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March 16, 2002

WACO, Texas -

NCAA Tournament
First & Second Rounds
March 15 & 17
Ferrell Center (10,284) - Waco, Texas

First Round
Friday, March 15
No. 7 seed Drake def. Syracuse 87-69

No. 2 seed #7/#7 Baylor Lady Bears def. Bucknell 80-56

Second Round
Sunday, March 17 - 6:30 p.m.
Drake vs. Baylor

COMING UP...
The Lady Bears, currently 27-5 have won 14 of their last 16 games which includes recent victories over #15 Texas Tech, Texas A&M, #18 Texas, #11 Colorado, Oklahoma State and #11 Iowa State (twice) and #17 Texas Tech. Both of their losses in that 16 game stretch were to No. 2 Oklahoma.

* Baylor went to the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time in the program's history. They were a No. 8 seed and lost to Arkansas, the No. 9 seed, 68-59. That subregional was hosted by Duke (West Region).

* The No. 2 seed is Baylor's highest seed in the NCAA Tournament.

* All five of Baylor's losses have come at the hands of teams currently ranked No. 17 or higher: No. 2 Oklahoma (three times), No. 11 Kansas State and No. 17 Texas Tech.

* The Lady Bears have won 19 consecutive non-conference games in the Ferrell Center. Their last home non-conference loss came on Dec. 2, 1999, 80-69, at the hands of the Arkansas LadyBacks.LadyBacks.

* Baylor is 26-3 under Coach Mulkey-Robertson in the Ferrell Center.

* Danielle Crockrom needs only 11 rebounds to reach the 1,000 rebound mark for her career.

* Baylor is 14-2 since Nicole Collins moved back into the starting lineup.

* In just two seasons, Sheila Lambert ranks No. 3 on Baylor's career assist list with 385.

* Lambert broke her single season assist record of 182 against Iowa State, she now has 201.

* Danielle Crockrom moved into No. 3 in career scoring at Baylor. She has 1,775 points.

* The crowd at the Baylor-Bucknell game was the third largest in the program's history. 1. 10,031 vs. Penn State (WNIT championship), March 24, 1995. 2. 10,031 vs. Oklahoma, Jan. 12, 2002.

THE LADY BEARS...
Baylor, 27-5, 12-4, maintained their No. 7 Associated Press Poll ranking. The Lady Bears started the season ranked No. 14. Baylor also remained at No. 7 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll. The No. 7 ranking in the AP poll ties the program's high and this is the highest ranked Baylor's been ranked by the coaches.

Thirty-two games into the season the Lady Bears are led by all-American candidates seniors Sheila Lambert (Seattle, Wash./Chief Sealth HS) and Danielle Crockrom (Houston/North Shore HS). Lambert leads the way with 19.9 points per game, while Crockrom follows at 17.4. Crockrom leads the team in rebounding at 9.1 an outing. Freshman post Steffanie Blackmon (Dallas/Rowlett HS) follows with 10.0 points and 5.2 rebounds a game.

BAYLOR IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT...
Baylor went to the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time in the program's history. They were a No. 8 seed and lost to Arkansas, the No. 9 seed, 68-59. That subregional was hosted by Duke (West Region).

The No. 2 seed is Baylor's highest seed in the NCAA Tournament.

2001 - Lost to Arkansas, 68-59

The victory over Bucknell gave the Lady Bears their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.

THE OPPOSITION...
Drake Bulldogs
The Drake Bulldogs, defeated Syracuse in the first round game 87-69. The seventh-seeded Bulldogs are making thier ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its third straight.

Four Bulldogs are averaging in double figures. Junior center Carla Bennett leads the team at 15.7 points and 7.7 reounds a game, senior guard Stephanie Schmitz scores 13.2 a game, senior guard Jayme Anderson manages 12.5 and senior forward Erin Richards averages 11.4.

THE COACHES...
Baylor's Kim Mulkey-Robertson is in her second year as a head coach after guiding the Lady Bears to a 21-9 record and the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament in her inaugural season. The Lady Bears enjoyed tremendous improvement last season over Baylor's 7-20 record of 1999-2000. Her career record is 48-14 (.774).

Drake is coached by Lisa Stone. She is in her second season as the Bulldogs' head coach. Stone is 357-105 (.773) overall as a head coach and is 47-14 (.771) in her two seasons at Drake.