BRACKET 

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider 
            Aside from the unfortunate early reveal, the NCAA got it right this time. 
            Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, whose 31-1 team is the overall No. 1 seed and playing tournament newcomer Abilene Christian (23-9) in a first-round game on Saturday in Waco, said the NCAA Tournament committee "got it right."
            "They didn't just get it right for Baylor, they got it right everywhere," Mulkey said when the selections were announced Monday night. "Just seems like whoever wins this thing this year, the entire bracket was done fairly. I believe that. And I haven't said that in many years."
            After sweeping the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles for the eighth time in nine years, Baylor earned a No. 1 seed for the sixth time in program history. The Lady Bears are making their 16^thconsecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 18^thin 19 years, all under Mulkey.
            "It's just a number," junior forward Lauren Cox said of Baylor's No. 1 seed. "We could be No. 1 or No. 2, it doesn't really matter. We're going to be playing some good teams, we're going to have to be playing our best basketball and we're going to be prepared for whoever we play."
            The top seed in the Greensboro Regional, Baylor will host the first and second rounds at the Ferrell Center on Saturday, March 23, and Monday, March 25, with the winner advancing to the regional the following weekend in Greensboro, N.C. 
            In Waco, eighth-seeded California (19-12) out of the Pac-12 will face ninth-seeded North Carolina (18-14) from the ACC in Saturday's early first-round game at 2:30 p.m. Baylor and Southland Conference champion ACU will tip at approximately 5 p.m., 30 minutes after the conclusion of the opener. 
            "This team deserves the No. 1 seed and we'll take it," Mulkey said. "But, it guarantees us nothing. Our focus will be on Abilene Christian. Should we be fortunate enough to win that, then. We'll watch and scout Cal and North Carolina. You know with those teams who you get as coaches. (Julie Goodenough) at Abilene Christian was at Oklahoma State for several years. Cal has been here several years in the playoffs. And then (North Carolina's) Sylvia Hatchell is a Naismith Hall of Famer."
            ACU is making its NCAA Division I Tournament debut in just its second year of eligibility. Seeded fourth in the Southland Conference Tournament, the Wildcats upset top-seeded Lamar, 88-79, in the semifinals and then edged sixth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 69-68, in Sunday's final to claim the league's automatic qualifying bid. 
            A sophomore at the time, Kalani Brown recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds off the bench in a 79-34 win over ACU on Dec. 1, 2016, in the only other meeting between the two programs. 
            "I know her kids play extremely hard," Mulkey said of Goodenough, who made WNIT appearances in 2016 and '17 and has led teams to postseason berths at the NAIA, Division I, Division II and Division III levels. "She's everything that's good about college women's basketball and women's sports. When she was let go at Oklahoma State, I told her, 'In this business, we all get fired at some point.' I'm just looking forward to seeing her."
            Second-team All-SLC selections, junior guards Breanna Wright and Dominique Golightly lead the Wildcats in scoring at 14.0 and 13.8 points per game, respectively. A 6-4 junior center, Lexi Kirgan averages 11.1 points and 6.3 rebounds. 
            Goodenough said the Lady Bears are a "phenomenal team with athletic guards, shooters and drivers. They have a well-balanced scoring threat led by two of the best inside players in the NCAA – Lauren Cox and Kalani Brown."
            Brown, making her fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, said she has "checked off everything I could think of in my career. The Final Four is the last thing."
            Every Power 5 conference is represented in a balanced Greensboro Regional that includes fourth-seeded South Carolina and No. 7 seed Missouri from the SEC, North Carolina, third-seeded North Carolina State and fifth-seeded Florida State from the ACC, Cal from the Pac-12 and No. 2 seed Iowa from the Big Ten. Iowa, NC State and South Carolina are the region's other host sites for the first and second round. 
            Cal is making its third trip to Waco for the NCAA Tournament in the last six years, with the Golden Bears losing to Baylor, 75-56, in the second round in 2014 and getting blown out by the Lady Bears, 86-46, two years ago. This is Cal's 14^thappearance in the NCAA Tournament and seventh in the last eight years, highlighted by a Final Four trip in 2014. 
            In the only previous meeting between Baylor and North Carolina, Mulkey's Lady Bears upset top-seeded North Carolina, 72-63, in the Tempe Regional final en route to their first national championship in 2005. The Tar Heels are making their 27^thNCAA Tournament appearance, making the Final Four three times and winning the 1994 national championship. 
            Also earning No. 1 regional seeds were Mississippi State, Notre Dame and Louisville. The Final Four is scheduled for April 5-7 in Tampa, Fla. 
            Baylor is trying to advance to its fourth Final Four and first since 2012, when the Lady Bears were 40-0 national champions. The Lady Bears are 13-1 versus this year's NCAA Tournament field, including wins over UConn, South Carolina, Arizona State, South Dakota State, Iowa State, Kansas State and Texas and their only loss on the road at second-seeded Stanford back on Dec. 15. 
            "It's always exciting to get to the playoffs," Mulkey said, "because in conference you just beat each other open. . . . You can scout, scout, scout, but you don't know each other as well as you do in conference. So, I think it's a breath of fresh air."
            Fans can purchase tickets for the first and second round games in Waco, the Greensboro Regional and Final Four in Tampa, Fla., through the Baylor Ticket Office at www.baylorbears.com/tickets, by phone at 254-710-1000 or in person at the Ferrell Center ticket office. Single-session tickets will go on sale at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, with Friday being the deadline for ticket requests. 
 

BAYLOR NCAA NOTES:
• Baylor is 44-15 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, all coming under head coach Kim Mulkey
• Mulkey has guided the Lady Bears to 18 NCAA Tournament appearances and 16-straight.
• Baylor is the No. 1 overall seed, and it marks the sixth time in program history that Baylor is  No. 1 seed
• Baylor has played in three Final Fours (2005, 2010, 2012) and won the title in both 2005 and 2012
• Baylor's win percentage in the NCAA Tournament at 74.6 is third-best all-time next to UConn (86.0, 117-19) and
Tennessee (81.2, 125-29)
• Baylor's string of 16-straight NCAA Tournament appearances ranks sixth-best among active streaks in the NCAA
• Baylor's 44 wins in the NCAA Tournament is 11th most all-time
• Baylor is 13-1 vs. the NCAA Tournament field this year
• Baylor and Abilene Christian will meet for the second time after the Lady Bears beat the Wildcats 79-34, Dec. 1 2016 in Waco
• Baylor series records vs. potential Second Round opponents: Cal (5-1), North Carolina (1-0)
• Baylor players have 29 combined games of NCAA Tournament experience and 13 starts with Kalani Brown's 11 and seven, respectively leading the way
• Brown has 163 career points in the NCAA Tournament avearging 14.8 per contest over a three-year span. Last season she averaged a double-double in three games at 19.0 points
• Brown has 29 blocks in 11 NCAA Tournament games for a 2.6 per-game average.
• Lauren Cox is second on the active roster with seven NCAA Tournament games played; she has three starts
• Cox averages 12.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in seven NCAA Tournament contests
• Last year in three games, Cox led Baylor with a 21.0 points per game avearge and 13.3 rebounds per contest
• Her 13 blocks in seven tournament games avearges 1.8 per game
• Junior Juicy Landrum has appeared in six NCAA Tournament games while averaging 5.8 points per contest
• Landrum avearged 8.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists last season in three games
• Sophomore  DiDi Richards appeared in three NCAA Tournament games as a freshman last season averaging 4.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.5 steals
• Sophomore Moon Ursin appeared in two NCAA Tournament games last season, scored one points, grabbed three total rebounds and had three steals