Baylor
Texas
No. 7/7 WBB Aims for Outright Big 12 Title at Texas Monday on ESPN2
2/28/2021 4:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball
A Lady Bears win vs. the Longhorns Monday gives BU the outright Big 12 Title
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#7/7 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (19-2, 14-1) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
#7/7 BAYLOR (19-2, 14-1) vs TEXAS (16-7, 10-6) March 1, 2021 | 6 PM Austin, Texas | Frank Erwin Center (16,540)  WATCH: ESPN2Talent: Ryan Ruocco (PBP), Rebecca Lobo (Analyst), Holly Rowe (Reporter) RADIO: 1660 AM/92.3 FM DIGITAL RADIO LINK: 92.3 FM Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Maggie Davis-Stinnett (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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EXAS LONGHORNS (16-7, 10-6) Location: Austin, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Vic Schaefer Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Let's face it, Baylor doesn't like sharing.
Just once in their previous 10-consecutive Big 12 championships did the Lady Bears have to share it with another team, tying West Virginia for the top spot in 2014 when they both finished 16-2 and split the season series.
It didn't keep them from celebrating on Saturday, when they clinched at least a share of this year's championship with an 85-49 rout of Kansas State. But, coach Kim Mulkey made it clear that the No. 7 Lady Bears (19-2, 14-1) "want to win it outright."
They get the first shot at that on Monday with a 6 p.m. matchup against Texas (16-7, 10-6) at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. No. 18 West Virginia (18-4, 12-4) is the only other team still mathematically alive, and the Mountaineers come to Waco for the season finale next Monday, March 8.
"We've got three games remaining," Mulkey said, "and we understand that we've got to win another ballgame to win it outright."
Picked second in the coaches' preseason poll, the Longhorns fell to fifth with Saturday's 68-63 overtime loss to Oklahoma. Two weeks ago, Baylor held them to 24.6 percent shooting from the floor in a 60-35 blowout at the Ferrell Center.
A preseason All-Big 12 pick and Player of the Year candidate, 6-5 junior center Charli Collier (21.4 ppg, 12.3 rebounds, 1.2 blocks) took just three shots, turned it over three times and scored two points before fouling out.
"What I remember from the last Texas game is our posts played outstanding defense on Charli and even on (junior forward Audrey Warren)," said Baylor senior point guard DiDi Richards, who ranks second nationally with 7.0 assists per game. "I think they did well at helping each other out. If our posts get going, then you know our guards are going to get going, so it's just exciting to see when they're going the way they are."
While 6-2 junior forward NaLyssa Smith (17.9 ppg, 9.4 rebounds) had the defensive assignment on Collier for most of the previous matchup and didn't give her a chance to breathe, 6-3 junior center Queen Egbo (10.5 ppg, 7.4 rebounds) has stepped up her game on the defensive end as well. She frustrated Kansas State's Ayoka Lee in Sunday's game, holding the 6-6 sophomore center to just eight points and two boards.
"Queen is always going to get the assignment of the post player that's going to be in the paint the most," Mulkey said. "And they're different styles. She's had to guard the athletic post, she's had to guard the back-to-the-basket post, she's had to do a little bit of all of it. . . . (Against Lee), I was certainly impressed with what Queen did in moving her feet defensively."
On top of Collier and Warren (10.1 ppg), the Lady Bears will also have to contend with the backcourt duo of Celeste Taylor (12.0 ppg) and Joanne Allen-Taylor (11.5 ppg). In that first meeting, with Baylor's posts not even allowing many shots in the paint, Taylor and Allen-Taylor were a combined 7-of-32 from the floor and scored 15 points.
"You've got to change your whole mindset about how we're going to defend people, how we need to attack them and go play," Mulkey said. "We're not looking past Texas. We didn't look past K-State. Anybody that has played in this program will tell you, we live for the team we play next. And we put just as much effort into scouting reports, no matter who we're playing."
A big part of the reason for Texas' lofty preseason ranking was the hiring last spring of head coach Vic Shaefer, who led Mississippi State to a pair of Final Four berths after helping Gary Blair win the 2011 national championship as his "Secretary of Defense."
While the Longhorns are "playing hard" for Schaefer, Mulkey said, "I'm sure that Vic would tell you, it's not his style yet, because he inherited players."
"When you inherit players, sometimes you don't keep all of them and you bring in your own recruits," she said. "So, when he's been there two, three, four years, I think any coach will tell you that you start feeling more comfortable. And those players are more comfortable. Any time you're a new coach, things change for him and for the players."
Baylor has dominated the series, winning nine in a row and 24 of the last 25 meetings with the Longhorns. Texas still leads the all-time series, 58-44, but the Lady Bears are 35-11 against their I-35 rivals since Mulkey's arrival in 2000.
Monday's game will be broadcast by ESPN2, with Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe calling the action.
Riding an 11-game winning streak, Baylor finishes the regular season with a road game at Kansas on Saturday and next Monday's matchup at home against West Virginia before heading to the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City.
BAYLOR CLINCHES SHARE OF 11TH-CONSECUTIVE BIG 12 REGULAR-SEASON TITLE, 12TH OVERALL, OUTRIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP UP FOR GRABS VS. TEXAS
The Baylor Lady Bears continued the nation's longest streak of consecutive regular-season conference championships Saturday when they clinched a share of their 11th-straight with a win over Kansas State. The victory marks the 12th regular-season Big 12 championship in program history and the Lady Bears have rattled off 11 straight since the 2010-11 season. Baylor's 11-straight titles mark tied for fifth in NCAA Division I women's basketball history for consecutive championships. The Lady Bears have three contests remaining and need just one victory to take the outright title.
LADY BEARS VS. THE LONGHORNS
Baylor has nine-straight wins over Texas and has won 24 of the last 25 games in the series. Kim Mulkey is 35-11 (.767) vs. the Longhorns in her tenure, but Texas leads the all-time series 58-44. Proximity creates rivalry, and Baylor and Texas' arenas are just 101 miles apart. However, since Texas took five of six games in the series from 2008 to 2010, it's been all Baylor. Just one blemish in a rare loss at the Ferrell Center, Feb. 6, 2017, and Texas hasn't won since. However, the matchup turned a new page in the storied history with Vic Schaefer pacing the Texas sidelines as head coach for the first time in the 2020-21 series. Baylor took the first matchup in Waco, 60-35 on Valentine's day marking the second time in three seasons the Lady Bears held the Longhorns to 35 points. Thirty-five points is the lowest offensive output in the series by Texas. The Schaefer-led Mississippi State Bulldogs defeated Baylor in the 2017 Elite 8, and that game marks the only other time that Mulkey and Schaefer have squared off as head coaches. Despite just the two matchups, these coaches are familiar with each other from Schaefer's days as an assistant to Gary Blair at Arkansas and Texas A&M. Mulkey's teams carried a 22-5 record vs. the Blair/Schaefer combo at Arkansas and Texas A&M.
LADY BEARS IN NATION'S LEAD FOR FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE … AGAIN
For four-straight years and five since the 2010-11 season, the Baylor Lady Bears have been the NCAA Statistical Champion in Defensive Field Goal Percentage. It took until Feb. 14, but Baylor leads the category again through 21 games at a .316 clip. The Lady Bears also lead the nation in rebound margin (18.9) and Assists Per Game (22.2).]
AP POLL RESEARCH SHOWS MULKEY AS ACTIVE LEADER IN TOTAL TOP 25 APPEARANCES AS PLAYER, ASSISTANT AND HEAD COACH
Longtime women's hoops guru Mel Greenberg put together a list of coaches and players' appearances in the AP Top 25 poll over the years and found that Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey is the NCAA's active leader in appearances at 665 from her time as a player and assistant at Louisiana Tech and her 21-year tenure as head coach at Baylor. She trails only Holly Warlick for most all-time appearances; Warlick played, assisted Pat Summitt and was head coach at Tennessee from 2012-2019.
RICHARDS EYES THIRD-PLACE ALL-TIME ON CAREER-ASSISTS LIST AT BU
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. This season, she ranks first in the Big 12 in assists per game, which ranks 2nd nationally. Her 519 assists coming into Saturday's game ranks 4th all-time on the Baylor career assists list. She will have a strong shot to leave Baylor at 3rd all-time in that category, trailing Kristy Wallace's 525 by just 6 assists. Richards has three Big 12 games left to play, a Big 12 Tournament and an NCAA Tournament. Her pace is 7.0 assists per game, and if she continues at that rate, she would pass Wallace Monday in Austin. Niya Johnson is Baylor's all-time leader with 988 and Odyssey Sims ranked second at 641.
COVID-19'S EFFECT ON THE LADY BEARS
Baylor lost four games scheduled for the Preseason WNIT in Waco in November, along with a Thanksgiving week game vs. Oregon in Las Vegas. Baylor lost its top-10 matchup with UConn Jan. 7.
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 she resumed her starting role Dec. 6 at Arkansas.
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.
