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Nov. 29, 2001
#12/14 Baylor Lady Bears (5-0)at Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (3-3)
Fri., Nov. 30, 7:05 p.m.
Mabee Center (10,575) - Tulsa, Okla.
Friday night's game pits the Baylor Lady Bears against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles of the Mid-Continent Conference. The Baylor Lady Bears are 5-0 and have won 18 consecutive regular season, non-conference games and the Golden Eagle are 3-3 so far this season.
COMING UP...
On Sunday, Dec. 2, former Lady Bear Suzie Snider Eppers will be honored in pregame ceremonies. Snider Eppers, a native of Robinson, is the only Lady Bear to have her jersey (#23) retired. She is one of four women in Baylor's Hall of Fame, the program's only Kodak All-American (1977) and owns Baylor records for career points (3,861) and rebounds (2,176).
FOUR GAMES IN EIGHT DAYS...
The game with Oral Roberts will be the Lady Bears' third of four games in an eight-day span. They hosted Denver (Sun., Nov. 25) and Sam Houston State (Tues., Nov. 27), are at Oral Roberts (Fri., Nov. 30) and host Boston University (Sun., Dec. 2).
THE LADY BEARS...
Baylor moved up another spot in the AP Poll, checking in at No. 12 this week after starting the season ranked No. 14. They also jumped two spots to No. 14 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll.
Five games into the season the Lady Bears are led by seniors Danielle Crockrom (Houston/North Shore HS), Sheila Lambert (Seattle, Wash./Chief Sealth HS), freshman Steffanie Blackmon (Dallas/Rowlett HS) and sophomore Jessika Stratton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Coronado HS). Lambert, Crockrom and Blackmon are scoring in double figures while Stratton is just under the double-digit mark. Lambert leads the way with 18.4, while Crockrom checks in at 16.4, Blackmon 10.2 and Stratton 9.0. Crockrom hasn't lost a beat from last season when she averaged a double-double for the season. She has hauled down an average of 11.2 rebounds a game in five games. Blackmon follows with 5.8 and sophomore Chanelle Fox (Houston/Westfield HS) and Lambert each check in at 5.6.
THE OPPOSITION...
Oral Roberts
The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles come into the game with a record of 3-3. Their only losses have come at the hands of Big 12 schools. They lost at Colorado in the Preseason WNIT (78-49) and lost to both Oklahoma (73-38) and Oklahoma State (83-52) in the Bertha Teague Memorial Classic. They have posted victories over Langston (60-43), Wichita State (62-58) and Tulsa (63-61). They are led on the season by Krista Ragan, a 5-7 senior guard, who was last season's Mid-Continent Player of the Year. Ragan averages 14.0 points a game this season and is followed by 5-7 sophomore guard Cori Williston at 12.2 points a game. The team's top rebounder is freshman forward Stephanie Clark at 5.5 a game. Senior center Shannon Mims (6-2) follows closely with 5.2 boards a contest.
The Golden Eagles were 20-11 last season and made their second NCAA Tournament appearance. They lost to Oklahoma, 74-60, in the first round. They were 13-2 on their home court (Mabee Center) last season and are 2-0 at home this year.
THE COACHES...
Baylor's Kim Mulkey-Robertson is in 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. Her career record is 26-9.
Oral Roberts' Jerry Finkbeiner is in his sixth season at the Golden Eagles' helm. He is 72-77 in six seasons at ORU and 258-96 in 11 years as a head coach.
SERIES RECORD...
Baylor leads the series 3-2 by virtue of having won the last three meetings between the two schools:
11-26-83 ORU won 87-71 in Tulsa
12-12-87 ORU won 86-73 in Pullman, Wash.
1-29-94 BU won 83-65 in Tulsa
1-7-95 BU won 78-49 in Waco
12-20-00 BU won 80-56 in Waco
LAST MEETING...
In last season's 80-56 victory in Waco the Lady Bears had three players score more than 20 points. Danielle Crockrom led the way with a 23 point,17 rebound performance, while Monica Arnold added 22 and Sheila Lambert notched 21. Krista Ragan was ORU's top scorer with 17 points, she was the only Golden Eagle to score in double digits.
