WBB Tangles with No. 19 Iowa State in Big 12 Championship Title Game



	^#1/1 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (30-1) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes	^#1/1 BAYLOR (30-1) vs. ^#19/19 IOWA STATE (25-7) March 11, 2019 • 8 p.m. Oklahoma City, Okla. • Chesapeake Energy Arena (18,203) LIVE STATS: Live Stats WATCH: Fox Sports App Talent: Ron Thulin (PBP), Brenda VanLengen (Color), Stacey Dales (Sideline) LISTEN: BaylorBears.com/1660 AM/92.9 FM Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Maggie Davis-Stinnett (Color) Baylor Social Media: Channel Lineup: DISH: 150 DIRECTV: 219 SPECTRUM: 37 GRANDE: 29

	^#19/19 IOWA STATE CYCLONES (25-7) Location: Ames, Iowa Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Bill Fennelly (Penn, 1979) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes

Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament Central | Baylor Big 12 Tournament Media Supplement

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            OKLAHOMA CITY – In two years at LSU, Chloe Jackson never made it past the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. Now, the grad transfer guard has a chance to add a Big 12 Championship trophy to the regular-season title she celebrated last month.
            Jackson and the top-ranked Baylor Lady Bears (30-1) face second-seeded and 19^th-ranked Iowa State (25-7) in the Big 12 tournament championship game at 8 p.m. Monday at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Baylor is in the title game for the 10^thtime in 11 years and looking for its ninth championship in that stretch and 10^thoverall.
            "This was one of our goals to win a Big 12 championship," said Jackson, who had 10 points in an 88-60 win over Kansas State in Sunday's semifinals. "So, just checking off the list. And we're going to keep going after that – Final Four, National Championship."
            Iowa State earned its sixth appearance in the Big 12 Championship final with a 75-69 win over No. 21 Texas in the late semifinal. The Cyclones, who were 2-3 in previous tournament finals, were led by Alexa Middleton (24 points) and Big 12 Player of the Year Bridget Carleton (17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists) in the win over Texas.
            "We've had a lot of teams, as soon as Baylor showed up on the schedule, the game was over. We didn't want to play them," said Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly. "Number one, you've got to believe that you can play them. Number two, we don't have to beat the (Oklahoma City) Thunder four out of seven. We've got to beat them one time, 40 minutes. That's what postseason basketball is all about."
            The other thing is the Cyclones have to avoid the "knockout punch, which they are so good at, as good as any team in the country," Fennelly said.
            "They're the No. 1 team in the country for a reason," said Carleton, who has scored a school-record 693 points this season and averaging 21.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.2 steals per game. "We need to put together 40 minutes to compete with them, and we haven't done that I think this year. So, hopefully (Monday) is our time to put together 40 minutes and give it our best shot."
            Baylor will have a distinct size advantage with 6-7 senior All-American Kalani Brown (15.7 ppg, 8.0 rebounds) and 6-4 junior forward Lauren Cox (12.5 ppg, 8.2 rebounds, 2.5 blocks). In Sunday's semifinal win, they combined for 42 points, 24 rebounds and three blocks.
            Like she did against K-State, when she had eight assists, Cox has flirted with triple-doubles in the two previous games against Iowa State. She had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in an 84-69 win on Jan. 23 in Waco, then had nine points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in the 73-60 win over the Cyclones on Feb. 23 in Ames.
            "If my shot's not falling," said Cox, who was just 4-of-13 versus K-State, "I'm going to do whatever else I can to help my team. So, whether that's rebounding, playing defense, whatever it is, eventually my shot's going to fall, like it did in this game. I've just got to do the little things before that."
            Brown was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player last year when she had 20 points and eight rebounds in helping the Lady Bears defeat Texas, 77-69, in the final. Cox joined her on the all-tournament team.
            "I'm pumped, I'm excited, playing for another championship," said Brown, who has scored 38 points in 38 minutes in the two tournament games this year. "That never gets old. I'm excited for our freshmen to experience a big game like this. They haven't had one in an long time."
            Baylor's freshmen got a chance in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game, but Mulkey subbed the starters back in when K-State forced three turnovers and started the period on a 7-0 run.
            "I have to keep coaching them," Mulkey said. "I had five new ones on the floor, and I wasn't real pleased and I took 'em off the floor for a few minutes. I have to coach them like I do everybody else. Get their attention and let 'em know why you came out of the game and you're going to get another opportunity to get back in the game. And they did."
            In addition to Brown, Baylor's previous MOP award winners were Sophia Young (2005), Jessica Morrow (2009), Brittney Griner (2011-13), Nina Davis (2014-15) and Alexis Jones (2016). The last time the Lady Bears lost in the final was two years ago against sixth-seeded West Virginia, 77-66.
            Iowa State is in the final for the first time since a 75-47 loss to Baylor in 2013 and hasn't won the Big 12 Championship since back-to-back titles in 2000-01.
            NCAA Tournament selections will be announced next Monday, March 18, with Baylor expected to receive a No. 1 seed and host the first and second rounds the next weekend, March 22-25.

LADY BEARS AIM FOR 10^TH BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE VS. IOWA STATE MONDAY
   Three strong offensive performances propelled Baylor to its 10^th Big 12 Championship title game appearance in the last 11 seasons with the Lady Bears taking an 88-60 win over Kansas State Sunday. Kalani Brown needed just 21 minutes of playing time to score 24 points while grabbing nine rebounds. Lauren Cox was two assists shy of a triple double-double adding 18 points and 15 rebounds to go along with her eight assists and two blocks. Juicy Landrum scored 19 points with three triples, and other than a tight 21-18 first quarter, Baylor controlled the matchup for the majority of the contest. The Lady Bears won the paint battle 53-16 and scored eight fast-break points compared to zero for K-State. Baylor's win over the Wildcats was its 31^st straight over K-State.

BAYLOR LADY BEARS RUN TABLE FOR FOURTH TIME IN HISTORY WITH WIN AT WEST VIRGINIA
   Baylor had to earn it, but the Lady Bears beat West Virginia on the road March 4 to finish undefeated in conference play for the second-straight year and for the fourth time in school history. The Big 12 has seen an undefeated regular season six times with Oklahoma going 16-0 in 2006 and Nebraska 16-0 in 2010. Baylor has accomplished the other four feats with 18-0 marks in 2012, 2013, 2018 and 2019.

BAYLOR HISTORY IN THE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
Baylor has nine Big 12 Conference Tournament championships, including eight of the last 10. If the Lady Bears add another, that will mark 20 Big 12 championships combined between regular season and tournament titles. The Lady Bears are 42-13 all-time in the tournament and 41-9 under head coach Kim Mulkey. All-time vs. Iowa State in the tournament, Baylor is 3-1 with the last matchup vs. the Cyclones coming in 2013 where Baylor won 75-47 in the championship game.

LADY BEARS RACK UP BIG 12 POSTSEASON HONORS
   Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey was named Big 12 Coach of the Year for the seventh time, Lauren Cox earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second-straight season and Kalani Brown along with Cox were named All-Big 12 First Team members, the league announced Wednesday. In addition, Baylor landed guards Chloe Jackson and Juicy Landrum on the All-Big 12 Second Team while setting a record by landing three players from the same school on the Big 12 All-Defensive Team with DiDi Richards joining Cox and Brown. Brown's nod to the first team was her third, while Cox earned first-team honors for the second time.

BROWN ACHIEVES 2,000 CAREER POINTS & 1,000 CAREER REBOUNDS MILESTONES IN SAME GAME
   Senior Kalani Brown entered Feb. 20's game with Kansas at 11 points shy of 2,000 career points and two rebounds short of 1,000.
   Brown became the seventh player to reach 2,000 points, and the seventh player to reach 1,000 rebounds in BU history, but is just the sixth to reach both milestones joining a distinguished class that includes Suzie Snider-Eppers, Brittney Griner, Sophia Young, Nina Davis and Maggie Davis-Stinnett. Against Texas Brown moved to sixth all-time on the career points list (2,047) and fifth all-time on the rebounds list (1,044).

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 90 consecutive weeks with high-rankings of two with the lowest being 13 since the 2013-14 season prior to regaining the top spot. Those 90-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 297 weeks.

COX & BROWN EACH NAMED FINALISTS FOR NATIONAL POSITION AWARDS; SEMIFINALIST FOR NATIONAL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR; BROWN A NAISMITH PLAYER OF THE YEAR SEMIFINALIST
   Feb. 14 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 Feb. 15.
   In addition, both players were named semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award, and the post duo is still up for consideration for the Wade Trophy and the John Wooden Award.
   March 4, Brown was among 10 semifinalists to be considered for the Citizen Naismith Trophy honoring women's basketball's top college player. Brown was the only Big 12 representative on the list, despite not being voted by Big 12 coaches as the Big 12 Player of the Year.

MULKEY NAMED TO NAISMITH WOMEN'S COACH OF THE YEAR LATE-SEASON WATCH LIST
    Feb. 27 the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced the late-season candidates for the 2019 Werner Ladder Naismith Women's Coach of the Year Award, and Baylor's Kim Mulkey was named as one of the 15 coaches for consideration.
     Entering into Saturday's Big 12 Championship semifinals, Mulkey has a career record of 568-99, good for an .852 winning percentage.
      This season, the Lady Bears are 7-1 vs. the AP Top 25, including a win over No. 1 UConn Jan. 3 in Waco. Baylor's win at Iowa State Feb. 23 clinched the Lady Bears' 10th overall regular-season Big 12 title and ninth straight.

INTERIOR DEFENSE DOMINANT
   While some may look at the fact that Baylor has surrendered 233 3-point field goals this season (most by a Big 12 school) as a negative, take into account that only 668 of 1,696 points given up by Baylor this season have come on two-point field goals. That' s just 335 two-pointers in 31 games, which averages 10.8 2-point field goals per game or 21.6 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 1.2 steals per game for the year and 1.3 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. For her efforts, Big 12 coaches voted her as a member of the 2019 Big 12 All-Defensive Team Wednesday.

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 (15.7 ppg) and Lauren Cox's (12.5 ppg). The duo's numbers are down from a season ago, partly due to the fact that freshmen posts Smith (8.4 ppg) and Queen Egbo (5.7 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 11.3 and 11.2 points per contest, respectively.

POUND THE PAINT, CLEAN THE GLASS, D-UP: LADY BEARS AMONG NATION'S BEST IN REBOUNDING, SCORING EFFICIENCY, DEFENSE
In 14 statistical categories, the Lady Bears rank in the top 10 nationally. But, the Lady Bears (thru games March 6) rank tops in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (33.0), rebound margin (+16.6) and field goal percentage defense (.310) while ranking fourth in field goal percentage (.500). Kalani Brown ranks seventh in the nation in field goal percentage at a .621 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 (7.1), led by Lauren Cox's 2.48 per contest. Baylor's rebounding is a staple of the program, and the Lady Bears have out-rebounded its opponents in 28 of 29 games this season, Baylor won the rebounding battle in 34 of 35 contests last year, and in 97 of the last 101 contests, BU has had the upper hand on the boards. Baylor outscores its opponents in the paint by an average of 45.7 to 15.3 through 31 games this season.

LADY BEARS ON THE RUN
   Baylor has 29 runs this season of at least 10 unanswered points including at least one in 12 of the 18 Big 12 contests. In 20 of 30 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 327-77 on the fast break this season.

SHARING IS CARING: BAYLOR LEADS NATION IN ASSISTS PER GAME
   Baylor's 22.6 assists per contest ranks best in the nation (thru March 6) while the Lady Bears rank third in assists-to-turnover ratio at 1.70:1. Chloe Jackson's 5.7 assists per contest (ranks 17th nationally) and 2.38:1 assists-to-turnover ratio (ranks 32nd nationally) lead Baylor. DiDi Richards is averaging 4.1 assists per contest while ranking 19th nationally in assists-to-turnover ratio at 2.62:1 and post Lauren Cox ranks 24th in that category at 2.62:1. Juicy Landrum also ranks fifth in the Big 12 in assists-to-turnover ratio while third on the team at 3.8 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 920 made field goals this season, the Lady Bears have assisted on 654 marking 71.2 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 215-1, 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.

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.

WBB Tangles with No. 19 Iowa State in Big 12 Championship Title Game

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Players Mentioned

Kalani Brown

Lauren Cox

Queen Egbo

Chloe Jackson

Juicy Landrum

DiDi Richards

NaLyssa Smith

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WBB Tangles with No. 19 Iowa State in Big 12 Championship Title Game

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Players Mentioned

Kalani Brown

Lauren Cox

Queen Egbo

Chloe Jackson

Juicy Landrum

DiDi Richards

NaLyssa Smith

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