By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Throughout her first three seasons at Baylor, Steffanie Blackmon became painfully familiar with heartbreak.

Her freshman year ended with the second-seeded Lady Bears' upset loss at home to seventh-seeded Drake in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, then a one-point loss at home to Auburn the next year in the WNIT final and finally a knee injury that caused her to miss the last four games of a junior season that ended in a controversial two-point loss to Tennessee in the Sweet 16.

"As heartbreaking as all of that was, hopefully it prepared us for that final moment," said Blackmon, part of the 2017 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame class that will be inducted Oct. 20.

Blackmon's "final moment" could not have been much sweeter.

A three-time All-Big 12 pick and third-team All-American as a senior, Blackmon put all that heartbreak in her rear-view mirror by scoring 22 points and grabbing seven rebounds in the Lady Bears' 84-62 win over Michigan State in the 2005 national championship game in Indianapolis.

"That whole time was so emotional," Blackmon said. "But that last game, it was like, 'This is real, this is what you wanted. There's only one team that ends with a win, and it's us.' To go out like that, you can't ask for anything more. To know that the UConns and Tennessees, LSU, Minnesota, North Carolina, all those teams, we got through all of that. And I think that's what March is all about. No, we weren't like an 8 seed, but we were the 2 seed that knocked off all these number ones to win it all."

And Blackmon, a three-time all-state pick at Rowlett High School in Dallas, actually called it.

"I remember Coach (Kim) Mulkey always had us list our preseason goals, before we even started working out," said Blackmon, who still ranks seventh all-time in scoring (1,995 points), eighth in rebounds (936) and fourth in blocks (159). "This was the only year I did this, but my three team goals were to win a Big 12 championship, win a Big 12 Tournament championship and win a national championship."

Her reasoning, though, was sound. "It wasn't like we were last in the Big 12 and now all of a sudden I want us to win the championship," Blackmon said. "I felt like we were right there. . . . That was just something I felt that year, and it was a blessing to be able to accomplish all three."

Part of Mulkey's first full recruiting cycle, the 6-foot-2 post was joined in a November 2000 signing class that included her twin sister, Tiffanie Blackmon.

"It was certainly on the table, it was definitely my preference for us to go together, but we were considering separate options as well," Steffanie said. "Kim had just gotten there, my senior year in high school . . . and she just had that infectious attitude as far as being competitive and wanting to work and that fieriness that I think everybody has come to see. And I think I was drawn to building something."

And build she did. Blackmon was part of Lady Bear teams that won 116 games in four years, culminating with that 2005 national championship.

Baylor had a chance the year before, winning 28 games before that controversial 71-69 loss to Tennessee in the Sweet 16, when a foul was called with 0.2 seconds left on the clock. That was a game that Blackmon could only sit and watch after suffering a dislocated kneecap in the Big 12 Tournament.

"It was so hard, because I think there was like a split-second where it's like, 'Do I have surgery, and if they keep winning maybe come back in a week or two?''' Blackmon said. "That was the year after the WNIT loss, so obviously we want to come back and redeem ourselves, and you have a shot at Tennessee. Who doesn't want to knock off Tennessee? . . . It's one thing to get hurt earlier on, but you want to make sure you're there for your teammates all the way till the end. So, that was definitely hard to just sit and watch."

A double-figure scorer in each of her four seasons at Baylor, Blackmon averaged a career-best 17.6 points for that WNIT runner-up team in 2003, then 15.6 and 15.4 the next two years when she was a consensus first-team All-Big 12 selection.

Drafted in the third round by the WNBA's Seattle Storm, she played overseas in Korea, Israel and Italy before working in the Dallas Independent School District for several years. Still living in Dallas, she now works in private education as a tutor and creating educational products.

"My mom and dad were both in education, so it was kind of a natural thing," Blackmon said.

She is part of a 2017 Hall of Fame class that includes former NCAA tennis champion Benjamin Becker, football players Ron Francis and Bill Hicks, women's golfer Melanie Hagewood-Willhite and track stars Bill Payne, Jeff Jackson and Jennifer Jordan Washington.

"It was definitely unexpected, but it was also very exciting," Blackmon said. "It was very exciting to know that OK, now I've earned my way into a very distinguished group of athletes. It's an honor to be recognized, and I'm so grateful that I was recognized and voted in."

Tickets to the 2017 Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame banquet, which will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, in the Brazos Room at the Waco Convention Center, are $50 per person and may be purchased by contacting the "B" Association at 254-710-3045 or by email at tammy_hardin@baylor.edu. Table sponsorships (seating for eight) are also available for $750 (individual) or $1,000 (corporate).