There was some trouble brewing at NC State. Sophomore center Lorena Awou was indefinitely suspended by coach Wes Moore for a reason that remains unknown. It was only after a month that the program announced why Awou wasn’t on the bench. “We’re just going through a time right now where she’s kind of suspended for the moment,” Moore said when he announced Awou’s suspension on December 7. “We’ll see where that goes.”

It appears that the fractured relationship between Awou and NC State has now completely broken, as she has seemingly announced a move to Baylor. 

Awou was a reserve member in the NC State rotation to start the 2025-26 season.  Both sophomore forward Tilda Trygger and juniors Khamil Pierre and Maddie Cox took up most of the frontcourt minutes. In the 10 games before her suspension, Awou only appeared in three of them, averaging 3.3 points and 3.3 rebounds. Awou is now transferring away midseason. 

Awou seemingly announced that she is moving to Baylor by tagging their account in her Instagram bio. Hours later, she removed it. However, all things still point to Awou transferring to the Bears as she reposted their statement win over the previously unbeaten Iowa State while captioning the story with four pinching hand emojis and the smirking face emoji. 

“Per sources, former NC State forward Lorena Awou will transfer to Baylor and play next season. Like Khamil Pierre, she’s transferring without the use of the portal,” Mitchell Northam of USA Today reported. “Baylor’s spring semester begins on Jan. 20, so expect an announcement around then. Ole Miss was also interested.”

Pierre and the program parted ways on June 30, 68 days after the transfer portal window closed. How did she do it? Instead of having to redshirt the 2025-26 season, Pierre applied to colleges as a regular transfer student with the intention of joining a new team as a walk-on.

There is a possibility Awou can do the same with Baylor. However, there are finer points in the NCAA rulebook that Awou would need to satisfy to be eligible this season. While this season, Awou played a limited part, she had shown some spark as a freshman. 

She averaged 3.2 points and 2.5 rebounds in her 8.8 minutes per game through their ACC run last year, helping the Wolfpack take down some key conference opponents. She scored 6 points with five rebounds at Syracuse while chipping in with 8 points and four boards against Duke.

The 6’5 Awou will provide Baylor with some size and will become their tallest squad player. Awou’s addition is another boost to a team already on a high.

Baylor Bears Solve The Audi Crooks Problem, Shocks Iowa State

Taliah Scott went on a heater in that second half against Iowa State. After 0 points in the first, she scored 21 in the second, including the winning shot with 2.9 seconds left. No. 22 Baylor went past No. 10 and previously unbeaten Iowa State 72-70, and they managed to shut down Audi Crooks, at least for a half. 

Crooks had 26 points and 10 rebounds but was limited to four in the second half as Baylor stopped her from getting 30 for the sixth consecutive time. It was looking like a regulation game for Crooks in the first half, bullying Baylor in the paint and going about her way.

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However, Baylor packed the lane in the second half to limit her touches, and she attempted only two shots in the fourth quarter.

“One of the guards was kind of just sitting in front of me the whole time, and the other girl who was actually guarding me was behind me,” Crooks observed after the game. “So it made it really, really hard for the guards to make post entry passes because they were also both, I think at least 6 foot 1, 6’2 with ups.

That just makes it difficult to get it inside. So it was a good defensive plan by Baylor.”

It seems like Baylor could build around more size with Lorena Awou. They have struggled on the boards, conceding 31.5% of offensive rebounds while getting 37% of theirs. If Awou gets an increased role with the Bears and succeeds, they could solve that problem.

Coach Nicki Collen can further build on clogging the paint. While it would work best against paint-heavy teams like Iowa State, it’s a defensive system to build around.