Baylor
Texas Tech
No. 7/9 Lady Bears Take on Texas Tech in Lubbock
2/9/2021 10:05:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Baylor WBB looks to extend streak over Lady Raiders to 24 games
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#7/9 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (14-2, 9-1) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
#7/9 BAYLOR (14-2, 9-1) at TEXAS TECH (9-10, 4-9) February 10, 2021 | 6 PM (CT) Lubbock, Texas | United Supermarkets Arena (15,000)  WATCH: ESPN+Talent: Ron Thuln (PBP), Mike Peterson (Analyst) RADIO: 1660 AM/92.3 FM DIGITAL RADIO LINK: ESPN Central Texas Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), John Morris (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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TEXAS TECH LADY RAIDER (9-10, 4-9) Location: Lubbock, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Krista Gerlich Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Going back to look at Baylor's Dec. 14 game against Texas Tech has to feel more like watching something on ESPN Classic or an old movie that's no longer relevant.
Only two of Tech's starters in that 91-45 loss to the Lady Bears are still in the lineup, 6-4 freshman center Khadija Faye (5.1 ppg, 4.2 rebounds) wasn't even playing at that point and Chrislyn Carr entered the transfer portal three days later and enrolled at Baylor last month.
"You look at it only to get matchups," said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey," whose team has reeled off six-straight wins heading into the rematch between the No. 7/9 Lady Bears (14-2, 9-1) and Texas Tech (9-10, 4-9) at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Lubbock, "but you don't focus on the old, you focus on the current."
To that end, Mulkey has pored over the more recent games that have Faye and guards Maka Jackson and Naje Murray in the revamped starting lineup with 6-1 senior forward Vivian Gray (19.7, 8.4 rebounds) and 6-0 senior guard Lexi Gordon (15.6 ppg).
"The personnel on the floor and who's playing the minutes and who's starting and who isn't, all that's changed since we played them," Mulkey said. "There are only so many things you can do defensively. We saw the zone when we were at K-State. We've seen sagging man, we've seen all kinds of man. So, we'll be prepared. The difference is they'll be more comfortable because it's their home court."
Gray, a finalist for the Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award, was a two-time All-Big 12 pick at Oklahoma State before transferring to Tech. She came with junior guard Bryn Gerlich, the daughter of first-year head coach Kristen Gerlich, who was part of Tech's 1993 national championship team.
"I had not coached against her until we played them this year," Mulkey said of Gerlich, who coached at West Texas and UTA before returning to her alma mater. "I have a lot of respect for her as a player and for what she did at UTA. I know when you watch them on film, it's a totally different offense and defense than what Coach (Marlene) Stollings did."
Back on track since suffering a 75-71 loss to Iowa State on Jan. 16 that snapped a 61-game home court winning streak, the Lady Bears remained atop the Big 12 standings with Sunday's 64-52 win at Kansas State. Baylor turned it over 17 times against the last-place Wildcats (5-11, 0-9) and grabbed just nine offensive rebounds after getting a combined 49 in the previous two games.
"(Ayoka) Lee was big, but they had another girl (6-7 freshman Taylor Lauterbach) that was bigger than her, so you're not going to go in there and get a lot of offensive boards," Mulkey said. "When you're in a zone, all they've got to do is turn around and grab a defensive rebound. I saw a lot of good in that game. You win by 12, you've got leads of 16 to 18. I felt good when I left that game."
The 6-6 Lee was a tough matchup for 6-3 Baylor junior center Queen Egbo (10.3 ppg, 6.9 rebounds), who didn't hit a field goal for the first time all season and matched her season low with three points.
"One thing I took away from the game was being able to guard a bigger post player without getting in foul trouble and moving your feet and just being aware of where your opponent is versus where the ball is and when to be in help side, things like that," said Egbo, a finalist for the Lisa Leslie Center Award. "I feel like there were a lot of learning moments for me in the game."
Egbo said she should be able to "match up a little bitter" with the 6-4 Faye. Ranked as the No 13 center nationally in the 2020 recruiting class, Faye has started the last nine games and had a career-high 20 points and 14 rebounds in last Wednesday's 83-75 overtime win over Kansas State.
"It should be a lot smoother," Egbo said. "(Lee) was a lot bigger than me, so maybe that will give me a little bit more edge to go out there and dominate offensively."
After the two-game road trip, Baylor returns home to host Texas (13-5, 7-4) and No. 19/21 West Virginia (15-2, 9-2) in back-to-back home games that could go a long way to the Lady Bears winning an 11th-consecutive Big 12 championship.
"As a coach, I take a broader look," Mulkey said. "When the schedule comes out, I look at everything. But, you don't approach it with your team that way. When we finish in Lubbock, we will take the next day off and then we'll start our preparation for the Sunday game with Texas. We go Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, so that's a tough week for us. And we'll start talking about that more after the Tech game."
Wednesday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Ron Thulin and Mike Peterson calling the action from the United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock.
BAYLOR'S WIN IN MANHATTAN KEEPS LADY BEARS' HALF-GAME LEAD IN THE BIG 12 STANDINGS INTACT
A season-high seven 3-point field goals with six coming in the first half powered Baylor to a road win over K-State Saturday to keep the Lady Bears in first place in the Big 12 standings. The 64-52 victory improved Baylor to 9-1 with West Virginia nipping at the Lady Bears' heels at 9-2. Half a game behind WVU is Oklahoma State (10-3) and Iowa State stands fourth at 8-4. With the Texas Longhorns at 7-4 the race for the regular-season title in the Big 12 is still very much up for grabs.
Sunday, NaLyssa Smith led Baylor with 17 points and eight rebounds while Moon Ursin and DiJonai scored 16 points apiece. DiDi Richards added 10 assists, seven points and three steals to aid in the victory. Baylor's home contest with K-State, Jan. 10 was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns for both programs and a date for reschedule has not been set by the league office.
BAYLOR LOOKS TO EXTEND SERIES LEAD OVER TEXAS TECH
Despite Kim Mulkey's 40-8 record vs. the Lady Raiders all-time, Baylor's 91-45 decision over Texas Tech, Dec. 14, gave the Lady Bears the series lead for the first time since 1985. Texas Tech tied the series at eight games apiece in the schools' first meeting in 1986 and took the series lead, Feb. 15, 1986 with a 72-65 win in Waco. The series remained in Texas Tech's favor until Feb. 18, 2020 when Kim Mulkey's 600th career victory in Lubbock, knotted the series at 47 games apiece. In December, four players scored in double figures for Baylor with NaLyssa Smith leading the charge with 21 points and nine rebounds to down the Lady Raiders. Baylor overcame 18 points from Vivian Gray but held the graduate transfer to 6-of-15 shooting.
THREE LADY BEARS LAND FINALIST NODS FROM NAISMITH/WBCA ANNUAL POSITION AWARDS; SMITH NAMED TO NAISMITH MIDSEASON TEAM
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. In addition, Tuesday, Smith was named to the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team featuring 25 top-performing players for the 2020-21 season.
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 481 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 8 Big 12 games left to play, a Big 12 Tournament and an NCAA Tournament. Her pace is 6.8 assists per game, and if she continues at that rate, she would pass Wallace in the next 9 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.
