Dec. 3, 2003
WACO, Texas -
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Gene Hackerman Rice Invitational
Dec. 5 & 6
Autry Court - Rice University
Houston, Texas
Baylor (4-0) vs. Eastern Kentucky (2-3)
Friday, Dec. 5, 2003 - 5 pm
Stephen F. Austin (0-4) vs. Rice (1-3)
Sat., Dec 5, 2003 - 7 pm
Sat., Dec. 6
5 p.m. - Losers of Friday's games
7 p.m. - Winners of Friday's games
LADY BEARS VS. THE TOURNAMENT FIELD...
The Lady Bears will make their first road trip of the season when they travel to Houston for the Rice University-hosted Gene Hackerman Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 5 & 6. Baylor will put their 4-0 record on the line as they face the Eastern Kentucky Lady Colonels on Friday at 5 pm in the first game of the tournament. The Lady Colonels come into the game with a 2-3 record after posting a win over Wright State (74-69) on Monday night. The Lady Bears will play either Stephen F. Austin (0-4) or Rice (1-3) on Saturday, depending on who wins and loses the Friday games.
GAINING GROUND IN THE POLLS...
In the latest Associated Press (AP) Poll, the Lady Bears received 34 votes, up from 20 the week before. This puts them just four spots out of the top 25. The last time Baylor was listed in the AP Top 25 was at the end of the 2001-02 season when they were No. 7. Baylor received 18 votes in the latest USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, up from the one the prior week.
THE LADY BEARS...
After two lopsided exhibition wins over the Houston Jaguars and the Perik Jumpers, the Lady Bears continued that trend with decisive victories over SEC power Mississippi State (88-45), Southland Conference opponent Nicholls State (93-44), Washington State (76-39) out of the Pac-10 Conference and the Big West's Pacific (88-51).
Four players are averaging in double figures for Baylor. With a career-high 27 points against Washington State, sophomore post Sophia Young moved into the lead for the Lady Bears in scoring and rebounding average. Young followed that game with the 19th double-double of her career with a 13-point, 10-rebound performance against Pacific. She is averaging 18.0 points and 9.9 rebounds an outing. Steffanie Blackmon, a junior post, ranks second in both categories with 15.8 points and 7.0 rebounds. Senior Dionne Brown, making her first regular season appearance after suffering a knee injury, scored 11 points and hauled down 9 rebounds against Pacific. Freshman forward Emily Niemann is averaging 10.5 points and 5.0 rebounds.
Baylor is outscoring their opponents by 41.5 points a game and are shooting .531 (135-254) on the season. The Lady Bears are holding their opponents to just 44.8 points a game and a .288 (65-266) shooting average.
THE COACHES...
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, in her fourth season, has a 76-26 head coaching record which equates out to a .745 winning percentage. She has produced 20-win seasons in each of her years as a head coach and has taken the Lady Bears to postseason competition all three seasons, twice to the NCAA Tournament and to the finals of the WNIT last year.
Mulkey-Robertson's record (38-1) in regular season non-conference games by year is:
2000-01 - 11-0
2001-02 - 12-0
2002-03 - 11-1 (lost at Montana State, 75-66)
2003-03 - 4-0
The Eastern Kentucky University women's basketball team improved to 2-3 on the year on Monday with a 74-69 win over the Wright State. The win gave EKU head coach Larry Joe Inman wins his 250th game at the helm of the Lady Colonels. Inman is now 250-172 during his 16th season at Eastern Kentucky.
Rice's Cristi McKinney is 1-3 this season which brings her Rice record to 171-123 in 11 seasons. She is in her 13th season as a head coach and is 198-151 overall.
Stephen F. Austin's Lee Ann Riley, a 1985 Baylor graduate, is in her third season as the Ladyjacks' head coach. She is 0-4 this season and 39-23 in her three seasons. Riley came to SFA after serving one season as associate head coach at Missouri and prior to that was head coach at Tyler JC for six seasons.
BALANCED SCORING...
In Baylor's first two games, every Lady Bear scored in double figures in at least once. In fact, in both games only nine players were available to play and six players scored in double figures. Mississippi State - Niemann 20, Young 17, S. Blackmon 14, Whitaker 12, Stratton 12, Hamerly 10. Nicholls State - S. Blackmon 18, Jones 15, Jackson 14, Young 13, Scott 11, Niemann 10.
Baylor has had five for more players in double figures in three of the four games this season (mississippi State, Nicholls State, Pacific).
LARGE MARGINS...
Over their first three games, the Lady Bears are posting some pretty large margins.
Scoring - Baylor +41.5
Rebounding - Baylor +18.3
Steals - Baylor +7.0
Blocks - Baylor +4.8
Assists - Baylor +13.5
In addition, the Lady Bears are shooting an impressive .531 (135-254) while limiting the opponent to a .288 (65-226) shooting percentage. Baylor has shot over 50% in every game this season.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS...
Eastern Kentucky comes into the game with a 2-3 season record. They have posted wins over Gardner-Webb (69-59) and Wright State (74-69) and suffered losses to Miami (FL), 90-81, Memphis (78-65) and Nebraska (78-75). They are led on the season by guard Katie Kelly's 16.4 points a game. Miranda Eckerle is the team's leading rebounder at 6.0 a game. The Lady Colonels have three Texas players on their roster: Candis Cook (College Station), Candise Hurdle (Fort Worth), Omni McCluney (Houston).
The Rice Owls are 1-3 on the season going into the tournament. After losing their first three games of the season, they defeated Texas State (78-63) on Monday (Dec. 1) night. They were defeated by Kent State (61-55), Arkansas (65-46) and LSU (73-51). They are led by forward Michelle Woods' 11.0 points a game, she also hauls down 7.0 boards an outing. Lauren Neaves averages 7.5 rebounds a game. Johnetta Hayes, a 6-4 center who transferred to Rice from Oklahoma, also averages 7.5 rebounds a contest but has played in only two games. She suffered a knee injury and is listed as day-to-day. Hayes was named first-team all-WAC last season.
The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks have played an extremely tough schedule so far and are 0-4. They lost their season opener to No. 11 Louisiana Tech (109-60) and also were defeated by Colorado State (72-57), No. 4 Duke (119-53) and Creighton (91-64).
THE SERIES RECORDS...
Baylor versus Eastern Kentucky - First meeting
Baylor versus Rice - Rice leads 17-13
Baylor versus Stephen F. Austin - SFA leads 11-5
LAST MEETING...
Baylor and Rice have met just once since the demise of the Southwest Conference. Rice posted a 62-60 overtime victory in Waco on March 14, 1999. That game was in the second round of the WNIT. Rice has won the last six games between the two teams. Baylor's last win over the Owls came on Jan. 26, 1994 (82-78) in Waco.
Baylor and Stephen F. Austin last met on the court on Nov. 23, 1996 with the Ladyjacks posting a 96-73 win. That win came in the championship game of the Baylor-hosted Dr Pepper Lady Bear Tournament. The Ladyjacks were ranked No. 24 at that time. SFA has won three straight games versus the Lady Bears, Baylor's last win came on Dec. 14, 1984 (76-63) in the Dallas-Hilton Inn Classic in Dallas.
