No. 8/8 Lady Bears Take on Kansas at Home

Thursday, February 4

Waco, Texas

7 p.m.

Baylor

Kansas

No. 8/8 Lady Bears Take on Kansas at Home

2/3/2021 10:12:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Baylor WBB looks for 14th-straight win over Jayhawks



	#8/8 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (12-2, 7-1) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes	#8/8 BAYLOR (12-2, 7-1) vs KANSAS (6-8, 2-6) February 4, 2021 \| 7 PM (CT) Waco, Texas \| Ferrell Center (10,284) WATCH: E SPN+ Talent: John Morris (PBP), Danielle "Crockrom" Fontenot (Analyst) RADIO: 1660 AM/92.3 FM DIGITAL RADIO LINK: ESPN Central Texas 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

	KANSAS JAYHAWKS (6-8, 2-6) Location: Lawrence, Kan. Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Brandon Schneider (Wayland Baptist, 1995) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            In Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner's character heard the whisper in the corn field, "Build it, and he will come."
            Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, whose eighth-ranked Lady Bears (12-2, 7-1) host Kansas (6-8, 2-6) at 7 p.m. Thursday, has a similar message to her players: "Produce while you're out there, and you're going to stay out there."
            That was certainly the case in Sunday's 85-77 win at Iowa State, which avenged the Lady Bears' loss to the Cyclones just two weeks earlier. Playing all 40 minutes, senior guard Moon Ursin (11.4 ppg, 6.8 rebounds) recorded her third double-double in the last six games with 11 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.
            "It's kind of ingrained in our (guards') heads that we need more help . . . just crash the boards," Mulkey said. "And you're hard to block out because you're coming from the perimeter. Most blocking out takes place in the paint. So, she has the ability to get in there quickly, and then she can leap over just about anybody."
            DiJonai Carrington, a grad transfer from Stanford who once had 22 rebounds in a game, said she was "stunned" when she looked at the stat sheet after the game and saw that the 5-6 Ursin had 15 rebounds.
            "But, I'm not surprised in general, because I see her every single day in practice. I see her in the workouts, and I see how hard she goes and how much athleticism she has in her tank," Carrington said of Ursin. "So, it's incredible to see on display for the world, but personally and I know for the rest of the team, we see it every day. I don't want to say it's what we expect, but it's what we know we need to get to where we know we can go."
            Coming off a COVID quarantine and playing her first game in almost a month, Carrington (11.8 ppg, 4.4 rebounds) played 35 minutes and finished with 17 points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals.
            While Carrington gave the Lady Bears another perimeter threat on the wing opposite Ursin, knocking down two 3-pointers, "one of the things that kept her on the floor was her ability to defend (Ashley) Joens in the post," Mulkey said.
            The Big 12 leader and ranked seventh nationally in scoring (24.5 ppg), Joens still scored just above her average with 25 points, but was 6-of-22 overall and 3-of-9 from outside the arc.
            "She's definitely tough to guard," Carrington said. "I think it was a great team effort. I was trying to take away her first moves, but my teammates were coming over to help with the counter moves and coming in to double or just make her see people around her to know that she's not going to have a wide-open layup or wide-open look. That's a great defensive stat line for our team to hold someone to, especially someone of her caliber."
            Senior point guard DiDi Richards (7.8 ppg 6.5 assists) logged 38 minutes in the Iowa State game, stuffing the stat sheet with 12 points, five assists, four rebounds, two steals and a block. Named a Top 10 candidate for the Nancy Lieberman Award that honors the nation's top point guard, Richards ranks ninth nationally in both assists and assists/turnover ratio (3.3).
            NaLyssa Smith (17.6 ppg, 10.1 rebounds), who was named to the Late Season Top 20 for the Naismith Award, played only five minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls. But, the 6-2 junior forward came back to score 16 of her team-high 20 points in the second half and record her sixth double-double in the last seven games with 10 boards.
            A game up on No. 21/24 West Virginia (13-2, 8-2) in the Big 12 standings, Baylor faces a Kansas team that has lost six of its last seven after a COVID pause in January. The Jayhawks are led by 5-10 sophomore guard Holly Kersgieter, who is averaging 15.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
            "I think you're going to see a team that plays extremely hard," Mulkey said. "They're constantly moving. You can't take a break defensively. The thing that impressed me about them, even in losses, is how hard they played at the end of the game when it was basically over. They're not a team that quits playing. They don't care what the score is, they're going to keep playing hard."
            Thursday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and Baylor Hall of Famer Danielle Crockrom Fontenot calling the action.

LADY BEARS AVENGE ONLY CONFERENCE LOSS OF THE SEASON AT IOWA STATE
    A dominant performance on the glass and an all-around effort by Baylor helped the Lady Bears take an 85-77 road win over Iowa State Sunday in Ames, Iowa. Baylor's 51 rebounds compared to the Cyclones' 26 aided the victory, but it was the 23 offensive rebounds that were turned into 21 second-chance points that put the Lady Bears over the top. NaLyssa Smith had her sixth double-double in the last seven contests with a team-leading 20 points and 10 boards to lead Baylor. The 5'6" guard Moon Ursin grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds to go along with 11 points and six assists, and DiJonai Carrington, playing for the first time since Jan. 2, scored 17 points off the bench while adding a team-best three steals. Iowa State had been the first team since Texas in 2010 to beat Baylor in back-to-back contests. By getting back in the win column, the Lady Bears avoided losing three in a row to a conference opponent for the first time since the 2005-06 and 2006-07 season when Oklahoma took four-straight contests over Baylor.

BAYLOR AIMS TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF KANSAS SERIES
    Baylor holds a 13-game winning streak over the Jayhawks, and the Lady Bears are 31-2 in the Kim Mulkey era vs. Kansas. The last time Baylor fell to the Jayhawks came Jan. 19, 2014 in a 76-60 decision in Lawrence. Baylor's only other loss under Mulkey to KU also came on the road, March 4, 2009 when the Jayhawks took a 69-45 win. During the current 13-game streak, Baylor has won those games by an average of 31.2 points per contest.

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. This season, she ranks first in the Big 12 in assists per game, which ranks 9th nationally. She ranks second in the league in total assists, and last season she was the Big 12 statistical champion, ranking 7th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio. Her 464 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 10 Big 12 games left to play, a Big 12 Tournament and an NCAA Tournament. Her pace is 6.5 assists per game, and if she continues at that rate, she would pass Wallace in the next 11 games. Niya Johnson is Baylor's all-time leader with 988 and Odyssey Sims ranked second at 641.

RANDOM LADY BEARS BITS
     NaLyssa Smith and DiDi Richards each picked up honors this week from national entities. Smith, on Monday, was named to the Top 20 Late Season Watch List for the Wooden Award for nation's best player, and Richards was named a Top 10 Finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award given to the country's top point guard.
     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 14 games, her 160 points is already a career best after scoring 154 in her 30-game junior season. Oliver on the other hand already has career best in points (89) and rebounds (58) in just 14 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.