Brown, Cox Share MVP Honors at Lady Bear Banquet

Brown, Cox Share MVP Honors at Lady Bear Banquet

4/15/2019 11:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Coach Kim Mulkey honored seniors Kalani Brown and Chloe Jackson before a sold-out crowd.

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

Eight days after winning the third national championship in program history, the Baylor Lady Bears returned to the Ferrell Center for the annual Lady Bear Appreciation Banquet.

Coach Kim Mulkey, who is 576-99 with 18 NCAA Tournament appearances in 19 seasons, honored seniors Kalani Brown and Chloe Jackson before a sold-out crowd on the arena floor where the Lady Bears (37-1) picked up 17 of their 37 wins.

While Jackson was the program's first grad transfer, averaging 11.7 points and 5.3 assists in her only season at Baylor, Brown finished her career with the best winning percentage in program history (.939).

Brown's 139-9 record also left her one win shy of the record win total (140-10) set by the 2014 senior class that included All-American Odyssey Sims, Mariah Chandler and current assistant director of basketball operations Makenzie Fuller.

In the national championship game, Jackson scored a season-high 26 points and hit the winning bucket on a scoop layup with 3.9 seconds left in the 82-81 win over Notre Dame. Brown recorded her 10^th double-double of the season and 40^th of her career with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Last Wednesday, the two seniors were both selected in the WNBA Draft, with Brown going to the Los Angeles Sparks in the first round with the seventh overall pick; and the Chicago Sky drafting Jackson in the second round with the 15^th overall selection.

Baylor's celebration will continue with a downtown parade at 6 p.m. Thursday, put on by H-E-B in conjunction with the City of Waco, the Waco Chamber of Commerce and the Baylor Bear Foundation. It will run along Austin Avenue from 11^th to 3^rd Street, with a ceremony to follow at 6:30 p.m. and an autograph session at 7 pm. At the Three Rivers Ballroom at the Hilton.

2018-19 Baylor Women's Basketball Award Winners:
Co-Most Valuable Player: Kalani Brown
A three-time WBCA All-American and first-team All-Big 12 pick, the senior center led the team in scoring (15.8 ppg) and ranked second in rebounding (8.2) and blocked shots (1.7) while shooting 61.4 percent from the floor and 75.2 percent from the line. She finished her career with 2,209 points, 1,129 rebounds and 236 blocks to rank among the top six in each category. She was also named the Most Outstanding Player of the Big 12 Championship and led the Lady Bears to four Big 12 regular-season championships and three tournament titles.

Co-Most Valuable Player, Academic Award, Co-Defense Award: Lauren Cox
The program's second NCAA Elite 90 Award winner, Cox won the Academic Award for the third straight year with a 3.92 GPA in the fall semester. She is also a two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and All-Big 12 first-team pick and earned third-team All-American honors this season from the Associated Press and USBWA. The junior forward led the team in rebounds (8.3) and blocked shots (2.6) and was second in scoring (13.0) while shooting 52.2 percent from the field.

Melissa Jones Hustle & Courage Award: Chloe Jackson
Saving her best for last, Jackson scored a season-high 26 points and hit the game-winner in the national championship game on a scoop layup with 3.9 seconds left to earn Most Outstanding Player honors on the Final Four all-tournament team. Jackson, a grad transfer from LSU, was a second-team All-Big 12 pick who finished her collegiate career with 1,393 points, 452 rebounds, 338 assists and 181 steals.

Coaches' Award: Moon Ursin
The team's first perimeter player off the bench, the sophomore guard averaged 4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds while shooting 50.0 percent from the floor. She scored a season- and game-high 20 points in the road win at Texas and scored in double digits four other times.

Co-Defense Award: Didi Richards
While Cox patrolled the paint, swatting away 97 shots, the 6-1 Richards took on the role of the team's best perimeter defender. She accepted every tough assignment, going against the likes of Big 12 Player of the Year Bridget Carleton, UConn All-American Katie Lou Samuelson and National Player of the Year Sabrina Ionescu. The sophomore guard averaged 7.2 points and 3.7 assists and ranked among the team leaders with 32 blocks and 21 steals.

Most Improved Player: Juicy Landrum
The junior guard from nearby La Vega High School has boosted her scoring average each year, from 1.8 as a freshman, 7.4 last year and 11.1 this season with a team-high 63 3-pointers made. She also averaged 5.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists and become much better on the defensive end, blocking a shot by Ionescu at the end of the semifinal win over Oregon.

Newcomer of the Year: NaLyssa Smith
Part of the "Fierce Five" freshman recruiting class that was ranked No. 1 in the country, the 6-2 freshman forward averaged 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. When Cox was injured at the end of the third quarter of the national championship game, Smith came up big, scoring eight of her 14 points in the last 11 minutes.