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Jan. 24, 2003
WACO, Texas - Baylor (13-3, 2-2) vs. #22 Oklahoma (12-5, 3-1)
Sun., Jan. 26 - 2 p.m. (CST)
Ferrell Center (10,284)- Waco, Texas
COMING UP...
Baylor and #22 Oklahoma will meet for the first time this season. This will be Baylor's third top 25 opponent in four games. The Lady Bears, playing their second home game this week, are 13-3 overall and 2-2 in Big 12 action, while the Sooners are 3-1 in league play and 12-5 on the season. After posting two straight losses to top 25 teams (#8 Texas Tech & #20 Texas), Baylor got back on the winning track by defeating Texas A&M in the Ferrell Center on Wednesday night. After splitting their first two conference games, the Sooners have won two straight (Texas A&M & Kansas). They are 2-0 on the road in Big 12 games.
Under head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, the Lady Bears have lost only four games in the Ferrell Center, two of those losses have come against Oklahoma.
THE LADY BEARS...
Despite having a young squad, the Lady Bears are posting some impressive numbers.
At this point last season Baylor was 1-3 in Big 12 play, they are 2-2 this season. In addition, the Lady Bears are a much improved shooting team over last season's squad. Through four league games last season, the Lady Bears were shooting 43.5 percent from the floor and 28.6 percent from 3-point range. At the same point this season, Baylor is 48.1 percent from the floor and 41.1 percent from 3-point range. In addition, the Lady Bears had blocked only 86 shots, while this season they have recorded 116, 97 of which have come from sophomore Steffanie Blackmon (38), sophomore Melanie Hamerly (36) and freshman Sophia Young (23).
Sophomore Steffanie Blackmon (Dallas/Rowlett HS) leads the Lady Bears and ranks No. 2 in the Big 12 in scoring with 19.2 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 11.9 and junior guard Jessika Stratton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Coronado HS) follows closely with 10.1 an outing.
Young, a 6-1 freshman, is the Lady Bears' and Big 12's leading rebounder grabbing 9.0 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 8.3 an outing.
Chelsea Whitaker (Dallas/Skyline HS) leads the squad in assists with 5.38 a game. Stratton ranks in second with 4.63 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 97 blocks. Steffanie Blackmon leads the way with 38, Melanie Hamerly (Orange/Little Cypress-Mauriceville HS) follows closely with 36 and Sophia Young has 23 on the season.
THE OPPONENT...
Oklahoma
The #22 Oklahoma Sooners come into the game with a 12-5 season record and are 3-1 in Big 12 action. The Sooners lost their first game of the season to No. 2 Tennessee then reeled off wins in eight of their next nine games. Since that time they are 4-3. All of their losses except one (SMU) have come at the hands of top 25 teams (Tennessee, UConn, Stanford, Texas Tech). Their Big 12 victories have come against Nebraska, Texas A&M and Kansas.
The Sooners have suffered losses of personnel also, four players have been sidelined with knee injuries. Junior forward Caton Hill, a returning starter, freshmen Casey Walker and Erin Higgins and senior Stephanie Simon all are out for the season.
Four Sooners are averaging in double figures. Leading the way is newcomer Maria Villarroel, a 5-8 guard, with 17.7 points a game. Two other guards, Dionnah Jackson and Chelsi Welsch, average 12.5 and 10.2 points, respectively. Center Theresa Schuknecht scores 11.8 points and hauls down a team-leading 6.3 rebounds.
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 61-18 in her two-plus seasons at Baylor.
Oklahoma's Sherri Coale (Oklahoma Christian, 1987) is in her 7th season as the Sooners' head coach. She owns a career record of 125-78 at Oklahoma.
COMMON OPPONENTS...
The two teams have just two common opponents so far this season. Both squads lost to Texas Tech and defeated Texas A&M. The Sooners lost to the Red Raiders 80-71 and beat the Aggies 77-39, both games were in Norman. The Lady Bears suffered a road loss to Texas Tech 62-48 and defeated Texas A&M 66-49 in Waco.
SERIES RECORDS...
Baylor vs. Oklahoma - Oklahoma leads the series 12-4 and have won the last nine games. The last time the two teams met was last season in the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament. The Sooners posted an 84-69 win. The two teams have met 13 times since the inception of the Big 12. Oklahoma holds a 9-4 lead in those games. In fact, the Lady Bears won the first four games in Big 12 play. The Sooners lead 5-2 in games played in Waco.
