March 11, 2003

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DALLAS - After trailing by nine points at the half, the Baylor Lady Bears outscored Texas A&M 58-30 in the second stanza to claim an 80-61 victory in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament in Dallas' Reunion Arena on Tuesday night.

Jessika Stratton, Steffanie Blackmon and Sophia Young combined for 51 second-half points to lead the Lady Bears to victory. Young, a freshman, led all scorers with 25 which is one shy of her career high. It was her fifth 20-plus scoring effort of the season. Blackmon registered her 12th 20-plus game with 22 points and Stratton scored all of her season-high 16 points in the second half.

Baylor shot a dismal 30.8 percent in the first half but missed only 10 shots in the second stanza (19-of-29) for 65.6 percent. For the game Baylor shot 49.1 percent, they have now shot above 49 percent in 10 games. For the 20th time this season Baylor outrebounded their opponent, winning the board wars 31-29.

Texas A&M took the lead in the game at the 15:01 mark and led by 12 points on three different occasions before taking a nine point lead into the lockerroom, 31-22. Baylor outscored the Aggies in the first 4:15 of the second half 12-2 and went up 34-33 on a bucket by Blackmon. The Aggies would tie the game at 36 with 14:49 to go but nine straight points by the Lady Bears gave them a comfortable 45-36 lead. Texas A&M got to within three once but the Baylor squad lengthen the lead to post a 19-point victory.

The Lady Bears, now 20-9 on the season, have posted three straight 20-win seasons under head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson. Baylor will take on second-seeded Kansas State, 27-3 on the season, in the second round Big 12 Tournament on Wed., March 12 at 6 p.m.