BAYLOR LADY BEARS (0-0) Location: Waco, Texas   Conference/Affiliation: Big 12/D1 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster | Stats | Game Notes	BAYLOR (37-1 in 2018-19) VS. LANGSTON (11-19 in 2018-19) October 25, 2019 • 7 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • The Ferrell Center (10,284) - EXHIBITION LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: N/A Talent: N/A LISTEN: BaylorBears.com Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Maggie Davis-Stinnett (Color) Baylor Social Media:
	LANGSTON LIONS (0-0) Location: Langston, Okla.   Conference/Affiliation: SAC/NAIA Head Coach: Elaine Powell (LSU, 1997) Roster | Stats

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            With so many pieces back from a 37-1 team that won the program's third national championship, it's understandable why expectations are so high for a Baylor Lady Bear team that's picked to win its 10^th-consecutive Big 12 title and make it to the Final Four in New Orleans.
            But, as 20^th-year head coach Kim Mulkey is quick to point out, "We're not the same team that won the national championship."
            Gone are All-American center Kalani Brown and Final Four MVP Chloe Jackson, who were both taken in the WNBA Draft and now playing professionally.
            Guard Jordyn Oliver, a McDonald's All-American from Prosper, Texas, is the lone freshman, but grad transfers Te'a Cooper from South Carolina and 6-6 center Erin DeGrate from Texas Tech were brought in to reload for another run at an NCAA title.
            "This was an opportunity for me to get everything I wanted, and I took it," said the 5-8 Cooper, a second-team All-SEC pick last year who averaged 11.9 points per game in leading South Carolina to an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance. "This is what I've been waiting for, so I'm going to enjoy it and I'm going to take it one day at a time. This is it for us, so it's either go hard or go home."
            Essentially, Cooper is trying to follow the same path paved by Jackson last year. Baylor's first grad transfer (from LSU), Jackson averaged 11.7 points and 5.3 assists in making a smooth transition from shooting guard to point guard and leading the Lady Bears to the national championship.
            "We have a lot of the same parts," Mulkey said, "but we all have to get on the same page. We have to take those new players and do with them what you did with Chloe Jackson and what you did with the freshmen last year. The talent is there, the returning players are certainly there, but we're not the same team today that we were at the end of April in the Final Four."
            At least to start the year, there are fewer questions than there were last year when Mulkey had to break in Jackson and a "Fierce Five" freshman group that was ranked as Baylor's best-ever signing class. When they hit the practice floor for the first time on Oct. 1, there was less teaching and more just getting work done.
            "Jordyn catches on really quick. She's really smart, has a high basketball IQ," 6-4 senior All-American forward Lauren Cox said of Oliver. "And I think because of that, we're a lot farther along than we were last year. We were having to do a lot of teaching because we had so many freshmen. Erin and Te'a have been through it. They've been at other schools, had the college experience. So, we just have to teach them our ways."
            Even though the Lady Bears lost a pair of key pieces to that national championship puzzle, Cox gives them a huge centerpiece for this year's team.
            Already a two-time All-American and back-to-back Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, Cox was voted a preseason All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year. Last year, she averaged 13.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game.
            Cox's return this year seemed in serious doubt when she went down with a knee injury late in the third quarter of the national championship game against Notre Dame. "She's the heart and soul of our team," an emotional Mulkey said after the game.
            But, the next day, it was determined that Cox had suffered an MCL sprain and bone bruising in her left knee, not an ACL tear, as first feared.
            "It was a huge relief," Cox said. "I got that call and took a deep breath. I could finally breathe again. And I wasn't stressed about it. Now, I'm back and it feels good."
            Mulkey said Cox is "one of the finest and greatest players I've ever coached."
            "Lauren Cox makes us a better team, makes me a better coach," Mulkey said. "Her presence on the floor, not just her talent, but her experience, her knowledge. . . . I have her on the floor as much as I can to help everybody look good."
            The bigger question now is who will play alongside Cox in the post area. DeGrate is certainly a candidate after averaging 8.2 points and 5.3 rebounds last year at Tech and will definitely add depth and experience.
            "I bring experience, size and just whatever Coach needs me to do, because I know the team returns a lot of people from a championship team," said DeGrate, an all-state player at nearby La Vega High School, where she teamed up with senior guard Juicy Landrum in winning a state championship. "Whatever she needs me to step up and do here, I'm willing to do it."
            Coming back with a year of experience under their belts is the sophomore duo of 6-3 Queen Egbo and 6-2 NaLyssa Smith. Egbo earned a gold medal playing for USA Basketball in this summer's FIBA U19 World Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, while Smith played a key role filling in for Cox in the national championship game and averaged 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
            "Usually, the biggest step you take is between your freshman and sophomore year," Mulkey said. "And they got enough minutes last year that now they know what to expect. I think like all freshmen, they didn't know how to play hard every day, they didn't know how to stay focused for long periods of time. Well, now they know, and hopefully they take that step that Kalani Brown took, that Lauren Cox took and that all players take between their freshman and sophomore years."
            Adding depth to the forward positions and the versatility to play on the wing as well are sophomores Caitlin Bickle and Aquira DeCosta, a Sacramento, Calif., native who has played for USA Basketball three times and was a finalist for the 2018 Naismith Trophy Girls High School Player of the Year.
            "The things we run are going to be pretty much the same," Mulkey said. "I'm an old Green Bay Packers person – you know what you're going to get with the package, you just can't stop it. I don't believe in changing a whole lot, but you let kids do what they do best."
            Landrum made a significant jump last season, averaging 11.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game and earning All-Big 12 second-team honors. Joining her in the backcourt is 6-1 junior DiDi Richards, a defensive stopper who averaged 7.2 points, 4.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds.
            They could also be called on to handle some point guard duties at times to give Cooper some rest.
            "We really don't have the second backup, but we didn't really have it last year with Chloe, either," Mulkey said. "You prepare ahead of time in case you get in foul trouble or you need a break. You've got to have somebody else that can just manage the game from the point position."
            While Jackson had to re-invent herself after playing the shooting guard position her entire collegiate career, Cooper is more of a natural point guard who had to play the off-guard role last year for the Gamecocks.
            "It's going to be super smooth," Cooper said. "That's going to be easier for me than trying to remember to do stuff at (shooting guard) and the wing. It's easier for me to be a point guard because that's what I've been training to do all my life."
            Besides Oliver, providing depth in the backcourt are sophomore Trinity Oliver and junior Moon Ursin, a strong defensive presence who Mulkey said "may be the most improved player of the whole bunch. Her athleticism is off-the-charts."
            Baylor's non-conference schedule includes playing Washington State, Indiana and South Carolina at the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam over the Thanksgiving Day break, hosting Georgia on Dec. 4 and traveling to face UConn on Jan. 9 in Hartford, Conn., in a nationally televised game on ESPN2.
            During the team's first official practice, Mulkey had the players look up at the picture of the 2019 national championship team so they could "remember what it felt like" to get there.
            "It will make them better players, it'll make us a better team, eventually, because they'll have that memory," she said, "but yet they're not entitled to anything. If they're not hungry this year, we won't have a very good year. But, if they are hungry and they throw that national championship to the side and say, 'Hey, I'd like to do this again this year, I'd like to go to New Orleans and stay hungry,' they just may do it."
            Baylor will tip it off with exhibition games against Langston at 7 p.m. Friday and Lubbock Christian next Wednesday before the Nov. 5 regular-season opener against New Hampshire.
            "Sometimes, exhibitions don't show you anything," Mulkey said, "but I'm focusing on us and I'll watch a lot of things with us and then get ready after the Lubbock Christian game."

---

 
FROM COVERS TO CROWNS TO ALL-AMERICA HONORS, THE SPOTLIGHT TURNS TO FOCUS ON A HEALTHY LAUREN COX
 
April 7 was a roller coaster ride for then-junior Lauren Cox. That night in Tampa, Fla. saw Baylor with a commanding lead late in the third quarter over Notre Dame, then the Lady Bears' leader and defensive anchor – Cox – went down with an apparent serious knee injury. In her absence the No. 1 overall seed's 12-point lead evaporated quickly in the fourth quarter. But, then, Chloe Jackson hit arguably the top two clutch shots in the history of the storied Lady Bears program, including "the scoop" with 3.9 seconds to break an 80-all tie and eventually lift Baylor to an 82-81 national championship victory over the Fighting Irish. The aftermath led to a visibly conflicted Cox who wanted to bask in the joy of Baylor's third NCAA national championship with her teammates, but experienced timidity literally on the crutches she came out of the locker room on to watch the remainder of the game and figuratively with thoughts looming on the severity of her injury and recovery. Then, the coaster started to head back up the hill late on the night of April 8, when Cox's MRI revealed an MCL sprain rather than a ligament torn. The news left Cox healthy and 100 percent for summer practice with preseason accolades flooding in on and off the court.
 
In November, she'll grace the cover of Dave Campbell's Texas Basketball magazine, she was named to the Baylor Homecoming Court and chosen as a "princess" along with three others and the Homecoming Queen out of 54 candidates, she donned the cover of the Baylor Arts & Sciences magazine, was the keynote speaker for an event that raised $50,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and oh yeah: She was a unanimous pick for Preseason First-Team All-America honors by Lindy's Sports, Athlon Sports & Street & Smith's. But, the honors haven't stopped there, she was named Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year and for the third time earned a spot on the WBCA Starting Five Watch List for power forwards and will be a leading candidate for its Katrina McClain Award.
 
Kalani Brown and Jackson may be gone, but the Lady Bears are confident in Cox to make them a contender in 2019-20.
 
ALL FIVE POSITIONS COVERED AS LADY BEARS SWEEP NAISMITH HALL OF FAME / WBCA STARTING FIVE AWARD WATCH LISTS
 
Beginning Oct. 21, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, in association with the Women's Basketball Coaches Association began issuing preseason watch lists for their annual "Starting Five Awards." The Lady Bears had a representative for all five positions. For the Nancy Lieberman Award, grad transfer Te'a Cooper earned a spot on the point guard list. The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award honors the best shooting guard in the college game, and Juicy Landrum appeared on the list of 20. The Cheryl Miller Award honors the best small forward in the game and Baylor's DiDi Richards graced the list. The Katrina McClain Award recognizes the top power forward in the game, and Lauren Cox earned a spot on the watchlist for the third-straight year. Finally, Queen Egbo was named to the Lisa Leslie Award watchlist for top center.
 
HANGIN' WITH MISS-TE'A COOPER
 
Te'a Cooper got familiar with Baylor last year when the Lady Bears defeated her South Carolina Gamecocks twice by 25 points in each contest. One came on SC's home floor and the other gave Baylor a berth to the Elite 8. Cooper, the Gamecocks' shooting guard, averaged 16.5 points per game in each of those losses to the Lady Bears and finished the year leading SC with 11.9 points per contest. The second-team All-SEC selection will be the second-straight shooting-turned-point guard from the SEC to transfer to Baylor to take over point guard. After Chloe Jackson's success from LSU last year, Cooper elected to use her final year of eligibility at Baylor, a team that needed a point guard. Cooper is no stranger to the one position having started for Tennessee as a freshman in 2015-16. Cooper joined Lauren Cox as a preseason all-America selection by Street & Smith's and was named Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Cooper is engaged to Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard and the couple plans to be married in the summer of 2020.
 
DEGRATE COMES HOME, OLIVER THE LONE-FISH
 
The only other newcomers to join the Lady Bears are 6-6 post Erin DeGrate and guard Jordyn Oliver. DeGrate is on her third college, like Cooper, having spent her freshman season with Louisville, her second and third seasons of eligibility with Texas Tech, and she'll return to her hometown to play alongside former high school teammate Juicy Landrum. DeGrate and Landrum won a state title at La Vega High School in Waco in 2014. In 86 college games, DeGrate has averaged 6.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and has shot 49.8 percent from the floor.
 
Oliver was the lone signee from the 2019 recruiting class, joining Baylor from Prosper High School. The five-star recruit was ranked as high as No. 12 in the nation for the 2019 recruiting classes. She averaged 20 points and nine rebounds as a senior and amassed 2,000 career points at Prosper High School.
 
GUESS WHO'S BACK, BACK AGAIN?
 
Joining Cox are eight other returning lettermen. Landrum joins Cox as the pair makes up the only two seniors. Landrum in addition to earning a spot on the Drysdale Award watch list, was named Preseason All-Big 12. Juniors DiDi Richards and Moon Ursin join the upperclassmen ranks with the Lady Bears. Richards was an All-Big 12 Defensive Team member last season, a preseason honorable mention All-Big 12 selection this year, and she was named to the Cheryl Miller Award watch list. Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey called Moon Ursin "the most improved player of the bunch" in a press conference Thursday. Ursin was also selected as the Baylor representative for the Big 12's Champions For Life, and she will be featured several times throughout the year.
 
Trinity Oliver will begin her redshirt sophomore season playing without a brace for the first time since her torn ACL in the fall of 2017. Four players remain from the "Fierce Five" recruiting class from 2018 that ranked No. 1 in the nation. Preseason All-Big 12 selection NaLyssa Smith leads that group while posts Queen Egbo & Caitlin Bickle are back along with sophomore guard Aquira DeCosta.
 
COX SISTERS SQUARE OFF AT THE FERRELL CENTER ON T1D AWARENESS NIGHT OCT. 30
 
Langston comes to town Friday for the Lady Bears' first competitive contest since its national title win over Notre Dame April 7. But, many fans will be interested in the Oct. 30 matchup with Lubbock Christian for a variety of reasons. One, it brings together the reigning Division I and Division II national champions, two Lauren Cox's sister, Whitney, is a freshman on the LCU team, and third the Cox sisters will be honored in BU's annual T1D Awareness game. Lauren was diagnosed at age seven while Whitney learned of her Type 1 Diabetes as a junior in high school.