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Feb. 28, 2003
WACO,Texas -
UP NEXT...
Baylor (17-9, 6-8) vs. Texas A&M (10-15, 3-11)
Sun., March 2 - 2 p.m. (CST)
Reed Arena (12,500) - College Station, Texas
COMING UP...
Baylor is currently 17-9 overall and 6-8 in league play after losing on Wednesday to No. 10 Texas, 79-57. The Lady Bears are 4-4 over their last eight games and are 1-2 versus top 25 teams during that span. They are one of only four Big 12 teams to post victories over Top 10 teams.
Texas A&M comes into Sunday afternoon's contest with an overall record of 10-13 and a 3-11 league mark. The Aggies have lost their last three games and 10 of their last 13. Their three Big 12 victories have come over Oklahoma State (69-54), Oklahoma (69-61) and Nebraska (69-54).
THE LADY BEARS...
Despite having a young squad, the Lady Bears are posting some impressive numbers.
Sophomore Steffanie Blackmon (Dallas/Rowlett HS) leads the Lady Bears and ranks No. 4 in the Big 12 in scoring with 17.4 points a game. Freshman Sophia Young (St. Vincent, West Indies/Evangel Academy, Shreveport, La.) ranks second at 12.8.
Young, a 6-1 freshman forward , is the Lady Bears' and Big 12's leading rebounder grabbing 9.3 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 4.0 a game. Junior Jessika Stratton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Coronado HS) ranks second with 3.96 a contest and freshman Ebony Jackson (Arlington/Sam Houston HS) dishes out 3.94 a game. 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 116 blocks. Steffanie Blackmon leads the way with 44, Melanie Hamerly (Orange/Little Cypress-Mauriceville HS) follows closely with 39 and Sophia Young has 33 on the season.
THE OPPONENT...
Texas A&M Texas A&M comes into Sunday afternoon's contest with an overall record of 10-13 and a 3-11 league mark. The Aggies have lost their last three games and 10 of their last 13. Their three Big 12 victories have come over Oklahoma State (69-54), Oklahoma (69-61) and Nebraska (69-54).
Only one Aggies averages double figures in scoring. Toccara Williams, a 5-9 junior guard, leads the Aggies with 12.5 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 6.0 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 65-24 in her three 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 53-83 at Texas A&M.
