WBB Looks to Improve to 14-0 in Big 12 Play vs. OU



	#2/2 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (24-1, 13-0) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes	#2/2 BAYLOR (24-1, 13-0) vs OKLAHOMA (12-13, 5-8) February 22, 2020 \| 4 PM Waco, Texas \| Ferrell Center (10,284) LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast RADIO: 1660 AM/92.3 FM WATCH: ESPN App Talent: John Morris (PBP), Jim Haller (Color) LISTEN: Tune In Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Maggie Davis-Stinnett (Color) Baylor Social Media:

	OKLAHOMA SOONERS (12-13, 5-8) Location: Norman, Okla. Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Sherri Coale Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Now that she put her 600^th career win in the record books, becoming the fastest Division I men's or women's basketball coach to get there, Kim Mulkey can turn her attention to what's really important.
            With the magic number to win an unprecedented 10^th-consecutive Big 12 title now at two – any combination of Baylor wins or TCU losses – the No. 2-ranked Lady Bears (24-1, 13-0) will host Oklahoma (12-13, 5-8) at 4 p.m. Saturday.
            "We never talked about 600. I never brought it up," Mulkey said of Baylor's 77-62 win at Texas Tech on Tuesday, moving her career mark to 600-100 over 20 seasons.
            "It was more of a splash water on me, give them a hug and thank them. But, what we did talk about before the game and after the game is how many remaining games we have, how many do we need to win to win our 10^th-consecutive Big 12 championship. Because that's what's important. I don't want those kids to focus on (a 600^th win or awards). They are not more important than championships and being able to show a ring later in life."
            Leading second-place TCU (19-5, 10-3) by three games with five to play, the Lady Bears can clinch no worse than a share of their 10^th-straight conference title and the No. 1 seed for the Big 12 Championships by winning the next two against Oklahoma at home and Monday's game at West Virginia (15-9, 5-8).
            "You can't take any team lightly in the Big 12, because you never know when someone's going to come out and beat you," said 6-4 senior All-American Lauren Cox, who is averaging 11.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocks. "You do have to look forward to (winning another Big 12 title), because it is a great accomplishment, but you still need to take it one game at a time."
            When Baylor faced Oklahoma in Norman seven weeks ago in the conference opener, the Sooners jumped out to a 15-4 first-quarter lead. But, the Lady Bears scored 29 unanswered points and got a career-high 32 points from Te'a Cooper in a 77-56 win.
            "You don't look at the whole film from when we played them there, because they've changed a little bit," Mulkey said of OU, which has lost three in a row and seven of its last nine. "You get as much current film as you can . . . and then you look and see the things that we didn't do well against them (the first time)."
            At the top of the scouting report is 5-7 sophomore guard Taylor Robertson. A finalist for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award that recognizes the top shooting guard in the nation, Robertson has hit a national-best 116 3-pointers this season and is on pace to shatter the Big 12 record of 123 set by Kansas State's Laurie Koehn in 2002-03.
            Robertson hit four 3-pointers and scored 20 points – her season average – in that first meeting with Baylor. But, second-leading scorer Ana Llanusa (15.8 ppg), who missed six games with an injury, was held to just three points and 1-of-9 shooting.
            In Tuesday's historic win in Lubbock, Juicy Landrum reached a milestone of her own. The senior guard from nearby La Vega High School scored a game-high 19 points and topped the 1,000-point mark for her career.
            While Mulkey didn't discuss the 600^th win before the game, the players doused her with water as she entered the locker room and the 20^th-year head coach "looked like a little drowned rat up there" in the postgame media session.
            "They got me good," she said. "And it was cold."
            Out of respect for Tech and the home crowd, Cox said, "we didn't want to do anything out on the court. . . . But once we got in the locker room, we spilled water on her, picked her up, did whatever. Because we were happy for her."
            As much as Mulkey (600-100) celebrates the 600 wins, it's those 100 losses that seem to stick with her the most. She's had more losses against OU (26-18) than any other team, but has won nine in a row and 18 of the last 19 in the series.
            "I don't ever forget any of the losses," she said. "That's just who I am, that's just your personality. When you first start in this business, you carry those losses with you for a longer period of time. As you age and you stay in the business, you realize I've got to let go and move on. But, they still eat on you. I think that's what motivates you as a coach. You want to forget about those losses. I tend to think of things we can do better and remember them."
            Saturday's game, which follows a nationally televised showdown between the No. 1 Baylor men and No. 3 Kansas, will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and former Baylor men's coach Jim Haller calling the action.

MULKEY REACHES HISTORIC MILESTONE AT TEXAS TECH
   Baylor's win at Texas Tech Tuesday gave 20th-year head coach Kim Mulkey her 600th victory, and she became the fastest NCAA Division I coach, man or woman, to accomplish the feat. Her milestone along with the Baylor men's 23-game Big 12-win streak (record) led off the 10 p.m. ESPN SportsCenter Tuesday night. While not a complete list, Mulkey beat Adolph Rupp (704 games), Geno Auriemma (716), Jerry Tarkanian (720), Pat Summitt (734), Roy Williams (739), John Wooden (755) and Dean Smith (773) to the punch. Were Baylor to fall to Texas Tech, the Lady Bears would need pull out just one win in the following three games for Mulkey to still achieve the feat. In addition to reaching the milestone in the fewest amount of games, Mulkey would also reach 600 in her 20th season, two seasons faster than the next coach on the list, Auriemma, who achieved 600 in his 22nd season at UConn.

MULKEY NAMED A NAISMITH MEMORIAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME FINALIST FOR THE SECOND TIME
   Feb. 14, Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey learned that she was a finalist in the coach category for the 2020 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class. Mulkey was also a finalist in 2018 in the coach category, and she was also nominated as a player. Mulkey joined Rudy Tomjanovich, Barbara Stevens, Tamika Catchings, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Eddie Sutton as the eight finalists this year. A finalist needs 18 of 24 votes from the committee to be inducted into the 2020 class, which will be announced April 4 at 10 a.m. on ESPN from the NCAA Men's Final Four in Atlanta. Enshrinement festivities will take place in Springfield, Mo., Aug. 28-30.

STREAKS ON THE LINE FOR BAYLOR VS. OKLAHOMA
   Baylor won its 54th-straight Big 12 game in the regular season Tuesday in Lubbock, which ranks as the seventh-longest conference-win streak in NCAA history. The Lady Bears will shoot for No. 55 Saturday at home vs. Oklahoma; to catch the sixth-best streak in NCAA history, Baylor will need 57 (UConn, 2008-2012). Baylor's home win streak is at 53 games and is the longest active home-court win streak in the NCAA. If Baylor wins its 54th-straight at home Saturday, it would tie for 11th all-time best home-win streak in NCAA history.

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.

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 FOUR 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, earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, and was named to 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 was also a CoSIDA Academic-All District selection for the 2017-18 season; she is eligible for Academic All-American by making the all-district squad.

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 FOURSTATISTICAL CATEGORIES
   The 24-1 Lady Bears rank in the top 10 nationally in 15 categories through games played through Feb. 20. Baylor ranks No. 1 in the nation in three categories: Assists Per Game (22.2), Field Goal Percentage Defense (.305), Scoring Margin (32.4), and 3-Point Field Goal Pct. (.403).
   In addition, Baylor ranks in the top five in 11 additional categories.
   DiDi Richards ranks 7th nationally in assists-to-turnover ratio (2.88:1) while also cracking the Top 25 in assists per game at 16th (5.5) and assists at 18th (138). Queen Egbo's .603 shooting percentage ranks 9th in the country and first in the Big 12 while NaLyssa Smith ranks 17th and 2nd, respectively in that category with a. .586 shooting mark.

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.

WBB Looks to Improve to 14-0 in Big 12 Play vs. OU

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Players Mentioned

Te'a Cooper

Lauren Cox

Queen Egbo

Juicy Landrum

DiDi Richards

NaLyssa Smith

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WBB Looks to Improve to 14-0 in Big 12 Play vs. OU

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Te'a Cooper

Lauren Cox

Queen Egbo

Juicy Landrum

DiDi Richards

NaLyssa Smith

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