No. 9/9 Baylor WBB Returns Home to Face Oklahoma (BU Game Notes Attached)

Fri Jan 22 10:56:22 CST 2021

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#9/9 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (9-2, 4-1)
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/2021/1/22/BU_WBB_Game_Notes_OU_1_23_21.pdf?id=15952>
#9/9 BAYLOR (9-2, 4-1) vs OKLAHOMA (4-6, 1-4)
January 23, 2021 | 7 PM (CT)
Waco, Texas | Ferrell Center (10,284)

[Big 12 Now on ESPN+]WATCH: ESPN+<https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=5d1748a3-f12f-435c-b529-62acbf3ba1f0>
Talent: Mike Wolfe (PBP), Bryndon Manzer (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/>

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** 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> **
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OKLAHOMA (4-6, 1-4)
Location: Norman, Okla.
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Sherri Coale (Oklahoma Christian, 1987)

Roster<https://soonersports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster> | Stats<https://soonersports.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats?path=wbball> | Game Notes (PDF)<https://baylorbears.com/documents/2021/1/22/OU_BU.pdf?id=15951>

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LADY BEARS RESPOND IN STILLWATER AFTER HOME LOSS TO IOWA STATE
    Baylor quickly put the sting of the loss to Iowa State Jan. 16 behind it with a dominating performance in Stillwater, Okla., Wednesday. The Lady Bears posted a 77-58 win over Oklahoma State behind 20 points and eight boards from Moon Ursin<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10010> and NaLyssa Smith's<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10009> fourth-straight double-double. Smith was 7-for-11 from the field and finished with 18 points 12 rebounds and two assists. DiDi Richards<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10008> had a quiet all-around game with 11 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals. The win made Baylor 83-20 after losses under head coach Kim Mulkey<https://baylorbears.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1573> and kept the streak alive of no back-to-back losses since 2015.

LADY BEARS VS. THE SOONERS
    Kim Mulkey<https://baylorbears.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1573> and Sherri Coale's Lady Bears and Sooners, respectively, have had some good battles in the 21 years the two legendary coaches have faced one another. OU began Mulkey's tenure by handing Baylor seven-straight losses. From there, the series continued to be streaky. Four-straight for Baylor after the seven losses in a row, followed by the Sooners going on a 6-game streak of their own. Then two for Baylor, two for OU, one for Baylor and two for Oklahoma.
     But, beginning with the 2010-11 season, it's been all Mulkey and the Lady Bears. Baylor has had the upper hand in 20 of the last 21 contests dating back to Feb. 2, 2011, and the Lady Bears are winners of 11-straight vs. the Sooners. In those 20 wins, Baylor has won by an average of 18.0 points per contest. Baylor and Oklahoma last faced off on Feb. 22, 2020 in Waco with Baylor taking a 101-69 win. Among returning players that played in that game, NaLyssa Smith<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10009> led Baylor with 22 points and eight rebounds while Moon Ursin<https://baylorbears.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10010> had 10 off the bench. In the losing effort for Oklahoma, Gabby Gregory scored 30, Taylor Robertson 16 and Madi Williams had 15; all three Sooners average more than 15 points a game this season coming into Saturday's contest.

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 10th nationally. She ranks second in the league in total assists, and last season she was the Big 12 statistical champion and ranked 7th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio. Her 441 assists coming into Saturday's game ranks 7th 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 13 Big 12 games left to play, a Big 12 Tournament and an NCAA Tournament. Her pace is 6.2 assists per game, and if she continues at that rate, she would pass Wallace in the next 14 games. Niya Johnson is Baylor's all-time leader with 988 and Odyssey Sims ranked second at 641.

BAYLOR SIGNS 2019 BIG 12 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR CHRISLYN CARR IN TRANSFER FROM TEXAS TECH
     Former Texas Tech standout Chrislyn Carr has transferred to Baylor and will join the Lady Bears basketball program, head coach Kim Mulkey<https://baylorbears.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1573> announced Tuesday. Carr won the Big 12 Freshman of the Year Award for the 2018-19 season for the Lady Raiders.
Carr took the league by storm her freshman season, averaging 18.0 points on her way to an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection. Her 558 points that year were the third most by a freshman in Lady Raider history. In addition to her scoring prowess her freshman
season, she added 3.8 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals per contest.
     She followed her freshman campaign with another All-Big 12 Honorable Mention award in 2019-20. She averaged 13.9 points, 5.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and shot 37.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Davenport, Iowa, native left Texas Tech after playing in five games in the 2020-21 season. She tallied 1,010 points and 142 3-point field goals in two-plus seasons in Lubbock. Carr's eligibility and availability to join the Lady Bears on the floor is to be determined.

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.

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.

MULKEY JOINS STAR-STUDDED 2020 CLASS WITH NAISMITH HALL OF FAME INDUCTION
The Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments were cancelled, but Kim Mulkey<https://baylorbears.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1573> did get some good news in April when she was announced as a member of the 2020 induction class to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. She and her class' peers are virtually peerless as she joined a star-studded class, including Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Tamika Catchings, Rudy Tomjanovich, Eddie Sutton, Barbara Stevens and Patrick Baumann.
     Her induction ceremony was delayed due to COVID-19 and the 2020 class has yet to be enshrined. Her induction will be as a coach, although she has been nominated as a player on numerous occasions. She was also a finalist in 2018. Mulkey's many accomplishments earned her the honor, but among them are three NCAA titles, 21 Big 12 championships, and she was the fastest NCAA Division I head coach, man or woman, to reach 600 career victories (700 games).

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

[cid:image001.png at 01D5070F.1E7C3CA0]<http://baylorbears.com/>
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