Dec. 27, 2004
WACO, Texas -
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Game 11
Dec. 29 - 7:00 p.m. (CST)
#3/9 Baylor (9-1) vs. Montana State (6-3)
Ferrell Center (10,284) • Waco, Texas
RADIO
1660 AM - ESPN Radio
Rick May - play-by-play
Lori Fogleman - color analyst
Broadcast begins 30 minutes prior to tip.
INTERNET FEEDS
Audio - live broadcast stream at BaylorBears.com
Video (BearCast) - live video stream at BaylorBears.com
#3/9 BAYLOR VS. MONTANA STATE...
The Baylor Lady Bears, after a 10-day break between games for the holidays, will close out their non-conference schedule by hosting Montana State on Wed., Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. in the Ferrell Center.
Baylor comes into the game at 9-1 and riding an nine-game win streak, its longest since a 12-game string in 2002-03. After opening the season with a 71-70 loss to then-No. 3 and now top-ranked LSU, Baylor has posted wins over Indiana (60-47), Mississippi State (66-49), Sam Houston State (84-53), Rice (77-65), Jackson State (73-56), East Carolina (80-59), back-to-back Big Ten champion Penn State (91-70), Washington (74-58) and Florida (89-62).
After playing a record-breaking seven-game homestand, the Montana State Bobcats will venture out on a seven-game road trip, which begins at No. 5 Baylor on Dec. 29 and culminates at Northern Arizona, Jan. 22. The Bobcats come into the Ferrell Center with a 6-3 record after posting a 68-52 victory over Texas State on Monday, Dec. 20.
BAYLOR CONTINUES TO CLIMB IN THE POLLS...
On Nov. 8 the Baylor Lady Bears achieved their highest preseason ranking in the Associated Press poll when they broke out of the gate at No. 8. Prior to that, Baylor's highest preseason ranking came in 1976-77 when it debuted at No. 13. On Dec. 20, Baylor jumped up to No. 5, the highest ranking ever achieved by the program then moved up to No. 3 in the Dec. 27 poll. Baylor has been ranked no lower than No. 9 this season in the AP poll. In addition, the Lady Bears were ranked No. 8 in the season's first USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll, their highest-ever ranking by the coaches. Baylor is currently ranked No. 9 by the coaches.
EXCELLING IN THE CLASSROOM AS WELL AS ON THE COURT...
Lady Bear basketball players have been excelling in the classroom as well and on the basketball court, seven players earned fall semester GPAs of 3.0 or higher. In addition, the fall semester team GPA of 2.91 ranks as the 3rd-highest semester GPA for a Lady Bear squad since joining the Big 12 Conference.
Players earning a 3.0 GPA or better for Fall 2004 were Steffanie Blackmon, Chanelle Fox, Victoria Jones, Chisa Ononiwu, Angela Tisdale, LaToya Wyatt and Sophia Young. All seven will be named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll.
HOT FROM 3-POINT LAND...
Three BU players, sophomore Emily Niemann, junior Chameka Scott and freshman Angela Tisdale, are hot from 3-point range. The trio combines to shoot 50.6 percent from beyond the arc. Niemann leads the way at 58.5 percent (24-41), Scott hits 42.9 percent (12-28) and Tisdale manages .450 (9-20). Against the University of Washington, Niemann and Scott were a combined 8-of-14 (.571) from 3-point range, Niemann was 5-of-8 and Scott hit 3-of-6. Over the past three contests, Niemann is 10-of-15 and Scott is 8-of-15 from beyond the arc, for a combined 18-30 for 60.0 percent.
As a team the Lady Bears' 3-point shooting percentage is almost as good as their overall shooting percentage. Baylor is hitting 45.1 percent from the floor and nails 43.3 percent of its shots from beyond the arc. Against the Washington Huskies the Lady Bears shot 57.1 percent (8-14) from 3-point range while hitting 53.4 percent from the floor.
Baylor has shot 50 percent or higher from beyond the arc in three games this season. The Lady Bears were a season-high .588 (10-17) against Sam Houston State, .583 (7-12) versus Penn State and .571 (8-14) against Washington. Over the past four games, the Lady Bears are 26-of-51 for 51.0 percent.
DRAINING `EM IN DECEMBER...
In the month of December, which accounts for five games, the Lady Bears are draining 51.2 percent of their shots. Over that span they have made 151 of their 295 field goal attempts while limiting their opponents to 34.4 percent (106-308) shooting. BU avearged 8.14 points a game in December while allowing 61.0 points a game.
BENCH STRENGTH...
Baylor's bench has been extremely strong this season and has exhibited the depth of the squad. Of the Lady Bears' 764 points this season, 315 have been scored by bench players which equates to 41.2 percent of the team's points. Twelve times this season a player has come off the bench to score in double figures. Emily Niemann accounts for six of the 12, Angela Tisdale has done it twice and LaToya Wyatt, Jordan Davis, Abiola Wabara and Steffanie Blackmon each have come in off the bench once to score in double figures.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT...
After playing a record-breaking seven-game homestand, the Montana State Bobcats will venture out on a seven-game road trip, which begins at No. 5 Baylor on Dec. 29 and culminates at Northern Arizona, Jan. 22. The Bobcats come into the Ferrell Center with a 6-3 record after posting a 68-52 victory over Texas State on Monday, Dec. 20. In addition, they have posted win over Air Force (74-73 OT), Utah Valley State (74-65), UC Irvine (67-52), Montana Tech (100-55) and Rocky Mountain (72-61).
Senior Kati Burrows and sophomore Scotta Morton each score in double figures for the Bobcats. Burrows averages a team-leading 15.6 points a game and leads the squad in rebounding at 8.1 an outing. Morton pops in 12.3 a game and senior Hillary Scott is just under the double-digit mark with 9.9 points a contest.
Greg Kudrna (pronounced koo - der - nah) was named Montana State's interim head coach in April, after serving two seasons as an assistant with the Bobcat program. He becomes the tenth head coach in the history of MSU women's basketball. Kudrna is a 1978 graduate of Texas A&M.
THE SERIES RECORD...
This is the third meeting between the Montana State Bobcats and Baylor, one in 1980 and once in 2002. The first meeting between the two schools was in Logan, Utah in Utah State's Pre-Holiday Classic and Baylor posted an 82-60 win. Baylor traveled to Bozeman, Mont., in 2002 and participated in Montana State's GranTree Inn Classic. The Bobcats defeated the Lady Bears 75-66 in the championship game. Steffanie Blackmon and Sophia Young were both named to the all-tournament team as was Montana State's Kati Burrows who is a senior on this season's squad.
Baylor has lost only three regular season non-conference games under head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, Montana State is one of those losses, the others are to Penn State and LSU.
