March 17, 2005
WACO, Texas -
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Game 31
March 19 - 1:00 p.m. (CST)
#5/6 Baylor (27-3) vs. Illinois State (13-17)
2005 NCAA Tournament
First & Second Rounds
Bank of America Arena • Seattle, Wash.
RADIO
1660 AM - ESPN - Waco
Rick May - play-by-play
Phyllis Gamble - color analyst
Broadcast begins 30 minutes prior to tip.
INTERNET FEEDS
Audio - live broadcast stream at BaylorBears.com
TELEVISION
ESPN2
Dave Revsine - play-by-play
Mary Murphy - color analyst
Rob Stone - sideline
TELEVISION COVERAGE
ESPN2 will televise the Baylor/Illinois State in the home markets of the competing teams and ESPNU will offer a simulcast as well. Viewers who want all early-round games in their entirety can receive them through ESPN FULL COURT, the out-of-market pay-per-view package.
Fans are urged to check their local listings.
THE SCHEDULE
March 19 (Saturday)
No. 2 Baylor vs. No. 15 Illinois State - 1 p.m. (CST)
No. 7 TCU vs. No. 10 Oregon - 30 minutes after the conclusion of BU-ISU contest
March 21 (Monday)
Winners of Saturday's games play - ESPN2 - Time (TBA)
BAYLOR VS. ILLINOIS STATE...
Baylor is competing in its fourth NCAA Tournament and all four appearances have come since Kim Mulkey-Robertson assumed the reins of the Lady Bear program. The fifth-ranked Lady Bears come into the contest riding a school record 14-game win streak and sporting a 27-3 record. This season the Lady Bears won the program's first conference championship and also claimed the Big 12 Conference Tournament. Junior forward Sophia Young was named the tournament's MVP and senior post Steffanie Blackmon was named to the all-tournament team. Young leads the team in both scoring and rebounding with 17.4 points and 9.4 rebounds a game while Blackmon averages 15.7 points and 8.4 rebounds a game.
Illinois State, 13-17 on the season, earned an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The Redbirds upset top-seeded Southwest Missouri State (61-57) and No. 4 seed Northern Iowa (58-48) and then beat No. 2 seed Indiana State, 72-70, on senior guard Jaci McCormack's last-second shot. The Redbirds are winners of three straight games and four of their last five contests. Illinois State returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1989.
The Redbirds are led by senior forward Katie Donovan's 13.6 points. Guards Jaci McCormack and Megan McCracken average 12.9 and 11.0 points a game, respectively. Junior center Holly Hallstrom is the squad's top rebounder with 7.4 a contest.
THE COACHES...
Baylor's Kim Mulkey-Robertson is in her fifth season as a head coach and owns a 125-38 (.767) career record. In 2005 she guided the Lady Bears to the program's first-ever Big 12 regular season and tournament championship. Under her guidance, Baylor is making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance.
Illinois State's Robin Pingeton is in her second season as a head coach. She came to Illinois State from Iowa State where she spent three seasons on Cyclone head coach Bill Fennelly's staff. Pingeton owns a career record of 29-30 (.492).
BAYLOR IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT...
Baylor is competing in its fourth NCAA Tournament and all four appearances have come since head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson assumed the program's helm. BU is 3-3 in NCAA Tournament games, 2-1 in first round games, 1-1 in second round games and 0-1 in the Sweet 16.
2001- No. 8 seed - West Region - Durham, N.C. (Duke host)
First round - lost to No. 9 seed Arkansas (68-59)
2002- No. 2 seed - East Region - Waco, Texas (Baylor host)
First round - defeated No. 15 seed Bucknell (80-56)
Second round - lost to No. 7 seed Drake (76-72)
2004- No. 4 seed - Midwest Region - Albuquerque (New Mexico host)
First round - defeated No. 13 seed Loyola Marymount (71-60)
Second round - defeated No. 5 seed Florida (91-76)
Sweet 16 - lost to No. 1 Tennessee (71-69) (Oklahoma host)
BAYLOR BITS...
The 5th-ranked Baylor Lady Bears won the Big 12 Conference Tournament with Saturday's 68-55 victory over Kansas State. Baylor is now 27-3 on the season and finished league play with a program-best 14-2 mark. The 2004-05 crown is Baylor's first-ever women's basketball conference title and its ninth Big 12 crown in school history overall. This season also marked the program's first conference tournament title.
• BU has shot 50 percent or better in 10 of 30 games this season.
• BU has shot 50 percent or higher from three-point range in eight games, winning every game.
• BU has limited its last three opponents (Missouri, #14 Texas Tech, #17 Kansas State) to an average of 54.7 points a game.
• Today's game marks the 11th the Lady Bears have played on Saturday this season, they are 9-1 in Saturday games.
• BU will be making its 14th television appearance on Saturday, its third on ESPN2 of the season.
• The Lady Bears are 11-2 this season in televised games.
• Baylor is 7-2 versus ranked teams this season, two losses came against LSU and Texas.
• Baylor became the sixth team to win both the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles in the same season. Texas Tech swept both crowns in 1997-98 and 1998-99, while Iowa State accomplished that feat in 1999-2000. Oklahoma accomplished both in 2001-02, as did Texas in 2002-03.
• The Lady Bears won 11 straight league games for the first time in school history. BU posted six straight league wins to close out its 2001-02 conference slate.
• Baylor's current 14-game win streak ranks fourth-nationally. The streak is the second double-digit win streak of the year for the Lady Bears, who earlier won 12 straight contests.
• With 14 straight victories, Baylor broke the program's win streak record. The 2000-01 squad, Mulkey-Robertson's first team at Baylor, previously held the record winning 13 consecutive games.
• With its win over Kansas State in the finals of the Big 12 Tournament, Baylor matched Mulkey-Robertson's highest season win total as a head coach, the 2001-02 squad finished the season at 27-6.
• BU claimed the program's fifth straight 20-win season, sixth 20-win season since the NCAA began sponsoring women's basketball in 1981-82 and 11th in school history with its victory over Missouri on Feb. 16.
• With 14 Big 12 wins this season, Baylor broke its all-time conference wins mark. The Lady Bears finished the 2002 portion of their Big 12 slate at 12-4.
• BU's 27-3 overall record is the school's best mark after 30 games since the NCAA began sponsoring the sport and second only to a 28-2 start to the 1975-76 season. That team opened at 28-2 and finished at 31-6. Previously, BU was 23-4 in 2001-02 on its way to a 27-6 finish.
• BU's 27 wins is the sixth-most in school history.
• One more victory would give BU its most wins since the NCAA began sponsoring women's basketball and its highest total since posting 29 wins in 1980-81.
• In the 2005 Big 12 Tournament (three games) Sophia Young averaged 18.0 points and 10.0 rebounds. She shot 52.6 percent from the floor and had 13 assists and seven steals en route to MVP honors.
• Sophia Young was named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's 10-member All-America team, Baylor's first honoree.
• Steffanie Blackmon became the program's first Academic All-American when she was named to the ESPN The Magazine-CoSIDA third team.
• Steffanie Blackmon has been selected to play in WBCA All-Star game. She joins former Lady Bears Sheila Lambert and Danielle Crockrom in participating in the event.
• Steffanie Blackmon and Sophia Young are two of 17 in the final Wooden Award list.
• Steffanie Blackmon and Sophia Young were named Kodak All-Region. • Point guard Chelsea Whitaker earned her first Big 12 Player of the Week nod with her 16-point, 8-assist, 2-block performance against Texas Tech. Baylor players took player of the week honors a Big 12-high five times this season.
• Baylor comes into the game having won 27 of its last 29 games and a school-record 14 straight. • Baylor is 6-2 in games decided by five or fewer points after going 1-5 in such games a year ago.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS...
The three top career rebounding tandems in NCAA Division I are in the same bracket in the NCAA Tournament. Baylor, Kansas State and Oregon each have teammates with more than 700 career rebounds:
Kansas State - Kendra Wecker, 1,067; Megan Mahoney (suffered career ending injury), 804 = 1,871
Baylor - Sophia Young, 936; Steffanie Blackmon, 902 = 1,838
Oregon - Andrea Bills, 813; Cathrine Kraayeveld, 761 = 1,574
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT...
Illinois State, 13-17 on the season, earned an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The Redbirds upset top-seeded Southwest Missouri State (61-57) and No. 4 seed Northern Iowa (58-48) and then beat No. 2 seed Indiana State, 72-70, on senior guard Jaci McCormack's last-second shot. The Redbirds are winners of three straight games and four of their last five contests. Illinois State returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1989.
The Redbirds are led by senior forward Katie Donovan's 13.6 points. Guards Jaci McCormack and Megan McCracken average 12.9 and 11.0 points a game, respectively. Junior center Holly Hallstrom is the squad's top rebounder with 7.4 a contest.
THE SERIES RECORD...
This will be the first meeting between Baylor and Illinois State.
Baylor has played four Missouri Valley Conference schools and is 3-5 versus those institutions. Baylor is 0-1 versus both Creighton and Wichita State and the series is tied with both Drake (1-1) and Southwest Missouri State (2-2).
