#4/4 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (1-0) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster | Stats | Game Notes	#4/4 BAYLOR (1-0) vs RV/RV SOUTH FLORIDA (1-0) December 1, 2020 | 6 PM (CT) Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center (10,411) LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast RADIO: 1660 AM/92.3 FM WATCH: ESPN+ Talent: Jim Louk (PBP), Leah Secondo (Analyst) DIGITAL RADIO LINK: ESPN Central Texas Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP) Baylor Social Media: ** Due to COVID-19, there will be no physical copies of stats, media almanacs, rosters, please use the following link for MEDIA RESOURCES **
	RV/RV SOUTH FLORIDA (1-0) Location: Tampa, Fla. Conference: American Head Coach: Jose Fernandez Roster | Stats | Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Returning to the city where they won the program's third national championship just 19 months ago, the fourth-ranked Baylor Lady Bears (1-0) will face the South Florida Bulls (1-0) at 6 p.m. CST Tuesday at Yuengling Center in Tampa. 
            After opening the season with an impressive 82-37 win over Central Arkansas, Baylor begins a challenging road swing with three games in 10 days. The Lady Bears will face 16^th-ranked Arkansas (3-1) at 5 p.m. Sunday in Fayetteville and then open Big 12 play next Thursday, Dec. 10, at West Virginia (2-0). 
            "It certainly wasn't scheduled that way," coach Kim Mulkey said. "You wanted to play the exhibitions, you wanted to play and possibly host all of the Preseason WNIT games. It didn't work out. I would have liked it that way, because it would have allowed us to get better, to grow. It would allow me as a coach to see some of the newer players in a game atmosphere. But, this is where we are."
            Despite having just one returning starter on the floor, the Lady Bears got the season started the right way with a defense that held Central Arkansas to 19.7 percent shooting from the field (13-of-66) and 2-of-21 from outside the arc. 
            "We're trying to figure out our scoring, still. We're not scoring, but you won't, either," said senior guard Moon Ursin, who had 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists. "You just don't want to be the one that your man comes in and gets 30 on you. So, we all take it as our personal game. It, obviously, evolves into a team thing, and we're just all getting after it."
            One of five double-figure scorers, preseason Big 12 Player of the Year NaLyssa Smith recorded a double-double with 25 points and 15 rebounds in the win over UCA. Junior forward Caitlin Bickle had her first career double-double with 14 points and 11 boards, with 6-5 freshman center Hannah Gusters chipping in with 13 points and grad transfer DiJonai Carrington adding 11. 
            "(Carrington) hasn't played in a long time because of injuries when she was at Stanford, so it was her first game to be on the floor in a long, long time," Mulkey said. "I can tell things that she does that the fans probably don't see. That means she's been in college basketball a long time. . . . She did some good things, but I thought particularly in the last part of the game, she was trying to do too much in a hurry."
            While the Lady Bears struggled on the offensive end, particularly early in the game – missing 11 of their first 15 shots – the defense remained as stifling as ever. Baylor, which has led the nation in field goal percentage defense each of the last four years, held Central Arkansas to single-digit points in three of the four quarters. 
            "That's work. That's not something that just happens because we're talented," Mulkey said. "We'll go many practices where we don't do anything offensively and never touch a ball. The game is good, and you're going to have bad shooting nights, as we did the other night against Central Arkansas. But, there's no excuse for having bad defensive games."
            Junior center Queen Egbo, the reigning Big 12 Sixth Person of the Year, is expected to be back in the lineup after missing the opener for an undisclosed reason. She averaged 10.8 points and 6.8 rebounds last season, shooting 60.4 percent from the field. 
            "Queen is one of our starters and just an integral part of our team," Mulkey said. 
            South Florida, which opened with an 84-46 trouncing of Jacksonville on Saturday, returns its top seven scorers from a team that finished 19-13. The Bulls have an international flavor with players representing 10 different countries. 
            Last year, Baylor struggled in a 58-46 win over South Florida on Nov. 19 in Waco. Playing its first game without All-American center Lauren Cox, Baylor got 16 points and 10 rebounds from Egbo off the bench. 
            "They have a ton of returning players, they've got great experience, they're in a conference that prepares them for elite basketball," Mulkey said of South Florida. "They have experience going for them, and we don't. They have playing at home going for them, and we don't. We both have played one game, so it will be one of those early-season games where I'm sure it won't look pretty, but I think it will benefit both of our programs."
            Tuesday's game will be streamed by the American Conference on ESPN+, with Jim Louk and Leah Secondo calling the action. 


NOTHING NEW: BAYLOR AND LADY BEARS PLAYERS HONORED THROUGHOUT PRESEASON
     Baylor was headed towards a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and on the way to compete for the program's 11th Big 12 Tournament title in March when COVID-19 shut down the postseason. The defending national champs were left with the feeling of what if, and with the pandemic continuing to hover over the world, the 2020-21 season could be in for some interesting turns. However, plans for a 25-game schedule, a Big 12 Championship tournament and a 2021 NCAA Tournament have been made and Baylor, once again, is earning recognition. The Lady Bears checked in at No. 4 in both the Associated Press and USA Today/WBCA preseason Top 25 polls. Baylor has been ranked in the Top 25 for 320 and 304 weeks, respectively and the Lady Bears have graced the AP Top 10 for 113-straight weeks.
     Baylor junior NaLyssa Smith was an AP honorable mention All-American last season and was awarded the same honor on the AP's Preseason All-American Team. Smith received the national honor after being named the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year along with a unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 Preseason Team. DiDi Richards and Queen Egbo joined Smith on the league's preseason team while DiJonai Carrington was named Preseason Newcomer of the Year and Sarah Andrews was named Preseason Freshman of the Year by the Big 12.
     Five Lady Bears found their way on the Naismith/WBCA Starting Five Awards preseason watch lists. Richards, who is expected to play point guard for her senior season, was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list, Carrington was named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale list for shooting guards, Smith was placed on the Katrina McClain Award watch list for power forwards, and Egbo along with freshman Hannah Gusters were placed on the Lisa Leslie Award watch list for centers.
     The Naismith Trophy Award for national player of the year placed Smith, Carrington and Richards on its preseason list while Smith earned a spot on the Wade Trophy Award preseason list for the nation's top player.
 
URSIN CLEARED, RICHARDS DAY-TO-DAY FROM OCTOBER PRACTICE COLLISION
     Oct. 24, Moon Ursin and DiDi Richards collided in mid-air during a practice scrimmage, leaving Ursin with a concussion and Richards with a Spinal Cord Injury Without Radiographic Abnormality (SCIOWRA). Ursin returned to practice after clearing concussion protocol in mid-November while Richards' rehab began immediately after she briefly lost feeling below her knees. Richards was first confined to a walker to assist her in walking, but by mid-November she was completing individual drills and workouts with medical and strength & conditioning staff. Richards' progress has been swift and she has been elevated to day-to-day status.
 
SMITH, BICKLE SHINE IN SEASON-OPENING WIN OVER CENTRAL ARKANSAS
     Like many non-conference Lady Bears games in November, Wednesday's season opener vs. Central Arkansas resulted in a lop-sided victory for Baylor at home with several players contributing to the cause. Wednesday was no different, but NaLyssa Smith and Caitlin Bickle each had standout games. Smith scored 25 points and tied a career-high with 15 rebounds while shooting 13-of-15 from the free-throw line. On defense, Smith added a career-high four blocks. Bickle made the most of her first-career start with career-highs in points (14) and rebounds (12) to produce her first double-double. In addition, she had a career-high four steals with a block on the defensive end. Hannah Gusters (13), DiJonai Carrington (11) and Moon Ursin (10) added double figures for the Lady Bears while Sarah Andrews led the squad with six assists in her collegiate debut.
 
HOME WIN STREAKS EXTENDED VS. UCA
      Baylor has the nation's longest-active home winning streak at 57 games after Wednesday's win over Central Arkansas. The team's last loss at the Ferrell Center came to Texas, Feb. 6, 2017. Fifty-seven consecutive home wins is the 11th-best home win streak in NCAA Division I history. In addition, Baylor tacked on to its 58-game non-conference home win streak at the Ferrell Center. The Lady Bears last lost at home to a non-conference opponent, Jan. 13, 2014.
 
LADY BEARS VS. THE BULLS      
     The only previous meeting between the two squads in Tampa, came in the first-ever meeting between the two schools and Baylor beat USF, 74-72, Nov. 29, 1998. Baylor has taken the only other two meetings in Waco, including last season where the Bulls gave the Lady Bears one of their tougher games in the first semester with Baylor edging the Bulls, 58-46, Nov. 19, 2019. Queen Egbo had 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench in 28 games of play. DiDi Richards had eight points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals in the win. Both Bulls players that scored in double figures last season vs. Baylor are back with Bethy Mununga scoring 16 and Elisa Pinzan adding 14 in the loss.
 
LONE LADY BEARS SIGNEE, DAUDA, COMMITS FOR 2021-22
     Baylor signed just one player for the 2021 recruiting class, but it was a big fish. Bentonville, Ark. native Maryam Dauda was ESPN Hoopgurlz's No. 1-ranked post recruit out of the 2021 class, was given five stars and ranked the No. 13 overall recruit in the class. Dauda began playing basketball in sixth grade after moving to the U.S. from Nigeria. The 6-4 post was a AAA All-State selection in Arkansas as a junior after averaging 16.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per contest. She was named to the Naismith High School Player of the Year watch list in November ahead of her senior season.
 
BAYLOR FINISHED 2019-20 RANKED FIRST IN FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE FOR FOURTH-STRAIGHT YEAR
     For the fourth-straight year and the fifth in Kim Mulkey's history as head coach at Baylor, the Lady Bears ranked No. 1 in the NCAA in defensive field goal percentage. Mulkey's Lady Bears are known for their tough-nosed defense, and last year's team was led by Richards who earned the national defensive player of the year award from both Naismith and the WBCA. The team held opponents to a .310 shooting mark, which tied with the 2011-12 squad for lowest opponent field goal percentage. Baylor has ranked in the top five in that category in each of the last six seasons and in 9 of the last 10. Baylor also won the category in 2010-11.
 
MULKEY JOINS STAR-STUDDED 2020 CLASS WITH NAISMITH HALL OF FAME INDUCTION
     The Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments were cancelled, but Kim Mulkey did get some good news in April when she was announced as a member of the 2020 induction class to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. She and her class' peers are virtually peerless as she joined a star-studded class, including Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Tamika Catchings, Rudy Tomjanovich, Eddie Sutton, Barbara Stevens and Patrick Baumann.
     Her induction ceremony was delayed due to COVID-19 and the 2020 class has yet to be enshrined. Her induction will be as a coach, although she has been nominated as a player on numerous occasions. She was also a finalist in 2018. Mulkey's many accomplishments earned her the honor, but among them are three NCAA titles, 21 Big 12 championships, and she was the fastest NCAA Division I head coach, man or woman, to reach 600 career victories (700 games).
 
50/50 – BAYLOR'S MAGIC NUMBER OFFENSIVELY & DEFENSIVELY
     Kim Mulkey-coached teams at Baylor are 236-1 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field, while just 16 times in 19-plus seasons has an opponent shot 50 percent or better against the Lady Bears defense. Baylor's only loss when shooting 50 percent or better came vs. Mississippi State in the 2017 Elite 8.