March 6, 2004
WACO, Texas -
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2004 Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament
#14/18 Baylor (22-7, 10-6) vs. Kansas (9-18, 2-14)
Tues., March 9, 2004 - 2:30 p.m. (CST)
Reunion Arena (19,000) - Dallas, Texas
9 (Tuesday)
Game 1: No. 9 Iowa State vs. No. 8 Nebraska - 12 p.m.
Game 2: No. 12 Kansas vs. No. 5 Baylor, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 10 Oklahoma State vs. No. 7 Missouri, 6 p.m.
Game 4: No. 11 Texas A&M vs. No. 6 Oklahoma, 8:30 p.m.
10 (Wednesday)
Game 5: Winner G1 vs. No. 1 Texas, 12 p.m.
Game 6: Winner G2 vs. No. 4 Texas Tech, 2:30 p.m.
Game 7: Winner G3 vs. No. 2 Kansas State, 6 p.m.
Game 8: Winner G4 vs. No. 3 Colorado, 8:30 p.m.
11 (Thursday)
Game 9: Winner G5 vs. Winner G6, 6 p.m.
Game 10: Winner G7 vs. winner G8, 8:30 p.m.
13 (Saturday)
Game 11: Winner G9 vs. Winner G10, 6 p.m.
#14/18 BAYLOR VS. KANSAS...
The 14th-ranked Baylor Lady Bears (22-7, 10-6) enter the third phase of their schedule, postseason, as they travel north to Dallas, Texas, to participate in the 2004 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament at Reunion Arena.The Lady Bears come into the tourney as the league's fifth seed after finishing regular season play in a fourth place tie with Texas Tech. Baylor will take on the No. 12 seed, Kansas, in the first round of the tournament.
For the fourth straight season, head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson has guided her Baylor squad to a 20-win season. The Lady Bears gained 20 wins this year by completing a sweep on No. 24 Oklahoma on Saturday, Feb. 22. Six of Baylor's seven losses in 2003-04 have come against teams ranked No. 15 or higher and three have been by three points or less. BAYLOR IN THE BIG 12 TOURNAMENT... Baylor is 3-3 in first round games, 1-3 in second round games, 1-0 in semifinal games and 0-1 in the finals. They are 5-7 in Big 12 Tournament games.
1997
First round - defeated Oklahoma State, 68-62
Second round - lost to Kansas, 66-54
1998
First round - lost to Kansas State, 71-66 OT
1999
First round - lost to Missouri, 60-55
2000
First round - lost to Nebraska, 82-61
2001
First round - defeated Kansas State, 60-44
Second round - lost to Iowa State, 73-48
2002
Second round - defeated Texas Tech, 75-60
Semifinals - defeated Iowa State, 91-83
Finals - lost to Oklahoma, 84-69
2003
First round - defeated Texas A&M, 80-61
Second round - lost to Kansas State, 77-60
THE LADY BEARS...
The Lady Bears finished the non-conference portion of their schedule at 12-1. Under fourth-year head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson's guidance the Lady Bears are 46-2 in non-conference regular season games. After dropping a double overtime decision (73-72) to fifth-ranked Texas in Austin, posting an 80-55 win over Texas A&M, and winning at Oklahoma State (70-60) Baylor's record now stands at 22-7 overall and 10-6 in league play. That record places them in a tie for fourth place in the league standings with Texas Tech. However, in the tiebreaker for tournament seeding, Texas Tech received the No. 4 seed by beating Baylor in head-to-head competition.
Three players are averaging in double figures for Baylor with one more just under the mark. 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 and has not relinquished it since. 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). Young recorded back-to-back double-doubles against Colorado (14p, 11r) and Texas A&M (10p, 13r) and added two more against Kansas (20p, 11r) and Texas (18p, 13r). She is averaging 15.6 points and 8.4 rebounds an outing and has scored in double digits in every game but two (Missouri & Oklahoma State) this season. Steffanie Blackmon, a junior post, recently tied Young in scoring at 15.6 points an outing and ranks second in rebounding at 7.2 rebounds. Freshman forward Emily Niemann comes off the bench to average 9.9 points while senior Jessika Stratton follows closely with 9.4. Senior Dionne Brown is third on the team in rebounding with 5.5 a game.
Baylor is outscoring its opponents by 17.6 points a game and leads the league in scoring offense at 77.2 points a game. They are shooting .464 (855-1844) on the season which ranks second in the Big 12. The Lady Bears are holding their opponents to just 59.7 points a game and a .355 (607-1712) shooting average. Baylor has shot .500 or above in 12 of the 29 games this season and has been over the .600 mark once (Sam Houston State .661).
BLACKMON AND YOUNG NAMED FIRST-TEAM ALL-BIG 12...
Baylor posts Steffanie Blackmon and Sophia Young were named first-team All-Big 12 it was announced by the conference office on Friday. The teams were voted on by the league's head coaches. Both student-athletes were named to the first team.
Blackmon, a 6-2 junior ( Dallas, Texas), averages 15.6 points and 7.2 rebounds a game this season while Young, a 6-1 sophomore (St. Vincent, West Indies) scores 15.6 a game and hauls down 8.4 boards a contest. Young , the only sophomore listed on the first team, ranks No. 2 in the league in rebounding and steals, No. 3 in field goal percentage and No. 7 in scoring. Among Big 12 players, Blackmon is No. 7 in scoring, No. 9 in field goal percentage, No. 11 in rebounding, No. 11 in free throw percentage and No. 14 in blocked shots. Blackmon received second team honors last season and Young was an honorable mention.
Sophia Young REACHES 500, NOW JUST 4 SHY OF 600...
Sophomore Sophia Young, a 6-1 post, needed just five rebounds against Kansas to reach 500 for her career, she got them in the first half. She now has 594 for her career. Now, she's just six boards shy of 600 career rebounds
She became the fastest active Big 12 player to reach 500 career rebounds, attaining the feat in 53 games. Here's a breakdown of active Big 12 players who have reached 500 rebounds and how long it took them:
Stacy Stephens, Texas - 54 games
Caton Hill, Oklahoma - 61 games
Kendra Wecker, Kansas State - 63 games
Nicole Ohlde, Kansas State - Junior season
Evan Unrau, Missouri - Junior season
Trisha Skibbe, Oklahoma State - Junior season
Tera Bjorklund, Colorado - Senior season
YOUNG GETTING CLOSER TO 1,000 POINTS...
Sophomore Sophia Young currently has 949 career points. That leaves her just 51 points shy of the 1,000 mark. If she keeps on pace with her 15.6 scoring average, she would need at least four games to reach the mark.
THE COACHES...
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, in her fourth season, has a 94-33 head coaching record which equates out to a .740 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.
Baylor seasons under Mulkey-Robertson:
2000-01 - 21-9
2001-02 - 27-6
2002-03 - 24-11
2003-04 - 22-7
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. This past summer she was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame.
Kansas is led by interim head coach Lynette Woodard, a 1981 Kansas graduate. Woodard assumed the interim position when head coach marian Washington retired due to health reasons.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT...
The Kansas Jayhawks come into the game with a 9-18 record overall and a 2-14 mark in Big 12 play. They come into the game having lost nine straight games and 12 of their last 14. Their two Big 12 victories came at Missouri (55-52) and in Lawrence versus Oklahoma State (74-61). The Jayhawks' former head coach Marian Washington retired (Feb. 27) due to health reasons. Assistant coach Lynette Woodard was named interim head coach.
Sophomore forward Crystal Kemp leads the team in scoring with 13.4 points a game. Junior guard Aquanita Burras scores 10.0 points a game and ranks third on the team in rebounding with 5.7 a game. Freshman Lauren Ervin leads the team in rebounding, hauling down 6.8 a contest and sophomore Tamara Ransburg comes off the bench to rebound 6.4 an outing.
THE SERIES RECORDS...
The series between Baylor and Kansas is tied at 6-6 but Baylor has won the last four games. The two teams have met nine times in Big 12 competition, eight during the regular season and one in the Big 12 Tournament in 1997. Baylor leads the series 5-3 in regular season Big 12 contests. Kim Mulkey-Robertson is 4-0 as a head coach versus the Jayhawks.
