson of Medlock. “She told us we’re all she has, and so we had to rally around her.”

Oregon (3-6) appeared poised to net the big upset in the first half, riding the outside shooting of junior guards Taylor Lilley and Micaela Cocks to a 34-22 lead with just over four minutes to go. But Baylor’s Jessica Morrow caught fire herself at the end of the half to help the Lady Bears (11-1) slice the gap to three by halftime.

Morrow finished with a season-high 21 points.

“It wasn’t just what Jessica did on the offensive end, but we put her on the Micaela Cocks kid in the second half, and Jessica’s long arms and reach made it tough on her to get those 3s off,” Mulkey said.

“Jess was our spark tonight,” Wilson said.

With about 11 minutes left, Baylor set forth on an 11-0 run that ultimately was the difference in the game. Morrow got the run going with a layup, Jhasmin Player followed with a dribble-drive bank shot, and Melissa Jones gave her team a boost when she took a dish from Wilson on a backdoor cut and scored while being fouled.

Oregon kept firing from deep and pulled as close as 75-69 on a Cocks trey with just over two minutes left. But Baylor’s Kelli Griffin nailed a pair of free throws to push the lead back to eight, and the Lady Bears salted the game away from there.

Wilson tallied a double-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, and Player contributed 11 points. Jones added nine, and Rachel Allison scored six in her return from a one-game absence with a sprained ankle.

For the Ducks, who hit 50 percent (9 of 18) of their 3-point attempts, Lilley scored a team-high 20 points, and Cocks added 18. 6-5 center Nicole Canepa chipped in 11 points and seven boards.

For Medlock and the Lady Bears, just getting back out on the court again seemed to aid in the healing process.

“Sometimes our best medicine when we’re at our lowest is doing what we love,” Mulkey said. “For two hours tonight, this team was able to go out and do what they love to do.”

Amidst a blast of nasty winter weather, Baylor will next travel to Berkeley, Calif., to take on No. 12 California at 7 p.m. CST Monday.