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Jan. 21, 2003
WACO, Texas -
UP NEXT...
Baylor (12-3, 1-2) vs. Texas A&M (8-7, 1-3)
Wed., Jan. 22 - 7 p.m. (CST)
Ferrell Center (12,284) - Waco, Texas
Baylor and Texas A&M will meet for the first time this season. The Lady Bears are 12-3 overall and 1-2 in Big 12 action, while the Aggies are 1-3 in league play and 8-7 on the season. After winning 12 of their first 13 games, Baylor has lost their last two contests, both to top 25 teams (No. 8 Texas Tech and No. 20 Texas). After losing their season opener, the Aggies went on a six-game winning streak, but have dropped six of eight games since then. The Aggies also have lost two straight games.
THE LADY BEARS...
Despite having a young squad, the Lady Bears are posting some impressive numbers.
The Lady Bears are a much improved shooting team over last season's squad. At this point last season, the Lady Bears were shooting 44.3 percent from the floor and 29.4 percent from 3-point range. At the same point this season, Baylor is 48.1 percent from the floor and 41.9 percent from 3-point range. In addition, the Lady Bears had blocked only 82 shots, while this season they have recorded 111, 93 of which have come from sophomore Steffanie Blackmon (37), sophomore Melanie Hamerly (36) and freshman Sophia Young (20).
As of games through Jan 19, Baylor is leading the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage at .419, although Kansas State is right behind at .412. The Lady Bears also top the conference statistics in assists (22.33) and assist/turnover ratio (1.32).
Sophomore Steffanie Blackmon (Dallas/Rowlett HS) leads the Lady Bears and ranks No. 2 in the Big 12 in scoring with 19.3 points a game. Two others are averaging in double-digits as well. Freshman Sophia Young (St. Vincent, West Indies/Evangel Academy, Shreveport, La.) ranks second at 11.7 and junior guard Jessika Stratton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Coronado HS) follows closely with 10.7 an outing.
Young, a 6-1 freshman, is the Lady Bears' and Big 12's leading rebounder grabbing 9.1 a game. Young ranks first in scoring, rebounding and steals and second in blocked shots among Big 12 Conference freshmen. Steffanie Blackmon is close behind Young with 8.2 an outing.
Chelsea Whitaker (Dallas/Skyline HS) leads the squad in assists with 5.47 a game. Stratton ranks in second with 4.73 a contest. Stratton dished out a career-high 13 assists against Mercer and Whitaker has had three games where she tallied nine assists.
The Lady Bears have three players that combine for 93 blocks. Steffanie Blackmon leads the way with 37, Melanie Hamerly (Orange/Little Cypress-Mauriceville HS) follows closely with 36 and Sophia Young has 20 on the season.
BAYLOR IN THE NATIONAL STATS...
Baylor ranks in top five nationally in six categories and in the top 15 in nine areas. Team
#1 - Assists per game - 22.2
#2 - Scoring margin - 29.0
#2 - 3-Pt. Field goal pct. - .449
#2 - Field goal pct. defense - 31.6
#3 - Blocked shots per game - 7.6
#4 - Scoring offense - 84.2
#7 - Field goal pct. - .499
#12 - Steals per game - 13.4
#14 - Rebounding margin - +8.8
Individual
Free throw pct. - #15, Jessika Stratton (.900)
Blocks per game - #15, Steffanie Blackmon (2.6); #18, Melanie Hamerly (2.4)
THE OPPONENT...
Texas A&M Aggies
The Texas A&M Aggies come into the game with an 8-7 season record and are 1-3 in Big 12 action. The Aggies lost their first game of the season to Northwestern State then reeled off six consecutive victories. Since then they have dropped six of their last eight games. Their lone Big 12 win came against Oklahoma State when they beat the Cowgirls in Stillwater, 69-64. All three Big 12 losses have come at the hands of top 25 teams, #8 Texas Tech, #20 Texas and #23 Oklahoma.
Only one Aggie averages double figures in scoring. Toccara Williams, a 5-9 junior guard, leads the Aggies with 13.2 points a game. The Aggies suffered a blow when Kim Moore, a 6-0 senior forward, retired from basketball. She was the team's leading rebounder at 9.1 a game and ranked second on the squad in scoring with 12.7 a game. Junior forward Janae Derrick, 5-11, leads the team in rebounding at 6.1 a game.
THE COACHES...
In just her third season as Baylor's head coach, Kim Mulkey-Robertson has led the Lady Bears to two straight NCAA Tournament appearances, a final national ranking of No. 7 last season and a second place finish in the highly-competitive Big 12 Conference. The 2000 inductee to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame has a career record of 60-18 in her two-plus seasons at Baylor.
Texas A&M's Peggie Gillom (Mississippi, 1980) is in her 5th season as the Aggies' head coach. She owns a career record of 51-75 at Texas A&M.
COMMON OPPONENTS...
The two teams have played four common opponents so far this season. Both teams defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff (UAPB) and Texas Southern and lost to Texas Tech and Texas. Baylor beat UAPB 104-38 while the Aggies posted a 79-51 win. Baylor defeated Texas Southern 103-59 while the Aggies beat them 67-46. Texas Tech beat the Aggies 77-56 and Baylor 62-48 and Texas defeated Texas A&M 74-47 and Baylor 70-50.
SERIES RECORDS...
Baylor vs. Texas A&M - Texas A&M leads the series 32-28, but Baylor holds a 16-12 lead in games played in Waco. Since the inception of the Big 12, Baylor has won five of the six games played in Waco and are 9-3 against the Aggies in Big 12 games. The Lady Bears have won the last three games against the Aggies. Texas A&M's last victory over Baylor in Waco came on Jan. 5, 2000. The Aggies most recent victory over Baylor came on Jan. 20, 2001 in College Station.
