Nov. 14, 2001
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UP NEXT FOR THE LADY BEARS
Nevada Bell Classic
#14/16 Baylor Lady Bears (0-0) vs. North Texas (0-0)
Fri., Nov. 16, 7:00 p.m. (CST)
Lawlor Event Center
Hosted by University of Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Sat., Nov. 17
Baylor vs. Memphis/Nevada
7:00/9:00 p.m.
Radio - KLRK - FM 92.9 - Rick May(play-by-play) and Lori Scott-Fogleman (color analysis) ... Broadcast begins 30 minutes prior to game time.
Internet - www.GoBaylorBears.com
THE LADY BEARS...
Baylor comes into the season ranked No. 14 by the Associated Press and No. 16 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll. The Lady Bears will be led by four seniors: Nicole Collins, Danielle Crockrom, Sheila Lambert and Brooke McCormack. Four starters return off last season's 21-9 team which was selected for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the program's history. Returning starters include: Collins, a 5-3 point guard, Crockrom, a 6-3 All-American forward, Lambert, a 5-7 All-American guard, and Chanelle Fox, a 5-11 sophomore forward. Crockrom and Lambert have been named preseason first-team All-Big 12 by both the Big 12 coaches and media. In addition, they have been named to several preseason all-America teams and both are on the Naismith Award (top collegiate players) watch list.
In the two exhibitions games - Three players, two seniors and a freshman, posted double digit numbers in Baylor's two exhibition victories. Point guard Sheila Lambert averaged 15.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.0 steals and 3.0 steals in 25 minutes of action a game. Senior Danielle Crockrom and freshman Steffanie Blackmon, both posts, have played an average of 15 minutes a game each but have posted impressive numbers. Blackmon averaged 13.5 points and 9.0 rebounds while Crockrom scored 10.0 points and hauled down 9.5 boards. In the two exhibition games the Lady Bears out-rebounded the opponent 56.0 to 24.5.
THE COACHES...
Baylor's Kim Mulkey-Robertson enters her second year as a head coach after guiding the Lady Bears to a 21-9 record and the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament in her inaugural season. The Lady Bears enjoyed tremendous improvement last season over Baylor's 7-20 record of 1999-2000.
North Texas' Tina Slinker is beginning her 13th season as the Lady Eagles' head coach. She has a career record of 121-183.
Joye Lee-McNelis begins her 11 season as Memphis' head coach. She possesses a career record of 184-111, all at Memphis.
Nevada's Ada Gee has been the Wolf Pack's head coach for eight years and has been a head coach for nine seasons. She is 98-123 at Nevada and 100-124 overall.
IN THE POLLS...
The Baylor Lady Bears basketball team has been ranked in both major top 25 polls, the Associated Press' (AP) poll and USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches' poll.
After receiving numerous preseason top 25 rankings, the Lady Bears are ranked No. 14 by the AP and No. 16 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll. This is the highest-ever ranking in the major polls by the Lady Bears.
Baylor, 21-9 last season, ended the 2000-2001 campaign ranked No. 23 in the AP's final poll but were not ranked at season's end by the coaches. Baylor has appeared only one other time in the coaches poll, they were No. 22 for one week (Jan. 29) last season. The Lady Bears were ranked for eight weeks in the AP Poll last season, their highest being No. 23.
THE UNVEILING...
On Tues., Nov. 20, when Baylor hosts UT-Arlington in the first home game of the season, the Lady Bears will unveil their NCAA Tournament banner. The banner will be the first NCAA banner the Lady Bear program has earned.
SELLOUT 2002...
The Sellout 2002 campaign is an effort to fill the Ferrell Center for the men's Big 12 opener against Iowa State Jan. 5, and the women's Jan. 12 contest vs. Oklahoma. Oklahoma's women have won back-to-back Big 12 championships as have Iowa State's men's team. Both games will be televised live on FOX Sports Net Southwest.
SEASON OPENERS...
Overall the Lady Bears are 21-6 in season openers. They are 5-1 in neutral site season openers. They have a string of six consecutive season opening victories. Their last season opening loss came at the hands of Wisconsin (77-52) in the 1994 St. Mary's (CA) Thanksgiving Classic.
SERIES RECORD...
Baylor leads the series with North Texas 15-13. However, the Lady Eagles won the last meeting on Nov. 24, 1999 when North Texas posted a 72-60 victory in Denton. Nevada and Baylor have met on three occasions with the Lady Bears winning all three. Their last meeting was Dec. 5, 1991 in Waco when Baylor won 72-64. Memphis and Baylor have only met once and the Lady Tigers prevailed 80-79. That game was played on Jan. 8, 1980 at the Texas A&M Classic in College Station.
THE OPPOSITION...
North Texas Lady Eagles
North Texas finished last season with a 19-11 record and has four starters returning off that squad. The Eagles were selected for the 2001WNIT where they lost to Oklahoma State (79-67) in the first round. Head coach Tina Slinker is entering her 13th season as the Lady Eagles' head coach and owns a career record of 141-183. North Texas is led by 5-10 senior forward Jalie Mitchell. The three-time all-conference selection averaged 15.4 points and 3.7 rebounds as a junior. The Lady Eagles played two exhibition games, defeating both the Oklahoma Flyers (85-82) and Abilene Christian (78-59). Mitchell scored 21 points against the Flyers while senior Shannan Stephenson scored 17 and hauled down a team-high eight rebounds. Stephenson was the team's top scorer against ACU with 21 points.
Memphis Lady Tigers
The Lady Tigers enter the 2001-02 season after posting a 17-13 record last season which included their seventh straight post-season appearance. Memphis lost to Alabama in the first round of the WNIT. Junior Shannon Hamp returns as Memphis' leading scorer from last year, averaging 10.2 points a game. The Lady Tigers won both of their exhibition games as Hamp averaged 19.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in the two games.
Nevada Wolf Pack
The Wolf Pack are coming off a 16-13, 2000-01 season. They have won both of their exhibition games, defeating KSC Szekszard, 66-61, and KWBL, 79-74. Senior Sarah Estrada leads Nevada in scoring in their two exhibition games with 13 points and 13 rebounds a game while junior guard Ashley Bastain averaged 11.0 points. Katie Golomb tallied a double-double in the last exhibition game with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
PRESEASON HONORS...
Seniors Danielle Crockrom and Sheila Lambert have hauled in the preseason honors. Not only are they on the Naismith Award watch list which honors the top collegiate player but they have each been named to several preseason all-America squads and were voted by both the media and Big 12 coaches as first-team All-Big 12.
PROBABLE STARTERS...
#14/16 Baylor (0-0)
G - #31 Sheila Lambert - (5-7, Sr., Seattle, Wash./Grayson CC) 22.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 6.07 apg*
G - #10 Jessika Stratton - (5-9, So., Colorado Springs, Colo./Coronado HS) 5.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.23 apg*
G - #5 Chanelle Fox - (5-11, Fr., Houston/Westfield HS) 4.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg*
F - #34 Danielle Crockrom - (6-2, Jr., Houston/North Shore HS) 21.2 ppg, 11.6 rpg*
P - #55 Brooke McCormack - (6-2, Sr., Melbourne, Australia/Grayson CC) 3.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg*
North Texas (0-0)
G - #24 Nicole Thomas - (5-8, Sr., Dallas/Skyline HS) 7.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg*
G - #25 Rosalyn Reades - (5-5, Sr., Arlington/Martin HS) 3.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg*
C - #55 Karen Lee - (6-2, Sr., Whitestown, Ind/Zionsville HS) 7.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg*
F - #44 Jalie Mitchell - (5-10, Sr., Duncanville/Duncanville HS) 15.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg*
F - #45 Shannan Stephenson - (6-0, Sr., Winchester, Tenn./Franklin Co. HS) 4.5 ppg, 1.7 rpg*
* - 2000-01 stats
