Dec. 7, 2003
WACO, Texas -
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Baylor (6-0) at No. 8/8 Penn State (5-1)
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2003 - 6 pm (CST)
Bryce Jordan Center (15,261) - State College, Pa.
LADY BEARS VS. NO. 8 PENN STATE...
The Baylor Lady Bears will face their biggest test so far this season as they travel to State College, Pa., to take on the eighth-ranked Penn State Lady Lions on Tues., Dec. 9 at 6 pm (CST). The Lady Lions, currently 5-1 on the season, will most likely move up in the national rankings after posting a home victory over No. 2 Texas on Sunday afternoon, 79-59. The victory over the Longhorns extended the Lady Lions' home court winning streak to 22. Baylor comes into the game with a 6-0 record, after winning the Rice Invitational this past weekend.
GAINING GROUND IN THE POLLS...
In the latest Associated Press (AP) Poll, the Lady Bears received 34 votes, up from 20 the week before. This puts them just four spots out of the top 25. The last time Baylor was listed in the AP Top 25 was at the end of the 2001-02 season when they were No. 7. Baylor received 18 votes in the latest USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, up from the one the prior week.
THE LADY BEARS...
After two lopsided exhibition wins over the Houston Jaguars and the Perik Jumpers, the Lady Bears continued that trend with decisive victories over SEC power Mississippi State (88-45), Southland Conference opponent Nicholls State (93-44), Washington State (76-39) out of the Pac-10 Conference, the Big West's Pacific (88-51), the Ohio Valley Conference's Eastern Kentucky (96-75) and WAC opponent Rice (79-55).
Four players are averaging in double figures for Baylor. With a career-high 27 points against Washington State, sophomore post Sophia Young moved into the lead for the Lady Bears in scoring and rebounding average. Young followed that game with the 19th double-double of her career with a 13-point, 10-rebound performance against Pacific and produced another double double against Eastern kentucky (21p, 11r). She is averaging 18.2 points and 9.5 rebounds an outing. Steffanie Blackmon, a junior post, ranks second in both categories with 17.5 points and 7.2 rebounds. Senior Dionne Brown, comes off the bench to average 10.3 points and 5.7 rebounds. Freshman forward Emily Niemann is averaging 10.2 points and 4.3 rebounds.
Baylor is outscoring their opponents by 35.2 points a game and are shooting .519 (203-391) on the season. The Lady Bears are holding their opponents to just 51.5 points a game and a .315 (110-349) shooting average.
THE COACHES...
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, in her fourth season, has a 78-26 head coaching record which equates out to a .750 winning percentage. She has produced 20-win seasons in each of her years as a head coach and has taken the Lady Bears to postseason competition all three seasons, twice to the NCAA Tournament and to the finals of the WNIT last year.
Mulkey-Robertson's record (40-1) in regular season non-conference games by year is:
2000-01 - 11-0
2001-02 - 12-0
2002-03 - 11-1 (lost at Montana State, 75-66)
2003-04 - 6-0
Penn State's Rene Portland is in her 24th season as the Lady Lions' head coach and 28th season overall. She is 539-188 at Penn State and 626-217 overall. Prior to taking over the reins at Penn State, Portland spend two season at Colorado where she posted a 40-27 record and two seasons at St. Joesph's where she was 47-9.
BALANCED SCORING...
In Baylor's first two games, every Lady Bear scored in double figures in at least once. In fact, in both games only nine players were available to play and six players scored in double figures. Mississippi State - Niemann 20, Young 17, S. Blackmon 14, Whitaker 12, Stratton 12, Hamerly 10. Nicholls State - S. Blackmon 18, Jones 15, Jackson 14, Young 13, Scott 11, Niemann 10.
Baylor has had five for more players in double figures in three of the six games this season (mississippi State, Nicholls State, Pacific).
LARGE MARGINS...
Over their first six games, the Lady Bears are posting some pretty large margins.
Scoring - Baylor +35.2
Rebounding - Baylor +12.3
Steals - Baylor +6.3
Blocks - Baylor +4.0
Assists - Baylor +11.0
In addition, the Lady Bears are shooting an impressive .519 (203-391) while limiting the opponent to a .315 (110-349) shooting percentage. Baylor has shot over 50% in five of six games this season.
INSIDE GAME IMPRESSIVE...
Baylor's inside game has been impressive so far this season. Sophia Young, Steffanie Blackmon, Dionne Brown and Melanie Hamerly are shooting a combined .612 shooting percentage. The quartet is 115-188 on the season. Young, Blackmon and Brown combine to score 46 points a game and score 50.8 when you add Hamerly to the mix. In addition, the four have blocked 24 of the Lady Bears' 33 shots this season. Freshman Emily Niemann has accounts for six blocks and sophomore Chameka Scott has three. The inside players aren't stingy either. Blackmon has dished out 12 assists while Young has eight and Brown five.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS...
The Penn State Lady Lions, currently 5-1 on the season, will most likely move up in the national rankings after posting a home victory over No. 2 Texas on Sunday afternoon, 79-59. The victory over the Longhorns extended the Lady Lions' home court winning streak to 22. Baylor will be Penn State's third Big 12 opponent so far this season. They defeated Kansas State 69-56 in the Junkanoo Tournament in the Grand Bahama Island.
Penn State starts a veteran lineup and has four of their five starters averaging double figures in scoring. The Lady Lions' starting lineup features two seniors and three juniors. Senior guard Kelly Mazzante, a two-time All-american and Big 10 Player of the Year, leads the team at 19.5 points a game. Junior guard Tanisha Wright scores 16.0 a game while another junior guard, Jess Strom averages 14.2 a game. Rounding out double-figure scoring for Penn State is senior forward Jess Brungo's 11.0 points a game. Reicina Russell, a 6-6 freshman, comes off the bench to lead the team in rebounding with 5.7 a game. Brungo follows closely with 5.0 while Mazzante manages 4.7 boards a game.
Against Texas, Wright led the team in scoring with 21, Mazzante and Strom each contributed 19. Brungo was the squad's top rebounder with eight, followed by Russell's six.
Penn State's lone loss so far this season came at Old Dominion where they dropped a 75-68 decision. They have posted wins over LSU (83-46), George Washington (77-51), Kansas State (69-56), Maryland (82-65) and Texas (79-59).
THE SERIES RECORDS...
Baylor and Penn State have met once previously with the Lady Lions posting a 59-56 victory in Waco. That game was the championship contest of the 1988 WNIT.
