Olivia Miles looked at the most feared three-point defense in the country and decided it was target practice.
The TCU graduate transfer poured in a career-high 40 points Thursday night at Baylor, dropping 10 three-pointers on a Bears squad that entered the game leading the nation in perimeter defense.
Her 23-point third quarter, punctuated by seven makes from deep, turned a tight Big 12 showdown into an 83-67 Horned Frogs rout. Miles became the first Division I player in 25 years to hit 10 threes on the road against a ranked opponent.
Olivia Miles’ 23-Point Quarter Dismantles Baylor’s Top-Ranked Defense
Baylor had held opponents to approximately 23% shooting from three all season. The Bears’ defensive identity is built on suffocating the arc, and they’d proven it against some of the best perimeter attacks in the country. Miles didn’t care.
She had just 10 points at halftime with TCU clinging to a four-point lead. Then the third quarter happened. Miles went 7-of-9 from three in the period, scoring 23 of TCU’s 25 points in the quarter, turning a dogfight into a double-digit cushion the Bears never threatened.
The performance marked the most points in a single quarter by any Division I player since Caitlin Clark did it in February 2024. For a player who passed on being a top-five pick in last year’s WNBA Draft, it was the kind of statement game that reminds everyone why scouts had her rated so highly.
Baylor coach Nicki Collen offered the highest praise after watching Miles torch her defense.
“She’s probably the best point guard in the country when you look at what she does — the way she controls her team and her ability to score and her number of triple-doubles,” Collen said.
Miles’ shooting line tells the whole story: 13-of-28 from the field, 10-of-20 from three, 4-of-4 from the line. She added six rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Marta Suarez complemented her with 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting, and the duo combined to match Baylor’s entire offensive output by themselves.
TCU moved to 22-4 overall and 10-3 in Big 12 play, joining Baylor and Texas Tech in a three-way tie behind West Virginia (11-3) in the conference standings. The win extended an improbable streak: The Horned Frogs have now beaten the Bears four consecutive times after losing 37 straight matchups dating to 1990.
Miles’ WNBA Draft Stock Continues to Rise After Return to College
The decision to return for one more college season drew scrutiny last spring. Miles had been projected as the No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft after her career at Notre Dame, where she became a two-time AP Second-Team All-American and three-time First-Team All-ACC selection. A torn ACL cost her the 2023-24 campaign, and she wanted another full year to prove she was all the way back.
Consider the point made.
Miles has spoken about her mental and physical recovery, noting the confidence she’s rebuilt since returning from injury.
She’s averaging 20.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 6.6 assists this season while shooting efficiently from deep. The Wooden Award midseason top 20 list includes her name. So does the Nancy Lieberman Award top 10, which honors the nation’s best point guard. Current mock drafts have her slotted around No. 2 or No. 3 overall, with ESPN projecting her to Seattle and other outlets projecting her as high as No. 2 to Minnesota.
Mark Campbell’s program, which had lost 37 straight to Baylor before breaking through in January 2025, now finds itself in position to defend its Big 12 regular-season title. The Horned Frogs host No. 19 West Virginia on Sunday, another test that will reveal whether Thursday was an outlier or a preview of March.
For Miles, the answer feels obvious. She came back to college to prove she could carry a team on the biggest stages. Forty points on the nation’s best three-point defense, on the road, against a ranked rival, is about as loud as a statement gets.
The WNBA will still be there in April. Right now, Miles has unfinished business in Fort Worth.