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Dec. 19, 2001
#8/10 Baylor Lady Bears (10-0) vs. Arkansas-Little Rock Lady Trojans (4-5)
Thurs., Dec. 20, 7:00 p.m.
Ferrell Center (10,289) - Waco, Texas
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.
COMING UP...
The Arkansas-Little Rock Lady Trojans and the Lady Bears match up for a non-conference contest. The Lady Bears are 10-0 on the season and have won 14 straight non-conference home games. The Lady Trojans, who come into the game with a three-game winning streak, are 4-5 so far this season and 1-3 on the road.
THE LADY BEARS...
After staying at No. 9 last week, Baylor, 10-0, moved up in the Associated Press Poll this week to No. 8 after defeating UCLA 92-59 on Sunday. The Lady Bears started the season ranked No. 14. In addition, they moved up to No. 10 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll.
These are the highest rankings ever for the Lady Bear basketball program.
Ten games into the season the Lady Bears are led by seniors Sheila Lambert (Seattle, Wash./Chief Sealth HS), Danielle Crockrom (Houston/North Shore HS) and freshman Steffanie Blackmon (Dallas/Rowlett HS). Lambert leads the way with 17.7 points per game, while Crockrom averages 16.4 and Blackmon manages 9.2 a contest. 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 10.8 rebounds a game in 10 games. Sophomore Chanelle Fox (Houston/Westfield HS) follows at 5.7 boards a contest and senior post Brooke McCormack (Melbourne, Australia) averages 5.6. Blackmon checks in at 5.4.
MORE BALANCE AND DEPTH...
After relying mainly on Sheila Lambert and Danielle Crockrom last season (they accounted for 56 percent of last season's points) the Lady Bears now have more balance and depth on their roster. Several returnees gained valuable experience last season and have shown marked improvement, resulting in more playing time and production this season. Also, the freshmen, especially Steffanie Blackmon, Kelly Sords (Austin/Westlake HS) and Jordan Davis (Celina/Celina HS), have seen considerable floor time with favorable results. In fact, those three freshmen are averaging over 12 minutes a game.
BENCH CONTRIBUTING...
The Lady Bears are getting more help from off the bench this season. The reserves are contributing 32.2 percent of the Lady Bear's points. Five of the team's seven freshmen are averaging over 6.5 minutes a game. Three freshmen, Steffanie Blackmon, Kelly Sords and Jordan Davis play over 12 minutes a game.
NATIONAL ATTENDANCE...
In unofficial women's basketball Division I home attendance statistics compiled weekly by the University of Wisconsin, the Lady Bears rank #15 with 3,904 a game. Four other Big 12 teams rank above Baylor:
No. 2 - Texas Tech - 13,081
No. 4 - Iowa State - 9.872
No. 12 - Texas - 4,682
No. 14 - Oklahoma - 4,058
No. 15 - Baylor - 3,904
THE OPPOSITION...
Arkansas-Little Rock
The Arkansas-Little Rock Lady Trojans (UALR) come into the contest on a three-game winning streak. They won their season opener at UT-Pan American (71-52) before dropping five straight, losing to Montana (77-57), Southwest Texas (71-42), High Point (77-58), Ole Miss (101-57) and Tulsa (77-50). They have since posted victories over Mississippi Valley State (67-39), Massachusetts (70-65 ot) and Texas A&M (80-68). The Lady Trojans have three players that average double figures in scoring. Darci Cassidy, a 5-5 freshman guard, leads the way with 13.7 points a game, while sophomore forward Alicia Cash scores 10.3 and sophomore forward Roberta Sarti averages 10.1 a game. Senior guard Shemeka Strong leads the way in rebounding with 6.3, but is followed closely by Cash's 6.2 and Sarti's 6.1.
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 31-9.
Tracy Stewart-Lange is in her third season as Arkansas-Little Rock's head coach. The program was dropped after the 1987-88 season and Stewart-Lange was hired when it was brought back for the 1999-2000 season. The Arkansas College graduate is 15-50 as a head coach. Stewart-Lange and her staff know a little bit about the Big 12. She served as an assistant coach at Texas A&M from 1997-1998 and one of her assistant coaches, Bambi Ferguson, was a four-year letterwinner for the Lady Aggies.
SERIES RECORD...
This will be the first meeting between the two schools.
PROBABLE STARTERS...
#8/10 Baylor (10-0)
G - #31 Sheila Lambert - (5-7, Sr., Seattle, Wash./Grayson CC) 17.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 4.80 apg
G - #10 Jessika Stratton - (5-9, So., Colorado Springs, Colo./Coronado HS) 7.9 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.90 apg
G - #44 Stasha Richards - (5-11, Jr., Houston/North Shore HS) 5.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg
F - #34 Danielle Crockrom - (6-2, Sr., Houston/North Shore HS) 16.4 ppg, 10.8 rpg
P - #55 Brooke McCormack - (6-2, Sr., Melbourne, Australia/Grayson CC) 6.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg
Off the bench:
P - #45 Steffanie Blackmon - (6-2, Fr., Dallas/Rowlett HS) 9.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg
G - #3 Nicole Collins - (5-3, Sr., Houston/Dobie HS) 2.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.30 apg
P - #42 Kelly Sords - (6-3, Fr., Austin/Westlake HS) 4.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg
G - #22 Jordan Davis - (5-9, Fr., Celina/Celina HS) 3.6 pg, 1.9 rpg
Arkansas-Little Rock (4-5)
G - #12 Darci Cassidy - (5-5, Fr., Jennings, LA) 13.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 4.0 apg
G - #25 Olivia Dunseth - (5-6, Jr., Leawood, KS) 3.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg
G - #30 Shemeka Strong - (5-8, Sr., Carlisle, AR) 9.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg
F - #23 Alicia Cash - (6-1, So., Houston) 10.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg
F - #15 Roberta Sarti - (6-3, So., Bordghera, Italy) 10.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg
Off the bench:
G- #32 Becca Beougher (5-8, Fr., Flower Mound) 3.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg
P - #50 Asten Kennedy - (6-0, So., Bernice, LA) 5.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg
F - #44 Mediha Skoro (6-3, Jr., Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina) 4.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg
