No. 2/2 WBB Hosts Grambling State for Friday Night Tilt



	BAYLOR LADY BEARS (1-0) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes	BAYLOR (1-0) VS. GRAMBLING STATE (0-1) November 8, 2019 • 6 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • The Ferrell Center (10,284) - LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast/1660 AM/92.3 FM WATCH: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ Talent: John Morris (PBP), Jim Haller (Analyst) LISTEN: Tune In Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Maggie Davis-Stinnett (Color) Baylor Social Media:

	GRAMBLING STATE LADY TIGERS (0-1) Location: Grambling, La. Conference: SWAC Head Coach: Freddie Murray (Jackson State, 1990) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            After shutting out New Hampshire in the first quarter of a 97-29 season-opening win, the second-ranked Baylor women spent 45 minutes of the next day's practice working on . . . defense.
            "You'd think after a game like that, we'd come in, be sore, take the day off. No, we went right back out there working on our defense," said coach Kim Mulkey, whose 1-0 team will host Grambling State (0-1) at 6 p.m. Friday at the Ferrell Center.
"We're very quick, we're very athletic, and I think there's somethings we can potentially do in mixing our defenses. Not man/zone, but doing some things differently in the man half-court defense and work on it every day."
            Baylor's stifling defense forced 24 turnovers and held New Hampshire to 15.5 percent shooting overall (9-of-58) and 2-of-19 from outside the 3-point arc.
            The Lady Bears will face a stiffer test against a Grambling team that knocked down 20 treys in a 72-65 loss to Florida.
            "It will bring your bigs out, and we worked on that we prepared for New Hampshire," Mulkey said. "We'll work on it again today preparing for Grambling, but we're going to see that a lot. Everybody we play is going to try to bring our bigs away from the rim. But, we're OK. Right, (Erin) DeGrate?"
            The 6-foot-6 DeGrate, a grad transfer, had to adjust to Baylor's man-to-man defense after playing almost exclusively zone at Texas Tech.
            "That's already a difference. And then here, we have to get up and actually guard somebody and not just run around," said DeGrate, who scored 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting in Tuesday's season opener.
            After committing 17 fouls in a 98-63 exhibition win over Division II national champion Lubbock Christian, Baylor cut it back to 12 in the win over New Hampshire.
            Mulkey said she took responsibility for the touch-fall calls, "because I let them do it every day in practice."
            "Now, every day in practice, every time we touch them, we holler, 'Foul! Foul! Foul!''' Mulkey said. "I think with time and playing more games, they know, you can't help us if you're sitting over there by me. . . . With post players, once they face up, you have to treat them like a guard. You can't have the arm bar anymore, you can't have two hands on them. So, I think we've done a very good job at fixing that."
            Seeing her first game action after missing the two exhibitions, sophomore forward NaLyssa Smith recorded her fourth career double-double with a game-high 21 points and 14 rebounds in just 21 minutes. Senior All-American Lauren Cox posted her 29^th double-double with 11 points and 10 boards, while 6-3 sophomore Queen Egbo had 14 points in 14 minutes.
            "It felt good," Smith said. "It's always great to get back in the rotation and to play again since we haven't played since last year. It's always fun to play basketball."
            After getting out of their normal game routine with Tuesday's ring ceremony and unveiling of the national championship banner, the Lady Bears will have to play Friday's game without associate head coach Bill Brock.
            Part of Mulkey's original staff at Baylor, Brock will be in Denison, Texas, Friday night to be inducted in the first class for the Grayson College Hall of Fame. In 13 seasons as the head women's basketball coach at Grayson, Brock compiled a 371-50 record that included a third-place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament.
            "For him to step away from being a head coach to come and help us build this program speaks about his unselfishness," Mulkey said. "He put his ego aside to come and be a part of something that's bigger, really, than any of us now."
            Junior guard Brandi Washington hit four 3-pointers and scored 21 points in Grambling's homecourt loss to Florida on Tuesday. Candice Parramore and Justice Coleman hit three treys apiece and scored 17 and 11 points, respectively.
            Friday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and former Baylor men's basketball coach Jim Haller calling the action.

I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE, SOMEBODY'S WATCHIN' ME
Winning a national title puts a lot of extra eyes on a program, and the Baylor Lady Bears have been honored entering the 2019-20 season with several acknowledgments from national entities for individual awards. The WBCA/Naismith Hall of Fame has an annual Starting Five, which honors the best player at each position. Te'a Cooper (Nancy Liberman Award), Juicy Landrum (Ann Meyers Drysdale Award), DiDi Richards (Cheryl Miller Award), Lauren Cox (Katrina McLain Award) and Queen Egbo (Lisa Leslie Award) were all honored as a part of the preseason watch lists.

Cox earned a trifecta when she was named to the John Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy and Wade Trophy watch lists for collegiate player of the year. Landrum and Richards were each named to the Wooden Award watch list as well and Cooper earned a look from the Naismith Trophy.

GRAYSON CALLS BROCK FOR HALL; BROCK TO MISS GRAMBLING STATE GAME
Friday while the Lady Bears are facing off against Grambling State, Baylor women's basketball associate head coach Bill Brock will be among the first two honorees of the Grayson College Athletics Hall of Fame, joining Texas Tech head baseball coach Tim Tadlock as the institution's first two honorees.

Brock is in his 17^th season with the Baylor Lady Bears program and has been on staff for all of Baylor's three national championships in 2005, 2012 and 2019.

Prior to his arrival at Baylor, he spent 13 seasons as the head women's basketball coach at Grayson College where he compiled a 371-50 record. Brock coached the junior college in Denison, Texas to 10 conference championships and two NJCAA national tournament berths, including a third-place finish in 2000.

Brock had a brief three-year hiatus from Baylor from 2006-09 where he served as an associate head coach at Texas Tech, but other than that he's been a major contributor to Baylor's success under head coach Kim Mulkey.

MULKEY PASSES HER COLLEGE HEAD COACH, FORMER BOSS AND FORMER BU ASSISTANT COACH IN ALL-TIME WINS

Leon Barmore coached Kim Mulkey in college at Louisiana Tech, hired her to be an assistant coach when she was done playing, and later rejoined his pupil as an assistant coach at Baylor. In 19 seasons as head coach at Louisiana Tech, Barmore won 576 games and the 1988 NCAA national title with Mulkey as an assistant. Baylor's 97-29 win over New Hampshire Tuesday at the Ferrell Center gave Mulkey 577 career wins.

I GOTTA REALLY BIG TEAM AND WE NEED SOME REALLY BIG RINGS

Prior to the New Hampshire contest Tuesday, Baylor celebrated its 2019 NCAA National Championship with a presentation of national championship rings and the reveal of a third NCAA Championship banner in a pregame ceremony. Staff, administrators, managers, coaches and players were all presented with rings in front of a Ferrell Center crowd of 7,606 people before Baylor dropped its third national championship banner joining the 2005 and 2012 national championships. The NCAA also provided a championship ring, and the program was presented a third ring for its 2019 Big 12 regular season and tournament title.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING

50-40-30. Baylor won its 50^th straight non-conference game at the Ferrell Center vs. New Hampshire Tuesday, its 40^th consecutive win at the Ferrell Center overall and its 30^th win overall, which is the longest active streak in the NCAA. The 30-game streak is tied for the 21^st longest win streak in NCAA history and tied for the third longest Baylor streak with the 2005-06 team.

BAYLOR SETS DEFENSIVE RECORD TUESDAY VS. NEW HAMPSHIRE

The Lady Bears set a school and Big 12 record by holding New Hampshire to just three first-half points Tuesday. Baylor led 51-3 at the break and its previous record was holding Texas State to five points in a half on two different occasions. BU was one point off tying the NCAA record set by Western Kentucky when the Hilltoppers held Lipscomb to just two points December 15, 2006.

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.

SCORING IS TOUGH VS. THE LADY BEARS

Baylor ranked tops in the nation in 2018-19 in the following categories: Assists (850), Assists Per Game (22.4), Blocked Shots (274), Blocked Shots Per Game (7.2), Defensive Rebounds Per Game (32.0), Rebound Margin (+17.0), Rebounds (1,790), and won-lost percentage (97.4). However, the Lady Bears ranked first in field goal percentage defense (.318) marking the third-straight year to lead the nation. Baylor has also ranked in the top five in eight of the last nine years.

2018-19 (.318)             1st
2017-18 (.325)             1st
2016-17 (.313)             1st
2015-16 (.331) 3^rd
2014-15 (.347) 5th
2013-14 (.362) 19^th
2012-13 (.328) 4^th
2011-12 (.310) 2^nd
2010-11 (.323) 1st

No. 2/2 WBB Hosts Grambling State for Friday Night Tilt

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Players Mentioned

Te'a Cooper

Lauren Cox

Erin DeGrate

Queen Egbo

Chloe Jackson

Juicy Landrum

Jordyn Oliver

DiDi Richards

NaLyssa Smith

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No. 2/2 WBB Hosts Grambling State for Friday Night Tilt

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Te'a Cooper

Lauren Cox

Erin DeGrate

Queen Egbo

Chloe Jackson

Juicy Landrum

Jordyn Oliver

DiDi Richards

NaLyssa Smith

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