No. 8/8 Lady Bears Take on K-State in Manhattan

Baylor WBB looks to extend streak over the Wildcats to 35 games

Women's Basketball 2/6/2021 8:27:00 AM



	#8/8 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (13-2, 8-1) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes	#8/8 BAYLOR (13-2, 8-1) vs K-STATE (5-10, 0-8) February 7, 2021 \| 1 PM (CT) Manhattan, Kan. \| Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) WATCH: E SPN+ Talent: Brian Smoller (PBP), Missy Heidrick (Analyst) RADIO: 1660 AM/92.3 FM DIGITAL RADIO LINK: ESPN Central Texas Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Kyle Robarts (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 STATE WILDCATS (5-10, 0-8) Location: Manhattan, Kan. Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Jeff Mittee (Missouri Western, 1989) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            After reaching the halfway point in the race for an unprecedented 11^th-consecutive Big 12 championship, Baylor coach Kim Mulkey's not looking to make any significant changes going into Sunday's 1 p.m. game at Kansas State.
            "Just keep doing what we're doing," said Mulkey, whose eighth-ranked Lady Bears (13-2, 8-1) have reeled off five-straight wins since a 75-71 loss at home to Iowa State on Jan. 16. Baylor has a slim lead on No. 21/24 West Virginia (15-2, 9-2), which held on for an 81-75 road win at Texas Saturday night.
            "Each day, add a little something that maybe you haven't seen us do yet. If that's a full-court press, we've introduced it, but we haven't worked on it yet. Is there a place for a half-court 2-2-1 back to a man? Things like that. But, just play hard, become more confident, stay healthy, which is out of our control. That's what you do in February and March, you just hope that everything comes together and you're playing your best basketball."
            You can certainly make the case that Baylor has played its best basketball in the three weeks since the loss to Iowa State. The Lady Bears have won their last five by an average margin of 23.2 points, including 33-point blowouts of TCU and Kansas.
            "Every time you see us play, we're getting better," Mulkey said. "That's because we've been on the floor practicing. This team is very good. Unfortunately, like a lot of teams across the country, this team is having to play during a pandemic, under unusual circumstances. But, if you look at the scores, they're producing, they're doing their job. And the more we play, the better we'll be."
            After missing four games with COVID issues and quarantining, grad transfer DiJonai Carrington came back to score 17 points in last Sunday's 85-77 win at Iowa State, avenging the loss to the Cyclones that snapped a 61-game home court winning streak.
            In Thursday's 83-50 win at home over Kansas, Carrington scored 17 again, hitting three 3-pointers and adding seven rebounds, four assists and a block.
            "I think she made her mark well known on the court earlier in the season, and now it's just being in the spotlight at this point," senior point guard DiDi Richards said of Carrington, who is averaging 12.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. "She can definitely make it a lot easier for our posts just being on the court."
            Tied for the team lead with 16 made 3-pointers, Carrington has "given us the perimeter shot," Mulkey said. But maybe just as important is her work on the defensive end, where she helped limit Iowa State's Ashley Joens to 6-of-22 shooting from the field.
            "She helped DiDi and NaLyssa (Smith), and they didn't have to guard Joens the whole game," Mulkey said. "And I thought DiJonai may have done the best job of all of them of guarding her and trying to front her and bang with her and not let her get all those and-ones in the block area."
            Two years removed from an NCAA tournament appearance, Kansas State (5-10, 0-8) is entrenched in last place in the Big 12 standings. The Wildcats have lost six of their last seven by single digits, including Wednesday's 83-75 overtime loss at Texas Tech.
            "They had five games they had to postpone because of COVID," Mulkey said. "When you're behind that much in coaching and practicing, it sometimes just takes you a little while to get it all together. I saw they had a 12point lead on West Virginia with three minutes to go, and West Virginia started pressing them and ended up winning. They've been in a lot of basketball games and they've lost some heartbreaking games."
            Sunday's 1 p.m. game at Bramlage Coliseum features two of the 10 finalists for the Lisa Leslie Award that honors the nation's top center. Baylor's 6-3 junior center, Queen Egbo, is averaging 10.9 points and 7.2 rebounds, while 6-6 Kansas State sophomore Ayoka Lee ranks among the league leaders in field goal percentage (60.6), scoring (17.8 ppg), rebounds (8.5) and blocked shots (1.7).
            "She's a big presence in there. You're not going to move her," Mulkey said of Lee. "She's going to get down there to her area that she's comfortable in posting up. We've got our hands full with her. And then you add (Christianna) Carr, who can shoot the 3. We've got to play very good defense against those guys, because they are so dangerous on the offensive end."
            Smith, a finalist for the Katrina McClain (power forward) Award, leads the Lady Bears with 17.6 points and 10.1 rebounds. Senior guard Moon Ursin (11.7 ppg, 6.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists) has scored in double figures in each of the last seven games and is second on the team in Big 12 play with a 14.6-point average.
            Baylor has won 34 straight and leads the all-time series, 38-8, including a 36-4 mark under Mulkey. The Lady Bears' last loss to K-State was Jan. 27, 2004, when Nicole Ohlde scored 26 points to lift the Wildcats to a dominant 85-65 win in Manhattan.
            Sunday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Brian Smoller and Missy Heidrick calling the action.
            The Lady Bears play their second-straight road game and third in the last four games at Texas Tech Wednesday night before returning home to host Texas for a Valentine's Day matchup at 4 p.m. next Sunday.

LADY BEARS ROLL PAST KANSAS TO MAINTAIN HALF-GAME LEAD IN BIG 12 STANDINGS
    NaLyssa Smith had her seventh double-double in the last eight games, Moon Ursin was a board shy of one, and DiJonai Carrington scored 17 points off the bench for the second-straight game to lead Baylor past Kansas at home, 83-50, Thursday. Smith was 8-of-14 from the floor and finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Ursin had 16 and nine, respectively, and Carrington added four assists and three 3-point field goals to spark the Lady Bears to 8-1 in conference play. West Virginia, at 8-2, is a half-game back in a tight Big 12 race this season. Oklahoma State's 9-3 record, Texas' 7-3 mark and Iowa State's 7-4 record has five teams still vying for a Big 12 championship.
     For the second-straight game, Baylor has been suffocating on the offensive glass, and Thursday vs. the Jayhawks, Baylor turned 26 offensive rebounds into 21 second-chance points. In the last two games Baylor has outdueled its opponents 49-12 on the offensive glass while outscoring its opponent 42-6 in second-chance opportunities.

BAYLOR AIMS TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF KANSAS STATE SERIES
    Baylor's 34-game winning streak over K-State is the longest of any streak the Lady Bears have going in the Big 12. The Wildcats last took a victory over Baylor, Jan. 27, 2004, in Manhattan. That game was the end of a four-game streak for the Wildcats and the only four wins that K-State has over Baylor since Kim Mulkey took the reins in the 2000-01 season. The Lady Bears lead the all-time series 38-8 and are 36-4 in the Mulkey era. K-State is still searching for its first win in conference play with an 0-8 start. Sunday's contest should have been the second meeting between the two programs this season, however, the Jan. 10 contest, scheduled in Waco, was postponed due to COVID-19 issues with both programs. The league office has yet to re-schedule the second meeting between the two schools.

THREE LADY BEARS LAND FINALIST NODS FROM NAISMITH/WBCA ANNUAL POSITION AWARDS
     The Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame and the WBCA rolled out its top-10 lists this past week for its annual "Starting Five" awards, honoring the best women's college basketball players at each position, each season. First-year point guard and senior DiDi Richards earned a spot on the Nancy Lieberman Award list, NaLyssa Smith was honored as a power forward for the Katrina McClain Award list, and for the second-straight year, Queen Egbo was selected as a top-10 finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award for centers. The position awards are in their fourth year in existence except for the Lieberman Award, which began honoring point guards in 2000. Any player can play their way on or off the position lists throughout the season, and in March, each award will narrow the list to five players before announcing the winners, April 9.

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 471 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 9 Big 12 games left to play, a Big 12 Tournament and an NCAA Tournament. Her pace is 6.6 assists per game, and if she continues at that rate, she would pass Wallace in the next 10 games. 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
     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.