Lady Bears Hit the Road
1/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2004
WACO, Texas - Watch live video of this game!
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
For those Lady Bear fans that can't attend the game in Norman, live video is available online at baylorbears.nmnathletics.com. In addition, live video is available for all home games. Subscriptions are available for 6.95 per game, or 49.95 for a season pass that covers both men's and women's games.
#19/24 Baylor (15-3, 3-2) at #15/15Oklahoma (13-3, 3-2)
Saturday, Jan. 24, 2004 - 3:30 pm (CST)
Lloyd Noble Arena (12,000) - Norman, Okla.
RADIO...
KLRK - FM 92.9 - Rick May (play-by-play) and Lori Scott Fogleman (color analysis). Broadcast begins 30 minutes prior to game time. In addition, Dallas' WBAP (820-AM) will pick up five Lady Bear home game broadcasts (Colorado, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Texas A&M).
BAYLOR AUDIO AND VIDEO LIVE ON THE NET...
For the first time, Bear fans can both watch and listen to live video and audio of Baylor basketball online in 2003-2004. The radio broadcast of all Baylor basketball games can be heard live on-line on Baylor's official website, BaylorBears.com, or at www.broadcast.com.
#19/24 LADY BEARS VS. #15/15 OKLAHOMA...
The #19 Baylor Lady Bears (15-3, 3-2) take to the road to face off with #15 Oklahoma (13-3, 3-2) on Saturday in Norman, Okla. The Lady Bears are nearing the end of a seven-game stretch where they face five ranked teams. They have No. 14 Colorado, No. 3 Texas and No. 2 Texas Tech behind them but still have to face No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 9 Kansas State.
BAYLOR IN THE POLLS...
Baylor moved up in the Associated Press' Top 25 Poll after defeating No. 3 Texas and losing at No. 2 Texas Tech by one point last week. They moved up five spots to No. 19 in this week's poll. Baylor finally broke into the top 25 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, checking in at No. 24.
THE LADY BEARS...
The Lady Bears finished the non-conference portion of their schedule at 12-1. Under fourth-year head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson's guidance the Lady Bears are 46-2 in non-conference regular season games. After defeating Kansas (85-66) on Wednesday, Baylor's season record now stands at 15-3 and they are 3-2 in league play.
Three 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 and produced another double-double against Eastern Kentucky (21p, 11r). Young recorded back-to-back double-doubles against Colorado (14p, 11r) and Texas A&M (10p, 13r) and added another one against Kansas (20p, 11r). She is averaging a team-leading 17.3 points and 8.6 rebounds an outing. Steffanie Blackmon, a junior post, ranks second in both categories with 14.3 points and 6.4 rebounds. Freshman forward Emily Niemann is averaging 10.1 points while senior Jessika Stratton follows closely with 9.1points. Senior Dionne Brown ranks third on the team in rebounding with 5.9 a game.
Baylor is outscoring their opponents by 24.3 points a game and is shooting a league-leading .491 (552-1125) on the season. The Lady Bears are holding their opponents to just 56.0 points a game and a .331 (355-1071) shooting average. Baylor has shot .500 or above in 11 of the 18 games this season and has been over the .600 mark once (Sam Houston State .661).
Sophia Young REACHES 500...
Sophomore Sophia Young, a 6-1 post, needed just five rebounds against Kansas to reach 500 for her career, she got them in the first half. She collected 11 for the game to raise her career total to 506.
She became the fastest active Big 12 player to reach 500 career rebounds, attaining the feat in 53 games. Here's a breakdown of active Big 12 players who have reached 500 rebounds and how long it took them:
Stacy Stephens, Texas - 54 games
Caton Hill, Oklahoma - 61 games
Kendra Wecker, Kansas State - 63 games
Nicole Ohlde, Kansas State - Junior season
Evan Unrau, Missouri - Junior season
Trisha Skibbe, Oklahoma State - Junior season
Tera Bjorklund, Colorado - Senior season
FAST FACTS...
* Baylor has recorded double-digit steals in 14 of 18 games.
* Baylor has been outrebounded only four times in 18 games.
* Baylor has shot .500 or above in 11 of 18 games this season.
* Sophia Young has scored at least 20 points five times this season and 10 times in her career.
* Sophia Young has six double-doubles on the season and 23 for her career.
* Steffanie Blackmon has scored in double figures in 15 of 18 games and scored at least 20 four times this year.
* Emily Niemann has hit a 3-pointer in 17 of 18 games, hitting a trey in her first 14 collegiate games before failing to connect at Texas A&M on Jan. 10.
* Jessika Stratton has hit a 3-pointer in 14 of 18 games.
* Sophia Young has scored in double figures 46 times in 53 career games, including all 18 this season.
* Sophia Young has hauled down double-digit rebounds in six games this season and 23 in her career.
* Jessika Stratton has made 29-straight free throws, last missing in the opener against Mississippi State on Nov. 21.
* Emily Niemann has hit 11 straight free throws, last missing against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 21.
THE COACHES...
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, in her fourth season, has an 87-29 head coaching record which equates out to a .750 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 was named Baylor's fourth head coach on April 4, 2000. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame that same year. This past summer she was inducted into the Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame.
Oklahoma's Sherri Coale, a 1987 graduate of Oklahoma Christian, is in her eighth season as a head coach. She has a career record of 145-89, all at Oklahoma.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT...
The No. 15 Oklahoma Sooners come into the game with a 13-3 record overall and 3-2 mark in Big 12 play. The Sooners are coming off of a 69-51 loss at Iowa State on Tuesday. The Sooners opened the 2003-04 season with eight straight wins before dropping a 71-55 decision to Tennessee. They reeled off three more wins before losing at Texas (63-58). Oklahoma followed that with an overtime win at Texas A&M (65-56) and a victory over Oklahoma State (87-37) before losing at Iowa State.
The Sooners are a very young team, they have two seniors, two juniors, four sophomores and six freshman on the roster. Senior guard Maria Villarroel leads the team in scoring with 14.8 points a game. Senior forward Caton HIll follows with 13.3 and junior guard Dionnah Jackson scores 10.7 a contest. Five Sooners are averaging 5.3 rebounds a game or higher. Hill leads the way at 6.1, Jackson follows closely with 5.5, Villarroel hauls down 5.4 and freshman Leah Rush and sophomore Becky Preston each snag 5.3 a game.
THE SERIES RECORDS...
Oklahoma leads the series 14-4 and has won 11 straight games. Baylor's last win over Oklahoma came on Feb. 1, 1998 in Waco, 97-67. The Lady Bears' last win in Norman came on Jan. 14, 1998 (67-64). Oklahoma leads the series 7-2 in games played in Norman.
LAST MEETING...
The two teams met twice last season with then-No. 22 Oklahoma posting a 65-64 win in Waco and a 78-64 win in Norman.
In Waco, Dionnah Jackson hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to cap an Oklahoma comeback and give the Sooners a 65-64 victory over Baylor. Baylor led 63-62 when Chelsea Whitaker went to the line to shoot two free throws with 11 seconds left. She missed the second of the two shots, giving the Bears a 64-62 lead. Sophia Young led Baylor with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Dionne Brown scored 15 points and Stasha Richards 10. Laura Andrews came off the bench for the Sooners to lead them in scoring and rebounding with 21 points and 11 rebounds, she was 5-of-10 from 3-point range and 7-of-14 from the floor. Dionnah Jackson scored 18 and Chelsi Welch, who is redshirting this season, tallied 13.
In Norman, Maria Villarroel led the Sooners with 22 points, Welch followed with 18 and Andrews added 11. Jackson hauled down a team-leading 11 rebounds while Andrews collected nine. For the Lady Bears, Brown posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds and Young tallied 10 points and nine boards. Melanie Hamerly and Ebony Jackson each scored 10 points for Baylor. Steffanie Blackmon did not play in that game (coaches decision).
