No. 6/6 WBB Heads to Lawrence to Face Kansas

Saturday, March 6

Lawrence, Kan.

4 p.m.

Baylor

Kansas

No. 6/6 WBB Heads to Lawrence to Face Kansas

3/5/2021 8:29:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Lady Bears have two final regular season games before postseason



	#6/6 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (20-2, 15-1) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes	#6/6 BAYLOR (20-2, 15-1) at KANSAS (7-16, 3-14) March 6, 2021 \| 4 PM Lawrence, Kan. \| Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) WATCH: ESPN+ Talent: Josh Klingler (PBP), Jill Dorsey-Hall (Analyst), RADIO: 92.9 FM DIGITAL RADIO LINK: 9 2.9 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

	KANSAS JAYHAWKS (7-16, 3-14) Location: Lawrence, Kan. Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Brandon Schneider Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            After winning their 11^th-consecutive Big 12 championship and then clinching it outright with Monday's 64-57 win at Texas, the sixth-ranked Baylor Lady Bears (20-2, 15-1) will have nothing on the line when they face last-place Kansas (7-16, 3-14) at 4 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
            Other than, "it's the next game on our schedule," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said, "and we've got to keep playing."
Riding a 12-game winning streak, the Lady Bears will finish out the regular season with Saturday's road game at Kansas and a home game Monday night against 20^th-ranked West Virginia (19-4, 13-4) before heading to next week's Big 12 tournament in Kansas City.
            "We have another month of basketball left," Mulkey said. "Winning (the Big 12) is certainly our goal every year, and we'll celebrate it every year. And we'll never take it for granted. But, that's not the only goal we have. Our goals are much bigger than just winning a conference championship or a conference tournament championship."
            Mulkey gave the players two days off after Monday's win at Texas, which was the Lady Bears' fourth game in nine days. Starting with the two regular-season games against Kansas and West Virginia, they will play five in nine days if they make it to next Sunday's Big 12 tournament championship game.
            "It's always good when you can take a day or two off, particularly late in the year," Mulkey said. "You don't want to take too long off, just enough to refresh your legs and be excited to be back on the floor."
            Junior center Queen Egbo, who had a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds against Texas, said she "felt a lot better" when the team returned to the practice floor on Thursday.
            "I needed that rest a little bit just to sit and relax and take a little break," said the 6-3 Egbo, who is averaging 10.6 points and 7.7 rebounds.
            Egbo has put together arguably the best three-game stretch of her Baylor career. She had 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in a 70-51 win over Oklahoma State, followed that up with 19 points, four rebounds, four assists, two blocks and three steals in an 85-49 blowout of Kansas State and then helped shut down Charli Collier in Monday's win in Austin.
            "She's just starting to come into her own," Mulkey said of Egbo. "She's finishing shots, she's running the floor, she's doing better from the foul line. Her defense, she's not getting caught behind post players deep in the paint anymore. She's using her athleticism and pulling the chair out from them and getting deflections.
            "It's good to see, because if Queen plays good, we're a very dangerous basketball team. Not that we're not good already, she just adds a dimension to our team that makes us better."
            Kansas has dropped seven in a row and 11 of its last 12, including an 83-50 loss to Baylor in the first meeting on Feb. 4 in Waco. Led by sophomore guard Holly Kersgieter's 21-point outing, the Jayhawks were 7-of-20 from outside the arc, but the Lady Bears dominated the boards, 56-25, forced 18 turnovers and outscored them in the paint, 36-12.
            Kersgieter paces the team with 16.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Kansas has some size inside with 6-3 freshman Katrine Jessen and 6-2 freshman Ioanna Chatzileonti, but get most of their production from the guards.
            "They do have some size," Egbo said, "so I'm going to have to be able to finish through that size and play through it. West Virginia's posts are a lot more physical and get into you and bump you and push you. Kansas is going to be more of me helping and stopping their guard penetration."
            Saturday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Josh Klingler and former KU basketball player Jill Dorsey-Hall calling the action.

BAYLOR TAKES OUTRIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP WITH WIN OVER TEXAS
   The Baylor Lady Bears continued the nation's longest streak of consecutive regular-season conference championships Monday when their win over Texas gave them the outright title. A win over K-State Saturday helped Baylor clinched a share of their 11th-straight. Baylor has 12 regular-season Big 12 championships in its 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.

BAYLOR'S WIN OVER TEXAS GIVES LADY BEARS 20+ WINS IN ALL OF MULKEY'S 21 SEASONS
    Baylor's 64-57 win at Texas Monday improved the Lady Bears to 20-2 on the season. That marks all 21 seasons for Mulkey's bunch to achieve 20 victories in a season, and Baylor has the second-longest streak of 20-win seasons next to UConn's 28.

LADY BEARS VS. THE JAYHAWKS
     Baylor holds a 14-game winning streak over the Jayhawks, and the Lady Bears are 32-2 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 14-game streak, Baylor has won those games by an average of 31.3 points per contest.

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 22 games at a .316 clip. The Lady Bears also lead the nation in rebound margin (18.3) and Assists Per Game (21.8).

SMITH, RICHARDS NAMED TO NAISMITH/WBCA 'FINAL FIVE' FOR RESPECTIVE NATIONAL POSITION AWARDS
     Baylor's NaLyssa Smith and DiDi Richards are in strong contention for national awards at their respective positions. Richards, Monday, was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award 'Final Five' list for nation's best point guard while Smith was named to the Katrina McClain Award 'Final Five' for power forwards. Friday the position award short lists conclude and fans can begin voting for their selections at HoopHallAwards.com. Baylor fans can vote Richards and Smith along with their selections at shooting guard, small forward and center through March 19. Award winners will be announced shortly after the 2021 Final Four.

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 666 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.

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 3rd nationally. Her 523 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 2 assists. Richards has two Big 12 games left to play, a Big 12 Tournament and an NCAA Tournament. Her pace is 6.9 assists per game, and if she continues at that rate, she would pass Wallace Saturday in Lawrence. 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.