By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            As scary as it sounds, Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly thinks defending national champion Baylor "may be better than they were last year."
            Showing off the inside-outside balance that makes them so tough to defend, the No. 2/1 Lady Bears (18-1, 7-0) knocked down a season-high nine 3-pointers, scored 40 points in the paint and dominated the boards in beating the visiting Cyclones, 83-62, Tuesday night before a Ferrell Center crowd of 8,627. 
            "Historically, they haven't been the greatest at (3-point shooting)," Fennelly said. "But now, you have two kids who can really shoot it. And to their credit, their shot selection is always really good. They don't force it, they take the shots that are available. When they're doing those kinds of things, I don't know who can beat them."
            Not Iowa State (12-7, 4-4), which lost its 10^th-straight in a series that's been dominated by Baylor. 
            DiDi Richards came within two assists of a triple-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and added a career-high four blocks, to help the Lady Bears win their national-best 51^st-consecutive home game and Big 12-record 48^th-straight in conference. 
            Calling her "wiry big," Mulkey said the 6-foot-1 Richards "will find you if you get open." She's matched her career high with eight assists in each of the last three games. 
            "DiDi is just finding players that are open, and she's playing all three perimeter positions," Mulkey said. "One minute, she's at the point. The next minute, I've got her at the off-guard. The next game, I've got her at (power forward). . . . The assists don't really surprise me, (but) I'm really impressed with not turning the ball over (two in 38 minutes)."
            The craziest statistic from the game is Baylor actually making more 3-pointers than Iowa State (9-8). Juicy Landrum and Te'a Cooper had 22 and 19 points, respectively, and combined to hit 9-of-17 from 3-point range. 
            Landrum, who set an NCAA single-game record earlier this season with 14 made 3-pointers, said the message was simple: "If they're playing off of you just a little bit, just pull the trigger and shoot it."
            "When (Mulkey) has confidence in me, I have confidence in myself, that allows me to shoot it like that," said Landrum, who was 4-of-7 from outside the arc and 9-of-13 overall. 
            Mulkey also had a message for ESPN analyst and former Georgia coach Andy Landers, saying, "For a coach that's old school and all that, I think we do all right."
            "Juicy's got the green light to shoot it. Coop's got the green light to shoot it," she said. "Juicy's going to go down in the history of this program holding that NCAA record. And when she's open, shoot it. I thought their man and zone defense allowed us to take a lot of perimeter shots early. I don't necessarily like that. I think we should have post touches, and then we'll get you on the back side. But, we made them, so we kept shooting them."
            In a pivotal 17-2 run that stretched over the end of the first quarter and first five minutes of the second period, Baylor's only 3-pointer was a Landrum trey from the corner at the end of the first quarter to give the Lady Bears their first double-digit lead, 24-13. 
            "Once we attacked their middle, I thought we started jelling," said Richards, who had all eight of her assists in the first half, "and Juicy and Te'a started getting open."
            Lauren Cox had her 32^nd career double-double and fourth of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Queen Egbo had 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Mulkey went with a smaller lineup, inserting 5-6 guard Moon Ursin in the lineup, after the Lady Bears gave up 12 3-pointers in an 86-79 win over Texas Tech on Saturday. 
            "I don't know what it is with Queen, but she just seems to do really well coming off the bench," Mulkey said. "She gives us a spark. You hate to say that, but some kids are that way. It's kind of like some guys are good head coaches and some aren't. They're better assistants. This kid is just so good coming off the bench."
            After missing the previous two games with a high ankle sprain, 6-2 sophomore forward NaLyssa Smith had two points, four rebounds and a block in 12 minutes.
            "It was good to see her get in, because you don't just want to throw here in at (Texas) and expect her to be NaLyssa," Richards said. "So, it was good to get her feet wet out here today."
            Named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Midseason Team, Richards was assigned to Ashley Joens and held the Big 12's leading scorer to just 3-of-11 from the floor and 13 points – nearly nine off her season average. Freshman Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw led four Cyclones in double figures with 17 points. 
            Baylor goes back on the road to face Texas (14-6, 6-2) at 6 p.m. Friday in Austin. The Longhorns ran their winning streak to five on Tuesday, beating Oklahoma, 70-53, on the road.