Lady Bears Host Rice
11/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2004
WACO, Texas -
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Game 5:
#9/12 Baylor (3-1) vs. Rice (3-3)
Nov. 30, 2004 • 7:00 p.m.
Ferrell Center (10,284) • Waco, Texas
RADIO
1660 AM - ESPN Radio
Rick May - play-by-play
Lori Fogleman - color analyst
Broadcast begins 30 minutes prior to tip.
INTERNET FEEDS
Audio - live broadcast stream at BaylorBears.com
Video (BearCast) - live video stream at BaylorBears.com
#9/12 BAYLOR VS. RICE...
Baylor plays the second game of a two-game homestand as it hosts former Southwest Conference foe Rice on Tuesday, Nov.30, in the Ferrell Center in Waco. Baylor will then hit the road to participate in the East Carolina-hosted Lady Pirate Invitational, Dec. 4-5. The Lady Bears will take on Jackson State in first round action on Saturday then play either East Carolina or Stephen F. Austin on Sunday.
Baylor comes into the game at 3-1 after a defeating Sam Houston State 84-53 while the Rice Owls are 3-3 on the season. The Owls posted wins over McNeese State (62-43), Stephen F. Austin (75-62) and Western Illinois (62-48). Rice's three losses have come against Arizona (68-43), No. 12 Texas Tech (66-55) and Auburn (62-60).
BAYLOR HEAD COACH Kim Mulkey-Robertson...
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson owns a 101-36 head coaching record which equates to a .737 winning percentage in her fifth season along the Lady Bear sideline. She has produced 20-win seasons in each of her four years as a head coach and has taken the Lady Bears to postseason competition all four seasons, three times to the NCAA Tournament and to
the WNIT finals. In 2004, the Lady Bears advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.
Mulkey-Robertson gained her 100th victory on Nov. 23 with a 66-49 road win at Mississippi State. She achieved the milestone in four seasons and three games (136 games).
Baylor year-by-year under Mulkey-Robertson:
2000-01 - 21-9 - NCAA , lost in first round (Arkansas)
2001-02 - 27-6 - NCAA, lost in second round (Drake)
2002-03 - 24-11 - WNIT, lost in finals (Auburn)
2003-04 - 26-9 - NCAA, lost in Sweet 16 (Tennessee)
2004-05 - 3-1 - Highest preseason ranking in school history
Mulkey-Robertson was named Baylor's fourth head coach on April 4, 2000. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame that same year. She was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame in June of 2003.
DOUBLE TROUBLE...
The tandem of Steffanie Blackmon and Sophia Young in the paint has proven to be one of the most formidable inside duos in NCAA Division I. Last season the pair combined to average 32.3 points and 15.5 rebounds a game, which accounted for 39.7 percent of Baylor's scoring and rebounding. Over the past two seasons Blackmon has averaged 16.6 points and 7.5 rebounds while Young has scored 15.5 a game and hauled down 9.3 boards over that same span.
So far this season, the duo has scored 45.4 percent of the team's points, 127 of 280 points. Young has scored in double-digits in all four games while Blackmon has registered double-digit scoring in three contests. The tandem is combining to pull down 18.8 rebounds a game, good for 43.9 percent of the team's boards. Young is averaging 10.0 a game and Blackmon accounts for 8.8.
BLACKMON'S BLOCK PARTY...
Senior post Steffanie Blackmon needs to block only five more shots to become the program's all-time shot blocker. She has rejected 137 shots and the Baylor record is 141, held by Kacy Moffitt who played from 1995-99.
FINALLY, THEY'RE FALLING...
It took them four games, but the Lady Bears finally started hitting their shots from beyond the 3-point line. In Baylor's first thee games, the team had made only nine 3-pointers, then against Sam Houston State, the Lady Bears poured in 10. Chameka Scott and Angela Tisdale each hit three and Jordan Davis and Emily Niemann popped in two apiece.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT...
The Rice Owls are playing their sixth road game of the season and have a 2-3 road record. The Owls are led on the season by 6-2 sophomore forward Lauren Neaves' 11.0 points a game. Senior Michelle Woods, a 6-2 forward, is second on the team in scoring (9.3) and the squad's leading rebounder at 9.8 game. Neaves hauls down 9.0 boards a game for the Owls.
Cristy McKinney is in her 13th season as the Owls' head coach and her 14th season overall. She is 195-133 at Rice and owns a career record of 222-161. McKinney also serves the school's Senior Woman Administrator.
LAST MEETING...
Baylor and Rice met last season on Dec. 6 in Houston in the championship game of the Rice Invitational. Baylor prevailed in that game 79-55, breaking a six-game Rice win streak over the Lady Bears. Steffanie Blackmon, Sophia Young and Chelsea Whitaker all scored in double figures for the Lady Bears, Blackmon tallied 21 while Young and Whitaker each scored 15. Michelle Woods was the only current Rice player to score in double figures in the game, as she tallied 14.
THE SERIES RECORDS...
Rice leads the series 17-14. Baylor won the last meeting between the two schools, a 79-55 win last season in Houston. The victory broke a Rice six-game win streak over the Lady Bears. Rice leads the series in Waco 8-7, owns a 9-5 mark in games played in Houston, is 1-0 on neutral courts and 1-0 at an unknown location.
