No. 2/2 WBB Heads to Oklahoma State for ESPN+ Tilt Saturday



	#2/1 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (22-1, 11-0) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes	#2/1 BAYLOR (22-1, 11-0) at OKLAHOMA STATE (10-10, 4-5) February 15, 2020 \| 7 PM Stillwater, Okla. \| Iba Gallagher (13,611) LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast RADIO: 1660 AM/92.3 FM WATCH: ESPN App Talent: Mike Wolfe (PBP), Bryndon Manzer (Color), Jessica Morrey (Sideline) LISTEN: Tune In Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Maggie Davis-Stinnett (Color) Baylor Social Media:

	OKLAHOMA STATE COWGIRLS (14-10, 5-7) Location: Stillwater, Okla. Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Jim Littell Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            This isn't the NFL, where they can start resting players late in the season when the division title and playoff seeding are wrapped up.
            No. 2 Baylor (22-1, 11-0) has a three-game lead over TCU in the Big 12 standings going into Saturday's 7 p.m. matchup at Oklahoma State (14-10, 5-7). The Lady Bears have all but wrapped up their 10^th-consecutive and 11^th overall Big 12 regular-season championship with three weeks and seven games still left to play.
            But, they can't afford to rest. There's still too much on the line.
            "You've got to play who you've got to play to win basketball games," said coach Kim Mulkey, whose team is riding a 15-game winning streak with 52-straight in Big 12 play. "If we could keep this separation and win it early, does that mean I'm going to play my non-starters? No, because at that point you're playing for seeding in the NCAA Tournament. So, it's not like, 'Whew! Man, if you could win this thing again, then you could start resting players.' Unfortunately, you can't in this sport."
            Baylor is No. 2 in both major polls, was No. 2 overall in the NCAA committee's first top-16 reveal on Feb. 3 and is expected to be the No. 1 seed for the Dallas Regional.
            Oklahoma State, on the other hand, is on the outside looking in. Still a "bubble" team in the latest bracketology by ESPN's Charlie Crème, the Cowgirls have lost four in a row and five of their last six games.
            "Don't look at the record," Mulkey said. "They have the two leading scorers in our league, the leading rebounder in our league and it's a tough place to play. Everything seems to be right on top of you in their arena. I have so much respect for (OSU coach) Jim Littell and the job he does coaching. They've lost some heartbreaking games, but those were games they could have won."
            Baylor dominated the first game in Waco, 94-48. Behind a 30-point, 15-rebound performance from 6-2 sophomore NaLyssa Smith. The Lady Bears won the battle of the boards, 61-21, and outscored the Cowgirls in the paint, 46-11, getting a double-double from 6-4 All-American Lauren Cox as well (14 points, 10 boards) and 15 rebounds from 6-3 sophomore Queen Egbo.
            OSU's "Big Two" of 6-4 junior Natsaha Mack (18.0 ppg, 12.4 rebounds) and 6-1 junior Vivian Gray (19.8 ppg, 4.8 rebounds) scored 15 points apiece in the first meeting, but the rest of the team was a combined 6-of-32 from the field and scored 18 points.
            "Vivian Gray is just a tough guard, and then you add Natasha Mack, who can block shots and rebound the ball and shoot the ball," Mulkey said. "So, they have those two great players, and then they have kids who play their roles around them. It's going to be tough. You just know the last seven games in conference, everybody is trying to get wins that are important."
            Baylor has won 41-straight conference games on the road – the third-longest streak in NCAA history – with the last loss coming on Dec. 30, 2015 in Stillwater, when the Cowgirls pulled off a 52-45 upset. That was the Lady Bears' only blemish of the 2015-16 season until a 60-57 loss to Oregon State in the Elite Eight.
            Although TCU trailed by just two point at the break, Baylor showed that it's putting all the pieces together in Wednesday's 81-62 win at home over the second-place Horned Frogs. Five players scored in double figures, led by DiDi Richards with a game-high 17 points, while Cox (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Smith (12 points, 13 boards) both recorded double-doubles.
            "It felt great," said Smith, who is still trying to get all the way back from a high ankle sprain that forced her to miss two games. "I remember looking up and seeing (Cox) had 16 and 10, and I was just like, 'Yep, she's back, she's back.' It was a good day just seeing her perform like she usually does."
            Cox, a three-time finalist for the WBCA's Katrina McClain Award as the nation's top power forward, missed eight games earlier this season with a stress reaction in her foot. She has struggled with her shooting touch of late, but was 7-of-11 from the field against TCU and added six assists and five blocks.
            "We're not there yet, but we are getting closer to getting back to where we were," Mulkey said. "What helps that is a little more time and a little more success where they're all on the floor at the same time and they're all on the same page. We're still kind of up and down with individual play. For us to go very far, we all need to be on the same level. And we're getting there."
            Saturday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Mike Wolfe, Bryndon Manzer and former KCEN sports anchor Jessica Morrey calling the action.
            With a win on Saturday, Mulkey (598-100) would then go for her 600^th career victory in Tuesday's 7 p.m. game at Texas Tech (15-7, 4-7). She would be the fastest in men's or women's basketball to reach the 600-win milestone.

MULKEY GOES 20 FOR 20; HONING IN ON THE FASTEST COACH (MAN OR WOMAN) TO REACH 600 VICTORIES
Baylor's win vs. Kansas Feb. 4 in Waco gave the Lady Bears 20 wins. Head Coach Kim Mulkey is in her 20th season at the helm, and Baylor has won at least 20 games in all 20 seasons.
In addition, Mulkey's career record moved to 598-100 with the win over the TCU Wednesday. If she can get to 600 before she coaches in her 704th game, she will be the fastest coach in NCAA Division I history, man or woman, to reach the milestone. Baylor would need to win two out of its next five games to help Mulkey accomplish the feat. She would get to 600 faster than names including Adolph Rupp, Geno Auriemma, Pat Summit, Roy Williams, John Wooden, Dean Smith and John Calipari.

THREE LADY BEARS NAMED FINALISTS FOR WBCA 'STARTING FIVE' AWARDS
Te'a Cooper, Lauren Cox and Queen Egbo have all be selected as finalists in their respective positions for the Naismith Hall of Fame/WBCA Starting Five Awards. Cooper was named a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award that honors the nation's top point guard Monday, for the third-straight year Cox was named a finalist for the Katrina McClain Award for nation's top power forward Thursday, and Egbo earned a spot on Friday's Lisa Leslie Award top 10 for the nation's top center.
All three awards named 10 finalists this week and will narrow the list to the "Final Five" in March.

BIG 12 STREAKS ON THE LINE FOR THE LADY BEARS IN STILLWATER
As Baylor's overall win streak reaches 15, and with just two losses in the last two seasons, the Lady Bears are constantly chasing streaks as the success continues. Baylor is in the midst of two conference streaks with the Lady Bears looking to run the table for a third-straight year in 2020. Wednesday's win over TCU at home was the 52^nd consecutive regular season win over a Big 12 opponent. That regular-season conference win streak is tied for the 7^th best streak in NCAA history.
The Lady Bears will also look to extend their Big 12 and school record 41-game conference win streak on the road in the regular season Saturday. OSU could look to be spoiler as the streak started after the Cowgirls beat Baylor in Stillwater, Dec. 30, 2015. Since then Baylor has rattled of 41-straight wins on the road in the regular season vs. Big 12 opponents; that's the third-longest streak of its kind in NCAA history and the second-best active streak behind UConn in the AAC.

NCAA SELECTION COMMITTEE PUTS LADY BEARS AS NO. 2 OVERALL SEED, NO. 1 IN DALLAS REGIONAL
Feb. 3, at halftime of the UConn vs. Oregon game on ESPN2, the NCAA Women's Basketball Selection Committee had its first reveal of the Top-16 teams. The committee picked South Carolina as the No. 1 overall seed and Baylor as the No. 2 overall seed. Joining SC and BU as No. 1 seeds were Louisville and Oregon with South Carolina headed to the Greenville regional, Baylor to the Dallas regional, Oregon to the Portland regional and Louisville to the Fort Wayne Regional.
South Carolina lost to No. 17 Indiana for its only loss of the season
Nov. 29 while Baylor's only loss came to the No. 5-ranked Gamecocks Nov. 30 without Lauren Cox.
The committee will reveal its updated Top 16 March 2 at halftime of the South Florida vs. UConn game on ESPN2, which tips at 7 p.m. ET. Then, the NCAA Committee will have the entire bracket on the ESPN Selection Show at 7 p.m. ET, March 16.

50/50 – BAYLOR'S MAGIC NUMBER OFFENSIVELY & DEFENSIVELY
Kim Mulkey coached teams at Baylor 233-1 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.

COX NABS THREE MORE LATE-SEASON HONORS; SMITH JOINS HER ON NAISMITH MIDSEASON TEAM
Lauren Cox was named a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, named to the late-season watch list for the John Wooden Award, and the midseason watch list for the Naismith Trophy along with sophomore NaLyssa Smith. The Senior CLASS Award narrowed its list of candidates to 10 women's players who exemplify excellence in competition, in the classroom, and in the community. The Wooden Award honors the top player in college basketball, and Cox was the only Big 12 representative out of 20 players. Smith & Cox are on the Naismith midseason watch list, which consists of 20 players, including Iowa State guard Ashley Joens.

COX & RICHARDS NAMED AS 15 FINALISTS FOR NAISMITH DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Lauren Cox is the 2-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, and DiDi Richards' reputation for her on-ball defense earned her First-Team All-Big 12 honors last year. This year, those performances have carried over to national recognition as the pair made the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Midseason Team, which includes just 15 players.
Cox has missed time due to injury, but is still averaging 3.0 blocks and 1.1 steals per game while opponent's offensive scouting reports are scrambled when they face the Cox-led Lady Bears. Richards' steal numbers are up to 2.1 per game, she's added 15 blocks this season and still draws assignments for each opponent's top perimeter player throughout the season.

LADY BEARS RANK NO. 1 IN THE NATION IN SIX STATISTICAL CATEGORIES
The 22-1 Lady Bears rank in the top 10 nationally in 16 categories through games played through Feb. 12. Baylor ranks No. 1 in the nation in six categories: Assists (521), Assists Per Game (22.7), Field Goal Percentage (.506), Field Goal Percentage Defense (.303), Scoring Margin (33.4), and Three-Point Field Goal Percentage (.413).
In addition, Baylor ranks in the top five in 10 additional categories (full list on page 5).
DiDi Richards ranks 9th nationally in assists-to-turnover ratio (2.84:1) while also cracking the Top 25 in assists per game at 15th (5.6) and assists at 17th (128). NaLyssa Smith and Queen Egbo are tied at 11^th in the nation and first in the Big 12 with a .601 shooting percentage. Juicy Landrum's .461 3-point field goal percentage ranks 6th in the nation and first in the Big 12.

WRAPPING UP A NINE-YEAR RUN OF DOMINANCE FOR BAYLOR'S LADY BEARS
Baylor closed 2019 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.

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). But perhaps the most consistent category the Lady Bears led the nation in, was field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a .318 clip. That marked the third-straight year to lead the nation in that category while also ranking in the top five in eight of the last nine years.

No. 2/2 WBB Heads to Oklahoma State for ESPN+ Tilt Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Te'a Cooper

Lauren Cox

Queen Egbo

Juicy Landrum

DiDi Richards

NaLyssa Smith

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No. 2/2 WBB Heads to Oklahoma State for ESPN+ Tilt Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Te'a Cooper

Lauren Cox

Queen Egbo

Juicy Landrum

DiDi Richards

NaLyssa Smith

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