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March 22, 2003
WACO, Texas -
2003 Women's NIT
Baylor (21-10) vs. Arizona State (16-13)
Second Round
March 23, 2003 - 5 p.m.
Ferrell Center (10,284) - Waco, Texas
Radio - KLRK - FM 92.9 - Rick May (play-by-play) and Lori Scott Fogleman (color analysis). Broadcast begins 30 minutes prior to game time.
Internet - www.BaylorBears.com
Women's NIT - Second Round
Saturday, March 22
Creighton at Siena - 7 pm (EST)
Sunday, March 23
Richmond at Saint Joesph's - 2 pm (EST)
Florida State at Auburn - 3 pm (EST)
Marquette at Iowa - 2 pm (CST)
Montana at Colorado State - 3 pm (MST)
Arizona State at Baylor - 5 pm (CST)
Monday, March 24
Oregon State at Fresno State - 7 pm (PST)
Ball State at Missouri - 7 pm (CST)
The 32-team Women's NIT is a single elimination tournament. All tournament games are played at participating schools.
Quarterfinals - March 25-27
Semifinals - March 29-31
Finals - April 2-4
BAYLOR AND ARIZONA STATE...
Baylor comes into the game with a 21-10 record after finishing seventh in the Big 12 with an 8-8 record. The Arizona State Sun Devils are 16-13 on the season and finished seventh in the Pac-10 Conference with a 7-11 league record. This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
Both teams find themselves in the WNIT after two consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament. This is Arizona State's fourth straight trip to postseason play while it is the Lady Bears' third. Last season, after finishing second in the Pac-10, ASU defeated Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAAs (73-70) and lost to No. 4 Vanderbilt (61-35). Baylor defeated Bucknell (80-56) in the first round and lost to Drake (76-72) in the second. The Sun Devils were one-and-done in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, losing to No. 18 LSU, 83-66. In that same tournament, Baylor lost in the first round to Arkansas (68-59).
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 69-25 in her three seasons at Baylor. The Lady Bears have registered 20 win seasons every season with Mulkey-Robertson at the helm.
Arizona State's Charli Turner Thorne (Stanford, 1988) is in her 10th season as the Sun Devils' head coach, she is 106-99 at Arizona State. She ranks second all-time in wins at ASU.
SERIES RECORDS...
Baylor vs. Arizona State - This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
COMMON OPPONENTS...
The two teams have just one common opponents this season, the UCLA Bruins. The Lady Bears posted an 89-77 win over the Bruins in Pauley Pavilion on Dec. 19 while the Sun Devils dropped two contests to UCLA. Arizona lost only four games at home this season, one of which was to UCLA, 60-58. The Bruins posted a 71-62 victory over ASU in Pauley Pavilion.
