Baylor
Iowa State
No. 9/8 WBB Heads to Ames to Avenge Season's Only League Loss
1/30/2021 12:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Lady Bears look for payback vs. Iowa State
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#9/8 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (11-2, 6-1) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
#9/8 BAYLOR (11-2, 6-1) at IOWA STATE (11-5, 7-2) January 31, 2021 | 3 PM (CT) Ames, Iowa | Hilton Coliseum (14,384)  WATCH: ESPN2Talent: Pam Ward (PBP), LaChina Robinson (Analyst) RADIO: 1660 AM/92.3 FM DIGITAL RADIO LINK: ESPN Central Texas Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Paul Bradshaw (Analyst) LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast 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 ** |
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IOWA STATE (11-5, 7-2) Location: Ames, Iowa Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Bill Fennelly (William Penn, 1979) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Looking to snap a rare two-game losing streak in a series they've otherwise dominated, the No. 8/9 Baylor Lady Bears (11-2, 6-1) will travel north to face the Iowa State Cyclones (11-5. 7-2) at 3 p.m Sunday at Hilton Coliseum.
Baylor ended the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season with a 57-56 loss in Ames and then had its 61-game home court winning streak snapped with a 75-71 loss to the Cyclones in Waco on Jan. 16. That was the Lady Bears' first back-to-back losses to an opponent since Notre Dame's Elite Eight wins in 2014 and '15 and first in Big 12 since a Texas sweep in 2010.
In that Jan. 16 game at the Ferrell Center, Baylor was playing just its second game in a month and had not practiced all week because of COVID quarantining.
"Playing on their home floor is always a challenge, even if you have all of your players and you're not in COVID restrictions" said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, whose team has reeled off three-straight wins by an average margin of 25 points. "Unfortunately, we had that happen when they came here. But, I don't want to take away from their victory. We're all having to play this year under circumstances where we have had to adapt and adjust."
Even with the limited practice time, and Caitlin Bickle and DiJonai Carrington both missing the game, Baylor fought back from a double-digit first-quarter deficit to take a fourth-quarter lead. But, Ashley Joens scored 12 of her game-high 27 points in the last 5 ½ minutes to help Iowa State pull out its first win at the Ferrell Center in 24 years.
While giving the Cyclones credit for the win, Mulkey said her frustration stems from the fact that the players "put themselves in the position to not be able to practice for a week" when Bickle and Carrington tested positive for COVID-19 after an unauthorized team gathering.
"That wouldn't be any different if they were own my children and I told them to do something and they did it anyway," Mulkey said. "(Late in the game), we couldn't go, couldn't defend, we were tired, had not been in the practice gym. That, in itself, should motivate them. That, in itself, should be frustration enough that we did this to ourselves."
Bickle returned and played in the final minutes of Tuesday's 82-49 rout of TCU at home, while Carrington (11.2 ppg) had her practice restrictions lifted Saturday and is expected to play Sunday. Between them, they have hit 13 of Baylor's 43 made 3-pointers this season.
"You don't want anybody to get COVID, but those two – other than Moon (Ursin) – were basically our perimeter shooters," Mulkey said. "And we didn't have either one of them when we played Iowa State. We all know the junk defenses we face when we play against Iowa State. . . . We need perimeter shooters when you play an Iowa State type of defense."
The bigger issue, Mulkey said, is on the defensive end. All five Iowa State starters have hit double-digit 3-pointers, including 6-3 senior forward Kristin Scott (10.3 ppg, 5.9 rebounds) and 5-10 freshman Lexi Donarski (12.5 ppg), who hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 4:18 left that gave the Cyclones the lead for good in Waco.
"When you play teams like Iowa State, they expose your post defense," Mulkey said. "They don't expose your perimeter defense. We get exposed when you have that style of team if you don't have post players that can go out on the perimeter and defend the 3."
Like All-American Kalani Brown when she was a freshman, 6-5 Baylor freshman center Hannah Gusters "gets exposed on the perimeter by post players who you take you outside," Mulkey said.
Baylor's starting post combo of NaLyssa Smith (17.5 ppg, 10.2 rebounds) and Queen Egbo (11.3 ppg, 7.0 rebounds), "as athletic as they are, they have to get better on defending out there," Mulkey said, "because you're not going to see it a lot, but you're starting to see more of it in the women's game where everybody goes outside and shoots the 3."
A leading Big 12 Player of the Year candidate, Joens ranks eighth nationally in scoring (24.4 ppg) and is one of two players in the nation averaging over 24 points and nine rebounds per game (9.1).
"We know the type of player Ashley Joens is. She's a very difficult guard for us, for any of our players," Mulkey said. "And then, the three freshmen, I don't know that they're freshmen anymore. They have enough experience now that they're really comfortable."
Sunday's game will be broadcast by ESPN2, with Pam Ward and LaChina Robinson calling the action.
Prior to the game, Iowa State will honor coach Bill Fennelly for his 700th career victory. Fennelly, who is 700-331 in 33 years as a Division I head coach and 534-278 in 26 years at Iowa State, picked up win No. 700 when the Cyclones edged Kansas State, 62-60, Thursday night in Manhattan.
URSIN, SMITH AND ANDREWS SHINE IN HOME WIN VS. TCU
Moon Ursin reached the 20-point mark for the third time in the last five games, NaLyssa Smith had 18 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, and freshman Sarah Andrews scored all 18 of her points in the fourth quarter as Baylor coasted to its second win over TCU this season, Tuesday. Ursin has been an incredible story for the Lady Bears, averaging just 4.0 points per contest for her career coming into her senior season. She had just five starts prior to starting in all of Baylor's games this season, and she's averaging career bests with 11.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists. In the last five games she's averaged 17.6, 8.0 and 3.6, respectively. Smith has 11-straight games with double-figure scoring and five double-doubles in the last six games. Andrews missed her first nine shots before hitting six of her last eight, including four 3-point field goals, and Baylor went on to their 31st-consecutive victory over the Horned Frogs.
LADY BEARS LOOKING TO TAKE BACK CONTROL OF IOWA STATE SERIES
Prior to Iowa State's back-to-back wins over Baylor March 8, 2020 and Jan. 16, 2021, the last team to beat Baylor twice in a row was Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish beat the Lady Bears in consecutive Elite 8s March 31, 2014 and March 29, 2015. The last Big 12 team to beat Baylor twice in a row in conference play was Texas on Jan. 31, 2010 and again on March, 2010. If Iowa State were to pull off the upset again, it would be the first time a league opponent beat Baylor three times in a row in the regular season since Oklahoma beat the Lady Bears four-straight times in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. Baylor's focus will be on returning to controlling the series with Iowa State. The Lady Bears lead the all-time series 30-9 and are 29-6 in the Mulkey era. Prior to the Cyclones' two wins over Baylor, the Lady Bears had taken 19 of the previous 20 meetings.
RICHARDS, KNOWN FOR HER DEFENSE, QUIETLY MOVING UP BAYLOR'S ALL-TIME ASSISTS LIST
When most think of DiDi Richards, they think defense. After all, she was the National Defensive Player of the Year by both the WBCA and Naismith last season without having high steals or blocks numbers. Her reputation for on-ball defense and pestering the Big 12 and the nation's top perimeter players earned her the awards. But, many might not know that Richards is one of Baylor's all-time best passers. In her last five games, Richards has collected 42 assists with just 10 turnovers. This season, she ranks first in the Big 12 in assists per game, which ranks 8th nationally. She ranks second in the league in total assists, and last season she was the Big 12 statistical champion and ranked 7th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio. Her 459 assists coming into Sunday's game ranks 5th all-time on the Baylor career assists list. With COVID-19 looming, Richards may not get to put up the numbers she normally would have, but she has a shot to leave Baylor at 3rd all-time in that category. Kristy Wallace collected 525 assists in her four years and ranks third. Richards has 11 Big 12 games left to play, a Big 12 Tournament and an NCAA Tournament. Her pace is 6.7 assists per game, and if she continues at that rate, she would pass Wallace in the next 12 games. Niya Johnson is Baylor's all-time leader with 988 and Odyssey Sims ranked second at 641.
RANDOM LADY BEARS BITS
Trinity Oliver has kept a hidden talent, mostly to herself, since her arrival at Baylor in 2017-18. She's an artist. She paints, sketches and draws and is extremely talented. The athletic department's "Baylor Vision" division produced a feature story for halftime of Saturday's Oklahoma-game broadcast on the Big 12 Now on ESPN+ featuring an interview with her and a showcase of some of her work. Baylor women's basketball's social media accounts posted the segment on Sunday.
Oliver, a redshirt junior in her fourth season with the Lady Bears along with senior Moon Ursin have made the most of their first significant playing time in the program. While Ursin had more previous playing time than Oliver, she's already on pace to set career best for season totals in virtually every category. Through 13 games, her 149 points is quickly approaching her previous career best of 154 in her junior season, accomplished in 30 games. Oliver on the other hand already has career best in points (85) and rebounds (52) in just a dozen games.
COVID-19'S EFFECT ON THE LADY BEARS
All are having to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Lady Bears are no exception. Baylor lost four games scheduled for the Preseason WNIT in Waco in November, along with a Thanksgiving week game vs. Oregon in Las Vegas. Originally scheduled for Nov. 27, Baylor and Northwestern State's game was postponed due to COVID issues within the NWST program and was rescheduled for Dec. 18. Baylor lost its top-10 matchup with UConn Jan. 7 and postponed originally-scheduled Big 12 contests with K-State at home (Jan. 10) and at Kansas (Jan. 13).
Moon Ursin, lost her grandmother, Ruby Alexander, to the virus in April after a swift and brief battle with COVID. Kamaria McDaniel, a transfer from Penn State that is having to sit this season, lost her grandfather, Johnny Webster, Sr., in April as well. Kim Mulkey, Jordyn Oliver, DiJonai Carrington and Caitlin Bickle have all had to miss time due to COVID-19 protocols this season.
RICHARDS RETURNS TO FLOOR AFTER SPINAL INJURY, FEATURED ON ESPN'S SPORTSCENTER
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 shocked doctors, team medical staff and coaches with the rate of her rehab. Thirty-eight days after the injury, she played 30 minutes off the bench at South Florida Dec. 1. She scored a bucket 13 seconds into her entry, and picked up where she left off last season by leading Baylor with seven assists. Dec. 6 in
Fayetteville, Ark., she resumed her starting role, getting her first start at point guard and finished the contest with a game-high eight assists. She led the Big 12 in assists per game in 2019-20, ranked 13th in the nation and had the NCAA's sixth-best assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.9:1.
Her return to the floor sparked interest from ESPN with Mechelle Voepel writing a feature on her recovery, and Scott Van Pelt led off his Tuesday edition of SportsCenter, covering Richards' return with the "Best Thing I Saw Today" segment.
BAYLOR WINS 1,000TH WIN AS A PROGRAM; LADY BEARS BECOME 15TH PROGRAM IN D1 HISTORY TO REACH 1,000 VICTORIES
Baylor's win at South Florida Dec. 1 marked the program's 1,000th victory. Baylor became the 15th program in NCAA Division I history to reach 1,000 victories joining Tennessee, UConn, James Madison, Louisiana Tech, Stanford, Texas, SFA, Old Dominion, Ohio State, Maryland, Western Kentucky, Wisconsin-Green Bay, South Dakota State, and Notre Dame. Kim Mulkey has 606 of those wins as head coach for Baylor. At Louisiana Tech, she was either a player, assistant or associate head coach for 560 victories, which makes her a direct contributor to 1,106 wins between the two programs on the prestigious list.
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).
