WBB Can Clinch at Least a Share of 10th-Straight Big 12 Title at WVU



	#2/2 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (25-1, 14-0) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes	#2/2 BAYLOR (25-1, 14-0) AT WEST VIRGINIA (16-9, 6-8) February 24, 2020 \| 6 PM (CT) Morgantown, W. Va. \| WVU Coliseum (14,000) LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast RADIO: 1660 AM/92.3 FM WATCH: Fox Sports App Talent: Ron Thulin (PBP), Brenda VanLengen (Color) LISTEN: Tune In Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Maggie Davis-Stinnett (Color) Baylor Social Media:

	WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS (16-9, 6-8) Location: Morgantown, W. Va. Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Mike Carey Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Baylor doesn't like sharing, but the No. 2-ranked Lady Bears (25-1, 14-0) can clinch at least a share of their 10^th-consecutive Big 12 regular-season championship when they play West Virginia (16-9, 6-8) at 6 p.m. CST Monday in Morgantown.
            Instead of avoiding the elephant in the room, coach Kim Mulkey said the team keeps a running tally of how many games are left and how many more games the Lady Bears need to win to clinch the title.
            "You can't avoid that," she said, "that's motivation here late in the year when you're trying to grind out wins."
            TCU (20-5, 11-3), the only other team still in the running, kept pace by grinding out a 49-37 homecourt win over Oklahoma State on Sunday. The Horned Frogs have won 10 of their last 12 games, dropping the home-and-home meetings with Baylor.
            Baylor is trying to run the table in conference play for the third year in a row and fifth time in the last 10 years. After Mulkey picked up her historic 600^th win by beating Texas Tech, 77-62, last Tuesday, the Lady Bears followed that up by blowing out Oklahoma, 101-69.
            With the quick turnaround against West Virginia, Mulkey was able to empty the bench in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game at home versus Oklahoma.  Senior guard Juicy Landrum was the only player that logged more than 30 minutes in the game.
            Having to take a three-hour-plus flight trip to West Virginia on Sunday, Mulkey said "it's always good to rest, and it's always good to play everybody."
            "Don't take kids for granted. They're going to be gone after four years, and you're going to miss them," she said. "Enjoy them while they're here. Enjoy them on their worst night, and embrace them when they are doggone good as well. . .. While we have them here, let's love them and let's make them better players."
            Baylor, which hasn't lost a game since falling to South Carolina on Nov. 30 in the final day of the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands, is riding an 18-game winning streak going into Monday's game. The Lady Bears also look to extend their Big 12 winning streaks of 55-straight regular-season games and 43-consecutive conference road games.
            Sophomore forward NaLyssa Smith scored 22 points in the win over Oklahoma and leads five double-figure scorers with 14.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Guards Te'a Cooper (13.9) and Landrum (11.3) also average double-digit points, while Lauren Cox and Queen Egbo are at 11.8 and 11.5 points per game, respectively.
            Since opening conference play at 3-0, West Virginia dropped eight of its next 10 games before Saturday's 60-53 win over Kansas. The Mountaineers, who are 10-3 at home, are led by the backcourt duo of senior Tynice Martin (15.1 ppg) and redshirt junior Kysre Gondrezick (16.1 ppg, 3.0 assists).
            "I still have visions in my head of when (Martin) killed us in the Big 12 tournament, and she's a tremendous jump shooter," Mulkey said of Martin, who hit four 3-pointers and scored 32 points in West Virginia's 77-66 win over Baylor in the 2017 Big 12 Championship final.
"We just have to make sure we contain other players, because we know how difficult it is to guard her. I know their record may not be indicative of their season, but what I do know is it will be physical and they will be good defensively."
            Monday's game will be televised by FS1, with Ron Thulin and Brenda VanLengen calling the action.
            Baylor returns home to host Kansas State (13-12, 7-7) at 6 p.m. Saturday when the Lady Bears could wrap up an outright title and No. 1 seed for the Big 12 tournament.

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. WEST VIRGINIA
   Baylor won its 55th-straight Big 12 game in the regular season Saturday in Waco, which ranks as the seventh-longest conference-win streak in NCAA history. The Lady Bears will shoot for No. 56 Monday on the road vs. Oklahoma; to catch the sixth-best streak in NCAA history, Baylor will need 57 (UConn, 2008-2012). Baylor's road win streak in the Big 12 is at 43 games and is the third-longest conference road-win streak in the regular season 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 235-1 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 FIVE STATISTICAL CATEGORIES
   The 25-1 Lady Bears rank in the top 10 nationally in 16 categories through games played through Feb. 22. Baylor ranks No. 1 in the nation in five categories: Assists Per Game (22.7), Field Goal Percentage (.508), Field Goal Percentage Defense (.309), Scoring Margin (32.4), and 3-Point Field Goal Pct. (.397).
   In addition, Baylor ranks in the top five in nine additional categories (full list on page 5).
   DiDi Richards ranks 5th nationally in assists-to-turnover ratio (2.98:1) while also cracking the Top 25 in assists per game at 15th (5.5) and assists at 17th (138). Juicy Landrum is back in the Top 25 after a brief absence in the assists-to-turnover ratio, ranking 16^th nationally and third in the Big 12 with a 2.51:1 mark. Queen Egbo's .602 shooting percentage ranks 9th in the country and first in the Big 12 while NaLyssa Smith ranks 10th and 2nd, respectively in that category with a. .599 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 Can Clinch at Least a Share of 10th-Straight Big 12 Title at WVU

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Players Mentioned

Te'a Cooper

Lauren Cox

Queen Egbo

Juicy Landrum

DiDi Richards

NaLyssa Smith

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WBB Can Clinch at Least a Share of 10th-Straight Big 12 Title at WVU

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Te'a Cooper

Lauren Cox

Queen Egbo

Juicy Landrum

DiDi Richards

NaLyssa Smith

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