No. 7/9 Baylor WBB Hosts Texas Sunday on ESPN2

Sat Feb 13 09:59:56 CST 2021

[Web Header Pregame Info 2020-21]
[BU Logo]
#7/9 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (15-2, 10-1)
Location: Waco, Texas
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Kim Mulkey<https://baylorbears.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1573> (La. Tech, 1984)

Roster<https://baylorbears.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/2020-21> | Stats<https://baylorbears.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats> | Game Notes (PDF)<https://baylorbears.com/documents/2021/2/13/BU_WBB_Game_Notes_Texas_2_14_21.pdf?id=16021>
#7/9 BAYLOR (15-2, 10-1) vs TEXAS (14-5, 8-4)
February 14, 2021 | 4 PM (CT)
Waco, Texas | Ferell Center (10,284)

[ESPN2]WATCH: E<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/37724a3a-4dd6-4b5f-bc77-050c381e42cb#bucketId=24800>SPN2<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/f5c6182f-7aa9-4450-8e68-8479375a188c#bucketId=24800>
Talent: Pam Ward (PBP), LaChina Robinson (Analyst)
RADIO: 1660 AM/92.3 FM DIGITAL RADIO LINK: ESPN Central Texas<https://listen.streamon.fm/krzi>
Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Maggie Davis-Stinnett (Analyst)
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast<http://baylorstats.com/>

Baylor Social Media: [auto twitter icon] <http://twitter.com/baylorwbb>  [instagram png] <http://instagram.com/baylorwbb>  [Facebook PNG] <http://facebook.com/baylorwbb>
** Due to COVID-19, there will be no physical copies of stats, media almanacs, rosters, please use the following link for MEDIA RESOURCES<http://baylorbea.rs/MediaWBB> **
[logo]
TEXAS LONGHORNS (14-5, 8-4)
Location: Austin, Texas
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Vic Schaefer

Roster<https://texassports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster> | Stats<https://texassports.com/sports/2015/6/5/WBB_0605154341.aspx?path=wbball> | Game Notes

________________________________

BAYLOR'S WIN IN LUBBOCK KEEPS THE LADY BEARS' HALF-GAME LEAD IN THE BIG 12 STANDINGS INTACT
    A win in Lubbock Wednesday didn't give Baylor (10-1) any more breathing room in the Big 12 standings with West Virginia still just half a game back at 10-2. NaLyssa Smith<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10009> put up the most points she has ever had on the road with 28 points to go along with 13 rebounds, and DiJonai Carrington<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10073> scored in double figures (12) off the bench for the fourth-straight game. Smith, a junior who has been named to the Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award and Wade Trophy midseason watch lists, has eight double-doubles in the last 10 games and nine on the season. Baylor improved to 241-1 under head coach Kim Mulkey<https://baylorbears.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1573> when shooting 50 percent or higher from the field when the Lady Bears hit 36-of-70 shots from the floor. Texas Tech's 28.0 field goal percentage marked the fifth time in 11 conference games that Baylor has held a league opponent below the 30-percent threshold from the floor. The Lady Bears have been the NCAA's statistical champion in defensive field goal percentage for four-straight seasons and rank second in that category this season (.316).

BAYLOR LOOKS TO CONTINUE DOMINANCE OVER LONGHORNS WITH NEW FACE ON THE TEXAS SIDELINE
    Baylor has eight-straight wins over Texas and has won 23 of the last 24 games in the series. Kim Mulkey<https://baylorbears.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1573> is 34-11 (.755) vs. the Longhorns in her tenure, but Texas leads the all-time series 58-43. Proximity creates rivalry, and Baylor and Texas' arenas are just 101 miles apart. However, since Texas took five of six games in the series from 2008 to 2010, it's been all Baylor. Just one blemish in a rare loss at the Ferrell Center, Feb. 6, 2017, and Texas hasn't won since. However, the matchup turns a new page in the storied history with Vic Schaefer pacing the Texas sidelines as head coach for the first time in the 2020-21 series. Mississippi State defeated Baylor in the 2017 Elite 8, and that game marks the only time that Mulkey and Schaefer have squared off as head coaches. Despite just the one matchup, these coaches are familiar with each other from Schaefer's days as an assistant to Gary Blair at Arkansas and Texas A&M. Mulkey's teams carried a 22-5 record vs. the Blair/Schaefer combo at Arkansas and Texas A&M.

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<https://baylorbears.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1573> is the NCAA's active leader in appearances at 663 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 for most all-time appearances; Warlick played, assisted Pat Summitt and was head coach at Tennessee from 2012-2019.

RICHARDS, KNOWN FOR HER DEFENSE, QUIETLY MOVING UP BAYLOR'S ALL-TIME ASSISTS LIST
     When most think of DiDi Richards<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10008>, 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 487 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 7 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 8 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<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10010>, lost her grandmother, Ruby Alexander, to the virus in April after a swift and brief battle with COVID. Kamaria McDaniel<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10266>, a transfer from Penn State that is having to sit this season, lost her grandfather, Johnny Webster, Sr., in April as well. Kim Mulkey<https://baylorbears.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1573>, Jordyn Oliver<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10006>, DiJonai Carrington<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10073> and Caitlin Bickle<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10004> have all had to miss time due to COVID-19 protocols this season.
     The Big 12 announced Thursday the re-scheduling of several league games affected by COVID-19, including Baylor hosting K-State Feb. 27 and finishing the regular season in Lawrence, March 6.

RICHARDS RETURNS TO FLOOR AFTER SPINAL INJURY, FEATURED ON ESPN'S SPORTSCENTER
     Oct. 24, Moon Ursin<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10010> and DiDi Richards<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10008> 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<https://baylorbears.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1573> 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.

___________________________________
Kyle Robarts | Associate Director, Athletics Communications (WBB, WTEN)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
O: 254-710-3042 | C: 254-405-9492

[cid:image008.png at 01D701EE.F83B2970]<http://baylorbears.com/>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/bumedia/attachments/20210213/48ba15c6/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 14163 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/bumedia/attachments/20210213/48ba15c6/attachment-0008.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 6589 bytes
Desc: image002.png
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/bumedia/attachments/20210213/48ba15c6/attachment-0009.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.png
Type: image/png
Size: 4874 bytes
Desc: image003.png
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/bumedia/attachments/20210213/48ba15c6/attachment-0010.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.png
Type: image/png
Size: 3173 bytes
Desc: image004.png
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/bumedia/attachments/20210213/48ba15c6/attachment-0011.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image005.png
Type: image/png
Size: 616 bytes
Desc: image005.png
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/bumedia/attachments/20210213/48ba15c6/attachment-0012.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image006.png
Type: image/png
Size: 439 bytes
Desc: image006.png
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/bumedia/attachments/20210213/48ba15c6/attachment-0013.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image007.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1792 bytes
Desc: image007.png
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/bumedia/attachments/20210213/48ba15c6/attachment-0014.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image008.png
Type: image/png
Size: 11689 bytes
Desc: image008.png
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/bumedia/attachments/20210213/48ba15c6/attachment-0015.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: BU WBB Game Notes Texas 2.14.21.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 3436370 bytes
Desc: BU WBB Game Notes Texas 2.14.21.pdf
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/bumedia/attachments/20210213/48ba15c6/attachment-0001.pdf>