#5/6 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (28-2) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster | Stats | Game Notes | Postseason Guide	#5/6 BAYLOR (28-2) vs. #1/1 UCONN (27-1) March 29, 2021 | 6 p.m. | NCAA Elite 8 San Antonio, Texas | Alamodome (North) WATCH: ESPN Talent: Ryan Ruocco (PBP), Rebecca Lobo (Analyst), Holly Rowe (Reporter) RADIO: 1660 AM/92.3 FM DIGITAL RADIO LINK: ESPN Central Texas Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Maggie Davis-Stinnett (Analyst) LIVE STATS: NCAA.com 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 **
	#1/1 UCONN HUSKIES (27-1) Location: Storrs, Conn. Conference: Big East Head Coach: Geno Auriemma Roster | Stats | Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider 
            SAN ANTONIO – In a matchup that looks a lot more like a national championship than an Elite Eight, second-seeded and fifth-ranked Baylor (28-2) is the only thing standing in the way of top-ranked UConn (27-1) making its 13^th-consecutive trip to the Final Four. 
            Two teams that have combined to win 13 of the previous 20 national titles will square off at 6 p.m. Monday at the Alamodome in the River Walk Region final, hoping to extend their stay in San Antonio and punch the first ticket to next weekend's Final Four. 
            "I think the history of both programs speak for themselves," said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, whose Lady Bears are hoping to build on a resume that includes national championships in 2005, 2012 and 2019 and nine Elite Eights in the last 11 NCAA Tournaments. 
            "The talent on the floor will be on display more than (UConn coach Geno Auriemma) and Kim. We are blessed as coaches to coach some of the greatest in the game. It's two talented teams, and I wish it was for the national championship and not a chance to get to a Final Four because I think both programs are just elite. It's a shame that somebody has to lose."
            Since losing to LSU in the region semifinals in 2007, UConn has made 12-straight trips to the Final Four and won six national titles, the last coming in 2016. Two years ago, when Baylor won it all, the Huskies advanced with an upset of top-seeded Louisville before falling to Notre Dame in the national semifinals. 
            "As you've seen, I think (Baylor was) under-seeded," said Auriemma, whose team advanced with a 92-72 win over Iowa in Saturday's region semifinal. "Explain to me how they're a No. 2 seed. These things happen, I know, but I think they deserved to be a No. 1 seed if you look around the rest of the tournament. And how we ended up in the same region, that's even more shocking, given how good they are."
            After blowout wins over Jackson State and Virginia Tech in the first two rounds, the Lady Bears had to sweat out a 78-75 win over a Michigan team making its first-ever appearance in the Sweet 16. 
            "Whether it was overtime, whether we won by three or 30, we were just happy to be moving on," said senior guard Moon Ursin, who has averaged a team-high 21.7 points in the three tournament games. "When the clock hit :00, we were just thankful that we were still in it for another day."
            It took a monster game by 6-2 junior forward NaLyssa Smith, a Wade Trophy finalist and first-team All-American who scored a game-high 24 points and hit all 11 of her field goal attempts to tie an NCAA Tournament record for most made field goals without a miss. 
            "When you think she's at her greatest, she does something else," Ursin said of Smith, who's averaging 18.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, both career highs. "She's an incredible player, unselfish, she's just a baller. Lys continues to be this kid that inspires people . . . and when the game is on the line, you want the ball in her hands."
            While Smith, Ursin and grad transfer DiJonai Carrington (13.8 ppg, 4.8 rebounds, 2.1 steals) have provided the bulk of the scoring punch in Baylor's NCAA Tournament run, the Huskies feature a balanced attack that has all five starters averaging at least 9.4 points per game. 
            Freshman Paige Bueckers is the headliner, though, a first-team All-American and Big East Player of the Year who is averaging 19.8 points, 6.1 assists and 4.9 rebounds. She was the USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year in 2019, playing for a World Cup gold medal-winning team that included 6-3 Baylor junior center Queen Egbo (11.2 ppg, 8.6 rebounds). 
            "She has unbelievable court vision," Mulkey said of Bueckers, who had 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in UConn's win over Iowa. "She can certainly shoot and score the ball, but she seems to be a player that wants to be a leader out there and makes everyone around her better. Having played the position, I recognize that first."
            Both teams have built and been able to sustain their elite programs in a similar fashion, obviously recruiting outstanding players, but everything starts with defense. Baylor has led the nation in defensive field goal percentage each of the previous four seasons and is once again ranked No. 1 at 32.3 percent this season, while UConn is fourth at 33.3. 
            "Geno's certainly had more star players," Mulkey said. "He's got about five No. 1's on his team, if rankings matter. We had to build this program from scratch, and we couldn't get any of those star players for many years. Let's take away the talent on the floor and talk about what each program does from a basketball standpoint. I totally agree, defense . . . and then you add rebounding. When you can add those star players that can score the basketball, that makes it a fun team to coach, a good team to coach. But, it starts with defense and rebounding."
            Auriemma said the Lady Bears have everything it takes to compete for and win national championships. Baylor is 4-4 all-time versus UConn, but lost the only previous meeting in the NCAA Tournament, falling 70-50 in the national semifinals in 2010 . . . in San Antonio. 
            "If you want to be that kind of a program that has a chance each year to put yourself in that situation, then that's how you have to do it," said Auriemma, who has won a record 11 national titles overall.
            "You have to recruit really good players, which (Baylor does). You have to play great defense, which they do. You have to have players that can carry you individually at times, which they do. And you've got to be tournament-tough. They have all those things. That's why every year they're in the conversation, they're in the mix when it comes to a national championship."
            Both do. But, only one will make it to this year's Final Four. 
            "I've said since the bracket came out that if we were to run into UConn, it would be like playing two national championship games if we were to get to the Final Four," Ursin said. "We have to continue to play like we're not there, because we're not. I think mentally, just ignore the name UConn and play like it's an Elite Eight game. We all have to come in with the same common goal, and that's to win a national championship."
            Monday's game will be broadcast by ESPN, with Ryan Ruoco, Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe calling the action. 
 

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BAYLOR WOMEN'S BASKETBALL IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
    To get to Monday, Baylor beat Jackson State in the first round, 101-52 on March 21, in the program's debut on network television on ABC. The Lady Bears' 60 rebounds and 15 steals were both second-most in Baylor's NCAA Tournament history. On March 23, Baylor beat West Virginia, 90-48, to set a program record for largest margin of victory (42) in the second round. Saturday, Baylor won its first overtime game in the NCAA Tournament with a 78-75 victory over Michigan to advance to the program's 10^th Elite 8.
     Baylor is competing in its 19th NCAA Tournament appearance for the Baylor women's basketball program, all coming under the watch of 21st-year head coach Kim Mulkey. The only season Mulkey's Lady Bears have missed the NCAA Tournament came in 2003. Baylor is 4-5 all-time in the NCAA Elite 8 with four trips to the Final Four. The Lady Bears have advanced to the national semifinals round in 2005, 2010, 2012 and 2019 while winning three NCAA Championships. Baylor's NCAA titles in 2005, 2012, and 2019 made the program one of three to have at least three championships, joining UConn and Tennessee. Baylor carries a 53-15 (.779) all-time record in the NCAA Tournament, which ranks as the third-best winning percentage in NCAA history. The Lady Bears' 53 wins are eighth all-time and 17-straight NCAA appearances is the fifth-longest active streak in women's basketball.
 
LADY BEARS VS. UCONN
     Monday marks the ninth meeting between the two schools, and thus far, it's been a see-saw battle with each team exchanging punches in two-game increments. UConn took the first two games of the series, which began in 2010 at the Alamodome in the semifinals round and the Huskies taking a 70-50 win, April 4, 2010. UConn followed up with a win just seven months later in Hartford, Conn., in November of 2010. Baylor answered back with two wins, the first in Waco in December of 2011 and the other in Hartford in February of 2013. UConn took a 4-2 series lead with a wins in Waco in January of 2014 and in Storrs, Conn. in November of 2016. Baylor picked up the only two wins over a No. 1-ranked team in each of the next two meetings as UConn held the top-ranked spot in the AP in each of the last two games where Baylor came out victorious. The Lady Bears dealt the Huskies a nine-point loss, Jan. 3, 2019 in Waco and then beat them a season later by 16 in Hartford.
 
BAYLOR'S NATIONALLY TELEVISED MATCHUP ON ABC MAKES HISTORY
     While the Baylor Lady Bears are no stranger to television (337-66 in the Mulkey era), March 21 vs. Jackson State marked the first time in program history that Baylor has played on one of the four major television networks. The Lady Bears and Lady Tigers debuted on ABC with Beth Mowins and former UConn standout Renee Montgomery on the call.
     Baylor didn't have to wait long to get its second ABC nod as the network carried Baylor's Sweet 16 overtime thriller with Michigan Saturday.
 
LADY BEARS FINALIZE ANOTHER SWEEP OF BIG 12 TITLES
     Baylor's 23 combined conference championships are tied with Stanford for the most in the Power 5 since the 2004-05 season. The Lady Bears' 17-1 record in Big 12 play allowed Baylor to cruise to its 11th-straight regular-season title and 12th overall. Baylor's 76-50 win over West Virginia Sunday solidified the Lady Bears' 11th Big 12 Tournament Championship. The Lady Bears enter the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed, the 10th-straight postseason as a No. 2 seed or higher.
 
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 30 games at a .322 clip. The Lady Bears also lead the nation in rebound margin at 19.7.
 
BAYLOR TAKES HOME SEVERAL ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS TO COMPLIMENT 11TH-STRAIGHT REGULAR-SEASON TITLE
     NaLyssa Smith was the ninth Lady Bear in Baylor history to pick up Big 12 Player of the Year honors, and she was a unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 First Team, the league announced March 10. DiJonai Carrington was named Big 12 Sixth Person of the Year and continued the trend of graduate transfers at Baylor winning the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. She joined Chloe Jackson (2019) and Te'a Cooper (2020) to become the third-straight winner for Baylor, and Carrington was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention.
     DiDi Richards and Moon Ursin both landed spots on each the All-Big 12 Second Team and Big 12 All-Defensive Team while Queen Egbo rounded out the Lady Bears' selections on the honorable mention team.
 
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 668 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 (693) for most all-time appearances; Warlick played, assisted Pat Summitt and was head coach at Tennessee from 2012-2019.
 
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 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.