No. 1/1 WBB Host Oklahoma Looking for 13th League Win

Saturday, February 16

Waco, Texas

7 p.m.

Baylor

Oklahoma

Tickets

No. 1/1 WBB Host Oklahoma Looking for 13th League Win

2/15/2019 3:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Lady Bears look for 36th-straight Big 12 win on Fox Sports Southwest



	^#1/1 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (22-1, 12-0) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes	^#1/1 BAYLOR (22-1, 12-0) vs Oklahoma (6-17, 2-10) Feb. 16, 2019 • 7 p.m. Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center (10,284) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: Fox Sports Go Talent: Kris Radcliffe (PBP), Jim Haller (Color) LISTEN: BaylorBears.com/1660 AM/92.3 FM Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Maggie Davis-Stinnett (Color) Baylor Social Media: Channel Lineup: DISH: 416 DIRECTV: 676 UVERSE: 753/1753 GRANDE: 27

	OKLAHOMA SOONERS (6-17, 2-10) Location: Norman, Okla. Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Sherri Coale (Oklahoma Christian, 1987) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Chances are, the top-ranked Baylor Lady Bears won't face a defense in Saturday's 7 p.m. game against Oklahoma that they haven't already seen.
            Truth is, they've seen it all.
            And no matter what teams throw at them, the Lady Bears (22-1, 12-1) seem to have an answer.
            In Wednesday's 71-48 road win at Kansas State, with the Wildcats packing the paint to try to contain 6-7 senior All-American Kalani Brown and 6-4 junior forward Lauren Cox, guards Chloe Jackson and Juicy Landrum stepped up to score 16 and 15 points, respectively and knock down 14-of-26 shots.
            "I wouldn't want to be Kalani Brown," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "She can't just play basketball like a normal player. Every time she catches the ball, there are two or three players around her. She attracts so much attention that everybody else is better offensively, whether she's passing the ball to them or we can't get it to her, so I better shoot it because they're leaving me wide open. We've got kids that can score it, so having four or five in double figures is not unusual for this team."
            Oklahoma (6-17, 2-10) used a similar strategy three weeks ago in a 74-53 home-court loss to the Lady Bears. Baylor struggled with its outside shot, hitting just 3-of-14 from outside the arc, but dominated the boards (50-32) and outscored the Sooners, 36-8, in the paint.
            Cox, who was just 3-of-12 against the Sooners the last time, said they make it tough on the post players by sending "two, three, even four people at us" when they catch it.
            "We just have to get in a groove once the game starts," said Cox, who is averaging 12.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. "It's different when you catch it in there and you turn and there's four people on you. It's hard to kick it back out. We just have to be smart with the ball and not turn it over."
            On Thursday, Cox was named one of 10 finalists for the Katrina McClain Award that honors the country's top power forward, while Brown was a repeat finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award that goes to the top center.
            "It's a huge honor. Some of the greatest players in the country (are on that list)," Cox said of a top-10 that includes 2018 winner Ruth Hebard, UConn's Napheesa Collier and Jessica Sheppard of Notre Dame. "It's a huge honor to be a part of that list. I'm going to do what I can to help my team win the games we still have left and try to reach that goal to win that award."
            With 2018 Lisa Leslie Award winner A'ja Wilson of South Carolina gone, Brown might be this year's favorite. The finalists include Teaira McCown of Mississippi State, Brianna Turner of Notre Dame, TCU's Jordan Moore and Miami's Beatrice Mompremier, a Baylor transfer.
            Despite facing double- and triple-teams, Brown is averaging 16.3 points and 7.5 rebounds and ranks seventh nationally in field goal percentage at 63.7.
            Going into Saturday's game against Oklahoma, Brown needs 19 points and 10 rebounds to become just the sixth player in program history with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. That would put her in an elite group with former All-Americans Suzie Snider Eppers, Sophia Young, Brittney Griner and Nina Davis and current radio analyst Maggie Davis-Stinnett.
            "I'm not surprised," Mulkey said. "Kalani Brown will go down in the history of this program as one of the great players. We've had some great ones. Well, you can put Kalani Brown's name up there with them."
            Oklahoma, going through a rare down year under head coach Sherri Coale, is led by freshmen Taylor Robertson (14.4 ppg) and Madi Williams (12.4 ppg, 8.3 rebounds). The Sooners have made 19 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, but lost 6-9 center Nancy Mulkey to Rice and 5-11 guard Chelsea Dungee to Arkansas after their freshman seasons.
            "The new transfer rules affect all of us," Kim Mulkey said. "It affects you, because then you've got to start over and you've got to find freshmen that can come in and help immediately. I have a simple philosophy: those who stay will be champions. I was told that as a player. You think my freshman year at Louisiana Tech, I didn't cry and call home and think, 'What am I doing?' But, you weather the storm, you learn, you get better, and your time will come."
            Saturday is also Baylor's Family Night and designated as the Lady Bears' Play4Kay/"Sic 'em for the Cure" game, with fans encouraged to wear pink. Breast cancer survivors will be recognized in a halftime ceremony on the Ferrell Center floor.
            Kay Yow, the longtime head coach at North Carolina State, died in 2009 after a 22-year bout with breast cancer. She was an assistant coach on the USA team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics, a squad that included Mulkey.
            "One of the sweetest ladies you'll ever want to meet," Mulkey said of Yow. "She, in her own way, fought cancer for years. Fine Christian woman, did not mind sharing her faith with people. . . . Kay Yow blessed so many people, and I was certainly blessed being able to be around her for that one summer."

BROWN'S SEASON-HIGH 32 POINTS HELPS BAYLOR TO 34TH CONSECUTIVE BIG 12 WIN IN THE REGULAR SEASON
   Chloe Jackson and Juicy Landrum led the way for Baylor, scoring 16 and 15 points, respectively as Baylor picked up its 35^th consecutive Big 12 win and 33^rd-straight road win over a Big 12 opponent in a 71-48 win at Kansas State Wednesday. Landrum added five assists and four rebounds while Jackson led the team with seven assists and a season-high five steals. Kalani Brown added a double-double with 10 points and a dozen rebounds while Lauren Cox narrowly missed one of her own with 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Baylor held Kansas State to a 26.7 shooting mark including just four 3-pointers on 24 attempts to improve to 22-1 on the season and 12-0 in league play.

LADY BEARS ARE NO. 1 FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2013, BUT BAYLOR HASN'T GONE ANYWHERE
     Much was made when Baylor returned as No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 Jan. 28. However, Baylor has ranked in the top 10 in the AP poll for 87 consecutive weeks with high-rankings of two with the lowest being 13 since the 2013-14 season prior to regaining the top spot. Those 87-straight weeks mark the third-longest active streak in the nation next to UConn and Notre Dame. In fact, Baylor holds the second-longest active streak of ranking in the AP Top 25 at 294 weeks.

BROWN APPROACHES TWO MAJOR MILESTONES: 2,000 POINTS & 1,000 REBOUNDS
   Kalani Brown is just 19 points shy of 2,000 career points and 10 rebounds shy of 1,000. It's possible the senior from Slidell, La. could achieve both feats Saturday vs. OU in front of a home crowd. Brown is set to become the seventh player in school history to reach 2,000 points and the seventh to reach 1,000 rebounds. However, she would be just the sixth player in school history to reach both, joining a distinguished class that includes Suzie Sinder Eppers, Brittney Griner, Sophia Young, Nina Davis and Maggie Davis-Stinnett.

COX & BROWN EACH NAMED FINALIST FOR NATIONAL POSITION AWARDS
   Thursday Lauren Cox was named a finalist for the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame's Katrina McClain Award, honoring the nation's top power forward for the second-straight year, while Brown was named a finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award, honoring the nation's top center for the second-consecutive season Friday.

OU IN SHORT
   The Sooners have struggled this season, entering Saturday's contest with just a 2-10 conference record and a 1-9 record overall on the road. Ana Llanusa's 15.1 points per game leads Oklahoma who is coming off a win vs. Kansas in Norman Wednesday, which snapped a 10-game losing streak. The Sooners are coached by Sherri Coale who is in her 23^rd season at the helm and has 487 career wins.

BAYLOR LOOKS TO IMPROVE ON TWO WIN STREAKS SATURDAY
   A Baylor win vs. Oklahoma Saturday would mark the 36th-straight win over a Big 12 opponent in the regular season. The only streak longer in Big 12 history was when the Lady Bears won 44-straight from 2011-14. In addition, will be gunning for its 34th consecutive win at the Ferrell Center. Baylor's last loss at home came Feb. 2017 to Texas.

INTERIOR DEFENSE DOMINANT
   While some may look at the fact that Baylor has surrendered 190 3-point field goals this season (most by a Big 12 school) as a negative, take into account that only 486 of 1,286 points given up by Baylor this season have come on two-point field goals. That' s just 243 two-pointers in 22 games, which averages 11 2-point field goals per game or 22 points per game given up inside the 3-point arc this season.

DEFENSE BEGINS WITH DIDI
   DiDi Richards, a sophomore guard/forward is consistently asked to guard the top perimeter player on Baylor's opposing team. For example, she held Katie Lou Samuelson of UConn to 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting Jan. 3, and she held OSU's Vivian Gray to a dozen on 5-of-16 from the floor Jan. 30. Both those players rank in the top 50 nationally in points per game. Richards' numbers aren't flashy, but respectable, she's averaging 1.3 steals per game for the year and 1.5 in Big 12 play, but she's anchoring the defensive unit that is leading the nation for the third-straight year in field goal percentage defense.

BALANCED EFFORT LEADING BAYLOR IN 2018-19
   Despite having the No. 1 team in the country and in the Big 12, Baylor has taken home just one weekly Big 12 Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week award. Juicy Landrum and NaLyssa Smith earned those honors, respectively, sharing with another Big 12 player in each case. This result is partly due to the offensive balance that the Lady Bears have shown all season. Four players average in double figures for Baylor led by All-Americans Kalani Brown (16.2 ppg) and Lauren Cox's (12.3 ppg). The duo's numbers are down from a season ago, mostly due to the fact that freshmen posts Smith (9.3 ppg) and Queen Egbo (6.1 ppg) are able to spell the starters off the bench with offensive production. And, also guards Juicy Landrum and Chloe Jackson are each sharing the scoring load at 10.7 and 10.6 points per contest, respectively.

POUND THE PAINT, CLEAN THE GLASS, D-UP: LADY BEARS AMONG NATION'S BEST IN REBOUNDING, SCORING EFFICIENCY, DEFENSE
   In 12 statistical categories, the Lady Bears rank in the top 10 nationally. But, the Lady Bears (thru games Feb. 13) rank tops in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (32.8), rebound margin (+16.5) and field goal percentage defense (.317) while ranking fourth in field goal percentage (.514). Kalani Brown ranks eighth in the nation in field goal percentage at a .637 clip. In addition to the nation's best defensive field goal percentage, the Lady Bears rank tops in the nation in blocked shots per game (6.8), led by Lauren Cox's 2.22 per contest. Baylor's rebounding is a staple of the program, and the Lady Bears have out-rebounded its opponents in all 23 games this season, Baylor won the rebounding battle in 34 of 35 contests last year, and in 92 of the last 95 contests, BU has had the upper hand on the boards.

LADY BEARS ON THE RUN
   Baylor has 21 runs this season of at least 10 unanswered points including at least one in seven of the first 12 Big 12 contests. In 14 of 23 games this season, the Lady Bears have had at least one such run, and Baylor has also put together five runs of 20 or more points. In addition, Baylor is dominating opponents in transition, out-scoring opponents 270-67 on the fast break this season.

SHARING IS CARING: BAYLOR LEADS NATION IN ASSISTS PER GAME
   Baylor's 23.4 assists per contest ranks best in the nation led by Chloe Jackson's 6.4 assists per contest (ranks 8th nationally) and 2.64:1 assists-to-turnover ratio (ranks 19th nationally). DiDi Richards is averaging 4.1 assists per contest while ranking 21st nationally in assists-to-turnover ratio at 2.61:1 and post Lauren Cox ranks 25th in that category at 2.42:1. Juicy Landrum also ranks fifth in the Big 12 in assists-to-turnover ratio while third on the team at 4.0 assists per contest. As a team Baylor's ball distribution has been the hallmark of the offense in 2018-19. In fact out of Baylor's 750 made field goals this season, the Lady Bears have assisted on 539 marking 71.9 percent of the team's buckets coming on an assist from a teammate.

50 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: BAYLOR NEARLY UNBEATABLE WHEN HITTING HALF ITS SHOTS
   In just one occurrence since Kim Mulkey's arrival at Baylor in the 2000-01 season have the Lady Bears lost a game when shooting 50 percent or better. Baylor's record under Mulkey when shooting 50 percent or better is 213-1, and the Lady Bears are 36-0 when shooting 60 percent or better. The lone loss came in the 2017 NCAA Tournament when Baylor fell to Mississippi State in the Elite 8, 94-85 on March 26 despite shooting 53.3 percent from the floor.

JACKSON, LANDRUM THRIVING AT POINT GUARD OUT OF POSITION
   Head Coach Kim Mulkey said at the Big 12 Women's Basketball Tipoff Oct. 16 that she had never entered a season without knowing who her point guard would be. Despite that fact, Baylor has had no trouble distributing or sharing the ball through 21 games this season. Through Feb. 13, Baylor ranks tops in the nation in assists per game (23.4) and is third in assists-to-turnover ratio (1.73:1).
   Chloe Jackson and Juicy Landrum, true-two guards, are the Lady Bears' primary point guards this season and both have met the challenge thus far with success. Jackson ranks 8th in nation in assists per game (6.4 and 18th in assists-to-turnover ratio. (2.64:1). Landrum ranks fifth in the Big 12 in that category at 2.02:1 while ranking third on the team with 89 assists (4.0 p/g), and DiDi Richards ranks 21st at a 2.61:1 and is second on the team in assists at 4.1 per contest. Add post player Lauren Cox's 2.42:1 assists-to-turnover ratio that ranks third in the Big 12 and 25th in the nation, Baylor has done well for itself without a true one.

MULKEY NAMED AS CANDIDATE FOR NAISMITH MEMORIAL 2019 HALL OF FAME CLASS BOTH AS PLAYER AND COACH
     For the third-straight year Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey was named as a candidate both as a coach and player for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Last season, she was named a finalist as a coach in February. The finalists will be announced in mid-February during the NBA All-Star break, and the 2019 class will be introduced at the 2019 NCAA Men's Final Four in Minneapolis, Minn.
     Mulkey remains the only person to win an NCAA National Championship as a player, assistant and head coach and is one of three along with Dean Smith and Bobby Knight to win one as a player and head coach.
     From the sideline, she's coached Baylor to 18 Big 12 championships with nine regular-season titles and nine Big 12 Championship crowns. Three times Baylor has made the NCAA Final Four, and she's led the green and gold to two national championships in 2005 and 2012.
     As a player, Mulkey won the 1981 AIAW national championship and her Lady Techsters won the inaugural NCAA Women's Basketball title in 1982.

BROWN AND COX NAMED TO TWO MIDSEASON WATCH LISTS
   Both Kalani Brown and Lauren Cox collected numerous postseason accolades after the 2017-18 season, which resulted in a multitude of 2018-19 preseason honors. Jan. 9, the post duo earned spots on the John Wooden Trophy Award Midseason Top 25 watch list and Jan. 25 the duo was named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Midseason Watch List. Last season, Brown was recognized as a top-five finalist for the Wooden Trophy award.

BAYLOR PLAYERS PAY FOR MULKEY'S 550-WINS TRIBUTE
   The Baylor players took it upon themselves to congratulate Kim Mulkey in a pre-game presentation Wednesday for her 550th career victory achieved Sunday at Texas Tech. Senior Kalani Brown took the PA microphone and addressed the crowd an Mulkey prior to the K-State game Jan. 9, and the Lady Bears chipped in their own money for three easels of roses shaped in the numbers 5-5-0. Mulkey was told postgame that the players paid for the flowers and later in the postgame press conference said "My players bought those 550-numbered roses. [Out of their pocket] Wow. That's the kind of kids I get to coach. I didn't know that until the game was over, and I thought wow, my players are buying that."

ABOUT BAYLOR'S HISTORIC WIN OVER NO. 1 UCONN
   Two elite programs met in Waco Jan. 3, and for the first time in school history (previously 0-14) the Baylor Lady Bears knocked off a No. 1-ranked team with UConn falling 68-57 at a sold-out Ferrell Center on ESPN. Not only did Baylor win the game, the Lady Bears put an end to a long line of streaks set by the Huskies, who are the standard for women's basketball with 11 NCAA Championships. Baylor's victory ended a streak of 126 consecutive regular season games for the Huskies and a streak of 55 consecutive regular season road wins. UConn had won 209 straight games in regulation; it's last loss in regulation also came to No. 1 Baylor Dec. 18, 2011.
   The Lady Bears' 11-point win was the largest margin of victory for a team vs. UConn since Feb. 27, 2012 when UConn fell to Notre Dame 72-59. In addition, Baylor's defense held UConn to just a 29.4 shooting percentage, its lowest in any game the past 20 seasons.
   Baylor became the third Big 12 school to ever defeat a No. 1 team joining Texas Tech who accomplished the feat twice and Texas, and just the second time that a Big 12 team has beaten a No. 1 in a non-conference matchup.
   BU's big win kept an overall home win streak at the Ferrell Center alive at 28 games while extending its non-conference home win streak to 47 games.

BROWN PICKS UP ESPNW NATIONAL HONOR AFTER LEADING BAYLOR TO WIN OVER NO. 1 UCONN
   Kalani Brown didn't shy away from the spotlight when the lights came on Jan. 3 vs. No. 1 UConn. In front of a sold-out crowd at the Ferrell Center and nationally televised on ESPN, the senior post put up 22 points and a season-high 17 rebounds. She was 11-for-17 from the floor in 36 minutes of play. Her games that week also included performances vs. UTRGV and at Texas Tech, but ESPNW.com singled out her performance against the No. 1 Huskies and tabbed her National Player of the Week on Jan. 7.

BAYLOR SIGNS TOP-10 PROSPECT OLIVER AS LONE ADDITION TO 2019 SIGNING CLASS
   A year after signing five players and accepting a graduate transfer, Jordyn Oliver gets all the Lady Bears' attention this season as the No. 10-ranked national prospect (Collegiate Girls Basketball Report) signed with Baylor. Oliver, a Prosper, Texas native is a 3-time TABC All-State selection, and was also ranked No. 11 by ESPN Hoopgurlz.
   Jan. 24, Oliver was named a McDonald's All-American and will participate in the McDonald's All-American Games in March.

MULKEY'S MIDAS TOUCH: 1,100 WINS
   Everything head coach Kim Mulkey touches doesn't necessarily turn to gold, but if it has to do with college basketball, nearly everything she touches results in a win. Baylor's win vs. Nicholls (Nov. 6) gave Mulkey 1,100 wins combined as a collegiate player (130, La. Tech), assistant coach (430, La. Tech) & head coach (540, Baylor). In those capacities, Mulkey's teams are a combined 1,100-192 for an astounding .851 winning percentage.