WBB Preps for Minnesota, Sunday Matinee
12/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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| #2/3 Baylor (8-1) vs. Minnesota (5-3) Dec. 5, 2010 | 1 p.m. CST Waco, Texas| Ferrell Center (10,284) TV: FOX Sports Southwest |
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MEDIA INFORMATION
Date: Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010
Tip-Off: 1 p.m. CST
Location: Waco, Texas
Arena: Ferrell Center (10,284)
Television: FOX Sports Southwest
Talent: Brenda VanLengen (pxp), Dan Hughes (analyst)
Radio: 1660 ESPN (Waco)
Talent: Rick May (pxp), Lori Fogleman (color)
Video Web Stream: (paid)
Audio Web Stream: (free)
Live Stats:
BAYLOR LADY BEARS
Record: 8-1
Ranking: 2/3 (AP/ESPN)
Last Game: W, 76-65, #16 Notre Dame
Head Coach: Kim Mulkey
Career Record: 272-77 (11th season)
Record at Baylor: same
Baylor vs. Minnesota: 2-0
MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS
Record: 5-3
Ranking: NR/NR (AP/ESPN)
Last Game: W, 63-58, Virginia Tech
Head Coach: Pam Borton
Career Record: 239-139 (13th season)
Record at Minnesota: 170-90 (9th season)
THE MATCHUP
The second-ranked Baylor Lady Bears, 8-1 on the season, will host the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Ferrell Center on Sunday, Dec. 5. The contest marks the sixth of seven straight Lady Bear home games and is part of the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge. All told, 10 games are on tap Saturday and Sunday in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge.
Baylor is led on the season by sophomore post Brittney Griner's 23.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Senior guard Melissa Jones follows with 11.3 points a game and 7.4 rebounds while freshman guard Odyssey Sims averages 10.0 points a contest.
Minnesota, led by ninth-year head coach Pam Borton, enters the game with a 5-3 mark and has a tandem of double-digit scorers in 5-11 junior guard Kiara Buford (17.9 ppg) and 5-8 sophomore guard Leah Cotton (13.6 ppg).
QUICK HITS
• The Lady Bears surpassed the 1,000,000 fan mark since Kim Mulkey's arrival on the Baylor campus when they drew 6,015 fans against Southeastern Louisiana (SLU) on Sunday, Nov. 28. Throughout Mulkey's 11 seasons at the program's helm, 1,012,529 fans have attended games in the Ferrell Center.
• Under head coach Kim Mulkey, Baylor is 61-2 (.968) during the month of December, including a 38-0 Ferrell Center record during that period.
• Kim Mulkey bobble heads will be distributed to the first 10,000 fans through the Ferrell Center doors for the Baylor/Tennessee contest on Tue., Dec. 14. The bobble heads are sponsored by Texas Farm Bureau Insurance and Baylor Athletics.
• Sophomore post Brittney Griner became the program's all-time shot blocker against Texas Southern, passing Danielle Wilson's 249 rejections. Griner now has 272 career blocks which ranks No. 3 on the Big 12's all-time list (Texas Tech's Cisti Greenwalt is No. 2 with 300).
• Baylor has held its opponents to a .312 shooting percentage this season while shooting .502.
• Freshman point guard Odyssey Sims has scored in double digits in six straight games: 17 vs. UConn, 10 vs. Michigan State, 11 vs. Texas Southern, 12 vs. Liberty, 10 vs. SLU, 11 vs, Notre Dame. She has averaged 11.8 ppg in that stretch.
• On the season, Sims (14-30, .467), senior guard Melissa Jones (9-18, .500) and freshman guard Makenzie Robertson (10-23, .435), are a combined 33-71 (.465) from 3-point range. Over the past six games (No. 1 UConn, No. 25 Michigan State, Texas Southern, Liberty, SLU, Notre Dame) the trio is 27-of-49 (.551) from beyond the arc.
• Griner was named Big 12 Player of the Week for her play during the week of Nov. 22-29; it was her ninth career weekly league honor.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Located in Minneapolis, Minn., the Minnesota Golden Gophers are 5-3 on the season. They have posted victories over Northern Illinois (79-58), Pittsburgh (73-63), Milwaukee (76-53), North Carolina State (71-67) and Virginia Tech (63-58) while suffering losses to Wisconsin-Green Bay (79-75), Dayton (81-97) and San Diego State (61-59).
Two players average double-digit scoring for the Golden Gophers. Kiara Buford, a 5-11 junior guard, leads the team with 17.9 points a game while 5-8 sophomore guard Leah Cotton comes off the bench to average 13.6 points an outing. Jackie Voight, a 6-1 junior forward, is the squad's top rebounder at 7.5 a game.
In Minnesota's most recent contest, a Thursday, Dec. 2, win over Virginia Tech, Buford was the only Gopher to score in double digits, as she poured in 27 points, hauled down four rebounds, dished out five assists and recorded five steals.
Golden Gopher head coach Pam Borton (Defiance College, 1987) is in her ninth season and sports a 170-93 record there. She is 239-139 in 13 seasons as a head coach.
SERIES RECORD
Baylor holds a 2-0 series lead. The Lady Bears downed Minnesota, 72-71, at Waco on Dec. 16, 1978, then produced a 64-57 win in Tempe, Ariz., in the 2005 NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16. Baylor went on to win the national championship that season.
BAYLOR VS. THE BIG TEN
Baylor holds a 7-5 record against Big Ten Conference schools. The Lady Bears are 2-0 vs. Indiana, 2-0 vs. Michigan State, 2-0 vs. Minnesota, 1-2 vs. Penn State, 0-1 vs. Purdue and 0-2 vs. Wisconsin.
