No. 2/1 WBB Hosts Kansas Wednesday in Search of 50th-Straight Big 12 Win



	#2/1 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (19-1, 8-0) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes	#2/1 BAYLOR (19-1, 8-0) vs KANSAS JAYHAWKS (12-8, 1-8) February 5, 2020 \| 7 PM Waco, Texas \| Ferrell Center (10,284) LIVE STATS: BaylorStats.com 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:

	KANSAS JAYHAWKS (12-8, 1-8) Location: Lawrence, Kan. Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Brandon Schneider Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Three months into the season, the goal for the top-ranked Baylor Lady Bears (19-1, 8-0) hasn't changed – winning a 10^th-consecutive Big 12 regular-season championship.
            Wrapping up the first half of league play with a matchup against last-place Kansas (12-8, 1-8) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Ferrell Center, Baylor can take another step in keeping a stranglehold on the championship it has won every year since 2011. The Lady Bears have a two-game lead on TCU (16-4. 7-2) and created a three-game cushion on Texas (14-7, 6-3) with Friday's 64-44 blowout road victory in Austin.
          The Lady Bears have won a mind-boggling 49-straight Big 12 regular-season games and 51 games in a row at the Ferrell Center, which is the 14th longest streak in NCAA history.
            While Baylor was pegged as the No. 1 seed in the Dallas Region when the NCAA committee had its first top-16 reveal Monday night, Mulkey said, "Don't worry about the NCAA reveal, worry about what you can control."
            "And what you can control is that next game," she said. "That next game will be the halfway point of conference. It will be the ninth conference game, it's only halfway. We've still got another half (of conference play) to go. And then, we'll get closer to the NCAA Tournament and talk about that in more detail. But, our goal right now is to win that 10^th championship. It was when the season started, and it hasn't changed today."
            Baylor was close to full strength in the first meeting with Kansas three weeks ago, when five players scored in double figures and two others chipped in with nine points apiece in the Lady Bears' 90-47 thrashing of the Jayhawks in Lawrence. That was during a stretch when they won their first four conference games by an average margin of 37.5 and also beat then-No. 1 UConn by 16 on the road.
            In the two games that sophomore forward NaLyssa Smith (14.7 ppg, 7.5 rebounds) sat out with a high ankle sprain, Baylor won by single digits over TCU and Texas Tech. She's played 11 minutes in each of the last two games, but is just 2-of-9 from the field and has totaled four points, six rebounds and two blocks with two turnovers.
            "With an injury, you can treat them all you want, but the only thing that heals it is time," Mulkey said. "Each day, NaLyssa Smith is better. She had a good workout (Monday). So, we'll just keep plugging along until we can get them out there at full speed."
            Smith said she's back to about 90 percent, but knows that "I have to produce when I'm on the court, or I'm going to be taken out."
            "When my name gets called, I'm just going to play basketball," she said.
            On Saturday, the Lady Bears broke open a tight game in the third quarter, when they held Texas to just five points on 2-of-16 shooting from the floor. The lead ballooned from five at intermission (29-24) to a more comfortable 23 points going into the fourth quarter (52-29).
            "I think both teams missed a lot of wide-open shots that I probably can't give credit to the defense," said Mulkey, whose team held Texas under 25 percent shooting for the game. "Some of that is anxiety, probably, some of that is wanting to do really well against each other. (You have) two teams, proximity is close, they know each other from high school. We just made enough (shots) to win the game, come home and get ready for the next one."
            Grad transfer point guard Te'a Cooper, who has a slight edge over Smith in scoring average (14.7 to 14.67), said the shots just weren't falling in the first half against Texas.
            "We weren't really hitting shots, but they had new rims, so it was a really tight rim," said Cooper, who was just 4-of-14 from the floor. "We knew they were going to fall in the second half, we just had to continue playing defense."
            That's been this team's calling card all year. Baylor ranks first in the nation in field goal percentage defense (30.7) and fourth in scoring defense, holding teams to 51.2 points per game.
            "Field goal percentage (defense) is something that is big in my eyes," Mulkey said. "That tells you that you're committed to playing defense. And if you look across the country, both men and women, teams that usually go deep in the NCAA Tournament, they're going to be up there in field goal percentage defense. We're not always going to score a lot, we're not always going to make a lot of shots, but your defense can win basketball games for you when you're struggling."
            Kansas was 11-0 and receiving votes in the Associated Press poll when conference play started in January. The Jayhawks suffered their fourth-consecutive loss and fell to 1-8 in league play on Sunday when they lost to Oklahoma in overtime, 94-82, after leading by 22 at the half.
            "When you're that young, the more games you can play, the better you become," Mulkey said. "I've looked at scores where they've almost won games and lost them at the last minute. That's confidence. That's kids that are becoming more confident."
            Wednesday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and former Baylor men's basketball head coach Jim Haller calling the action.

NCAA SELECTION COMMITTEE PUTS LADY BEARS AS NO. 2 OVERALL SEED, NO. 1 IN DALLAS REGIONAL
   Monday night 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.

STREAKS ON THE LINE FOR BAYLOR VS. KANSAS WEDNESDAY
   Baylor's 49-game league win streak began after a loss Feb. 3, 2017 to Texas at the Ferrell Center. The Lady Bears won the final five Big 12 games in the 2016-17 season, ran the table in both 2017-18 & 2018-19 at 18-0 and have a 8-0 start to 2019-20. A win vs. Kansas Wednesday would be the 50^th consecutive conference win in the regular season for Baylor, which would be the eighth best streak in NCAA history.
   Baylor has 51 consecutive wins at the Ferrell Center entering into Wednesday's game, with its last loss at home to Texas, Feb. 3, 2017. A 52^nd-straight win Wednesday would tie for the 14^th longest home-win streak in NCAA history.

LADY BEARS ON THE RUN
   Through 20 games the Lady Bears have 29 double-digit runs this season, including a season-high 37-0 run to begin the game vs. New Hampshire Nov. 5 and a Big-12 best 29-0 run at Oklahoma Jan. 4. In addition to the transition game on offense, Baylor's defense has allowed just 104 fast-break points on the season. Baylor is outscoring teams on the break by an average of 16.8-5.7.

50/50 – BAYLOR'S MAGIC NUMBER OFFENSIVELY &
DEFENSIVELY
   Kim Mulkey coached teams at Baylor 231-1 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 & 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 thoughout the season.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2...
LADY BEARS PIQUING ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL THROUGH FIRST 19 GAMES
   The 19-1 Lady Bears rank in the top 10 nationally in 15 categories through games played through Feb. 3. Baylor ranks No. 1 in the nation in six categories: Assists Per Game (23.0), Field Goal Percentage (.508), Field Goal Percentage Defense (.307), Scoring Margin (34.1), Scoring Offense (85.3), and Three-Point Field Goal Percentage (.415).
   In addition, Baylor ranks in the top five in six categories: Assists-to-Turnover Ratio (2nd, 1.72:1), Assists (3^rd, 460), Blocked Shots Per Game (6th, 6.1), Rebound Margin (2nd, 14.9), Scoring Defense (4th, 51.2), and Three-Point Field Goal Percentage Defense (4th, .247)
   DiDi Richards ranks 4th nationally in assists-to-turnover ratio (3.40:1) while Jordyn Oliver checks in at 17th (2.53:1). Richards also cracked the Top 25 in assists per game at 20th (5.4). Queen Egbo and NaLyssa Smith rank 13th and 22nd, respectively in national field goal percentage while ranking 2nd and 3rd, respectively in the Big 12. Egbo is shooting .594 from the floor while Smith is turning in a .577 clip. Juicy Landrum's .457 3-point field goal percentage ranks 8th 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.

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). 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. 2/1 WBB Hosts Kansas Wednesday in Search of 50th-Straight Big 12 Win

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Te'a Cooper

Lauren Cox

Queen Egbo

Juicy Landrum

Jordyn Oliver

DiDi Richards

NaLyssa Smith

Footer

No. 2/1 WBB Hosts Kansas Wednesday in Search of 50th-Straight Big 12 Win

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Te'a Cooper

Lauren Cox

Queen Egbo

Juicy Landrum

Jordyn Oliver

DiDi Richards

NaLyssa Smith

Related Videos

Promotional Background Photo

Footer