No. 6/6 WBB Opens Big 12 Play at Oklahoma



	#6/6 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (10-1, 0-0) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes	#6/6 BAYLOR (10-1,0-0) AT OKLAHOMA (7-5,0-0) January, 4, 2020 \| 4 PM Norman, Okla. \| Lloy Noble Center (11,528) LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast RADIO: 1660 AM/92.3 FM WATCH: Fox Sports Oklahoma Talent: Chad McKee (PBP), Dan Hughes (Analyst) LISTEN: Tune In Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Maggie Davis-Stinnett (Color) Baylor Social Media:

	OKLAHOMA SOONERS (7-5, 0-0) Location: Norman, Okla. Conference: Big 12 Conference Head Coach: Sherri Coale Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Baylor's decade-long dominance of the Big 12 included nine-straight regular season championships, eight tournament titles and an overall record of 189-17 versus league foes.
            The sixth-ranked Lady Bears (10-1) begin the 2020s on the road with a matchup against Oklahoma (7-5) at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla.
            "We're definitely excited to start conference play, for sure," said junior guard DiDi Richards. "We've been in non-conference for two months, so finally getting ready to start conference and get the season started is really what's going on."
            West Virginia (19^th) and Texas (25^th) are also ranked, and two others (Kansas, Texas Tech) are receiving votes. But, Baylor is the clear-cut favorite to win its 10^th-straight conference title.
            "It's the nuts and bolts of your season," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "These next 18 games will be indicative of how good we are, how much we need to improve. We've been blessed to win nine of these in a row and 10 overall. That's hard to do. And we're a different team than we were last year. At the same time, it's exciting, because you put new players on the floor and they wear that Baylor uniform proudly."
            Baylor's only new players are grad transfers Te'a Cooper and Erin DeGrate and freshman guard Jordyn Oliver. And DeGrate is certainly no newcomer to the league after playing the previous two seasons at Texas Tech.
            "I'm so excited," said Cooper, who is averaging 12.4 points and 5.4 assists per game after transferring from South Carolina. "I've never played in the Big 12, so that's something I'm interested in seeing is what kind of competition there is."
            Oklahoma, the league's dominant team for most of the 2000-09 decade, won six regular-season championships and four tournament titles. But, the Sooners have lost 18 of their last 19 against Baylor and trail the all-time series, 29-25.
            OU upset 25^th-ranked LSU, 90-68, in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, but the Sooners were routed by top-ranked UConn, 97-53, two weeks ago in the Hall of Fame Showcase.
            This year's team is led by sharpshooters Taylor Robertson and Ana Llamusa, who are averaging 19.9 and 17.8 points, respectively. Robertson leads the country with 5.5 3-pointers made per game and has made 21 more treys than Baylor's team (63-42).
            "They have two of the best perimeter shooters not only in our conference but in the country," Mulkey said. "Taylor and Ana are two of the hardest people to guard, because their range is so deep from 3. Particularly Taylor, she gets it off quickly. . . . Their range is really, really good, and they don't mind putting up a lot of shots. And then, the other players understand what their job is and they play their roles extremely well."
            Baylor is led in scoring by the sophomore duo of NaLyssa Smith (16.7 ppg, 7.5 rebounds) and Queen Egbo (14.4 ppg, 8.4 rebounds).
Senior All-American Lauren Cox missed the previous eight games with a stress reaction in her right foot, but came back to score 10 points with six rebounds, five assists and four blocks in 22 minutes in the Lady Bears' 94-47 win over Morehead State on Monday.
            "Just her presence makes us a lot better," Mulkey said. "She's certainly not in basketball shape, we didn't expect her to be. But, we expect a lot from her. We're not polished right now because of having to re-insert her in the lineup, and everybody goes back to a different mindset with LC on the floor. But, we'll get better."
            Baylor will break from conference play to face UConn (11-0) at 6 p.m. next Thursday in Hartford, Conn., in a game that will be broadcast by ESPN. But, Mulkey insists she hasn't even talked about the Huskies yet.
            "We never have that problem looking ahead," she said. "We're focusing in the moment, and we're talking about Oklahoma. That's all we've talked about. . . . Don't misunderstand anything. If Oklahoma should beat us, it won't be because we're looking ahead, it will be because Oklahoma deserved to win the game."
            Saturday's game will be televised by FOX Sports Oklahoma and streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Chad McKee and Seattle Storm head coach Dan Hughes calling the action.

COX GETS TUNEUP BEFORE CONFERENCE PLAY; BICKLE STILL OUT
Baylor senior forward Lauren Cox missed eight games due to a foot injury and returned Monday vs. Morehead State, scoring 10 points, grabbing six rebounds, she dished five assists and blocked four shots in 22 minutes of play. It was her first game since Nov. 8. Cox had earned preseason All-America status from four different entities heading into the season before the setback. In three contests, she's averaged 11.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.0 blocks. Cox returned to practice Dec. 27. Caitlin Bickle suffered a minor knee injury and had successful surgery following the Dec. 4 contest with Georgia. Although the timetable for return is uncertain, Bickle is not expected to take a medical redshirt and intends to return at some point in the 2019-20 season. Bickle averaged 5.8 points and 4.1 rebounds in eight games leading up to the injury.

WIN STREAKS ON THE LINE ON THE LINE; BAYLOR LOOKING FOR 9TH CONFERENCE-OPENING WIN IN LAST 10 SEASONS
Baylor is 13-6 under head coach Kim Mulkey in Big 12 Conference openers, and the Lady Bears are winners in eight of the last nine. Baylor also has a chance to take the longest win streak in the series history over OU Saturday with nine over the Sooners coming into the contest. With a 29-25 overall edge, Baylor has won 18 of the last 19, winning nine straight from Feb. 2, 2011 to Feb. 11, 2015. OU picked up a home win Feb. 25, 2015 before the Lady Bears have rattled off nine more consecutive wins over the Sooners. Baylor overall Big 12-win streak is at 42 games, while its road win streak in the Big 12 is at 36 wins. Thirty-Six victories on the road in conference play is the third-longest conference road win streak in NCAA history and the second-longest active streak next to UConn's 49 in the American Athletic Conference.

WRAPPING UP A DOMINANT DECADE
Baylor closed the decade with a 335-23 record between Jan. 2, 2010 and Dec. 30, 2019 for a .936 winning percentage. Last decade produced two national championships (2012, 2019), three Final Fours (2010, 2012, 2019), 10 Sweet 16s, 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, nine Big 12 regular season championships, and eight Big 12 Tournament titles. It also saw 11 players receive WBCA First-Team All-America honors, seven earned Associated Press All-Americans, eight were named USBWA First-Team All-Americans, Kim Mulkey earned seven different National Coach of the Year honors and six Big 12 Coach of the Year awards. Six players were named Big 12 Player of the Year and 22 players earned First-Team All-Big 12.

JUICY'S REWRITES HISTORY VS. ARKANSAS STATE DEC. 18
Senior guard and Waco native Juicy Landrum entered Dec. 18's game with Arkansas State with 10 3-pointers to her credit through the first nine games of the season, while shooting .385 from beyond the arc. After Baylor's 111-43 win over the Red Wolves, Landrum set Baylor, Big 12 and NCAA single-game records by draining 14 treys on 23 attempts. Her shooting percentage beyond the arc jumped 105 points to .490 and she jumped four spots on the BU ladder for career 3-point field goals from 11th to a tie for seventh. Five 3-point field goals was the most in a game for Landrum before that afternoon, which she nearly tripled, and the most she'd attempted in a game prior to Dec. 18 was 13. All 42 of her points came from beyond the arc, and it was the most points by a Baylor player in more than five years, when Nina Davis had 43 points Dec. 7, 2014, at Ole Miss. Landrum's performance was featured on the 10 p.m. ESPN SportsCenter broadcast as anchor Scott Van Pelt's "Best Thing I Saw Today" later that evening.

LADY BEARS ON THE RUN
Through 11 games the Lady Bears have 23 double-digit runs this season, including a season-high 37-0 run to begin the game vs. New Hampshire Nov. 5. In addition to the transition game on offense, Baylor's defense has allowed just 32 fast-break points on the season. Baylor is outscoring teams on the break by an average of 19.5-2.9.

LADY BEARS PIQUING ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL THROUGH FIRST 11 GAMES
The 10-1 Lady Bears rank in the top 10 nationally in 12 categories through games played through Jan 1. Baylor ranks tops in the nation in assists per game (23.7), field goal percentage (.522), scoring margin (41.6) and scoring offense (89.0). Baylor also ranks in the top five in the nation in assists-to-turnover ratio (2nd, 1.78:1), assists (5th, 261), blocked shots per game (4th, 6.5) field goal percentage defense (3rd, .296), rebound margin (2nd, 14.5), and scoring defense (3rd, 47.4). Three players rank in the Top 25 nationally in assists-to-turnover ratio, led by Te'a Cooper (3rd, 3.28:1), Juicy Landrum (10th, 3.0:1), and DiDi Richards (11th, 2.89:1). Queen Egbo ranks 18th in the nation and 2nd in the Big 12 in field-goal percentage at 61.1 percent while NaLyssa Smith ranks 19th in the nation and third in the Big 12 at 60.2 percent. Juicy Landrum is shooting an even .500 from beyond the 3-point arc, which ranks her third in the nation and first in the Big 12. Egbo also checks in at 21st in the nation with six double-doubles.

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT: LADY BEARS INK TWO TOP-10 RECRUITS FOR 2020
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey announced the signing of two of the top 10 players in the country Wednesday, with Irving MacArthur standouts Sarah Andrews and Hannah Gusters signing national letters of intent to join the Lady Bears in 2020. Gusters was the first to verbally commit to Baylor in May. The 6-4 post player is the No. 9 overall ranked player in the 2020 class and the No. 2 center by espnW's Hoopgurlz. The Dan Olson Collegiate Basketball Report ranks her ninth and second, respectively as well. After helping Duncanville High School win a state championship as a freshman, Gusters averaged 14.5 points per game as a sophomore in leading the Pantherettes to a 39-2 record and the Class 6A region finals. Gusters played AAU ball for Nike ProSkills, and her maternal grandfather, Dewey Turner, played football for the University of Texas. Andrews verbally committed to Baylor on social media Nov. 2 during an official visit. The 5-7 point guard is ranked No. 7 overall and the No. 2 point guard by espnW's HoopGurlz recruiting rankings and carries the same ranking from the Dan Olson Collegiate Basketball Report. Among Andrews' honors as a point guard for Irving MacArthur High School, she was a two-time TGCA 6A All-State selection in 2018 and 2019. USA Today named Andrews to the second-team All-Texas team in 2019 as well. The Dallas Morning-News named Andrews the top recruit in Texas. As a junior, she was the District 6-6A MVP after averaging 15.1 points, 7.0 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 2.9 steals for a MacArthur team that went 29-9. Andrews played AAU ball for Nike ProSkills.

SCORING IS TOUGH VS. THE LADY BEARS
Baylor ranked tops in the nation in 2018-19 in the following categories: Assists (850), Assists Per Game (22.4), Blocked Shots (274), Blocked Shots Per Game (7.2), Defensive Rebounds Per Game (32.0), Rebound Margin (+17.0), Rebounds (1,790), and won-lost percentage (97.4). However, the Lady Bears ranked first in field goal percentage defense (.318) marking the third-straight year to lead the nation. Baylor has also ranked in the top five in eight of the last nine years.

No. 6/6 WBB Opens Big 12 Play at Oklahoma

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Players Mentioned

Caitlin Bickle

Te'a Cooper

Lauren Cox

Erin DeGrate

Queen Egbo

Juicy Landrum

Jordyn Oliver

DiDi Richards

NaLyssa Smith

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No. 6/6 WBB Opens Big 12 Play at Oklahoma

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Caitlin Bickle

Te'a Cooper

Lauren Cox

Erin DeGrate

Queen Egbo

Juicy Landrum

Jordyn Oliver

DiDi Richards

NaLyssa Smith

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