March 14, 2004

WACO, Texas - Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson has guided her Lady Bear basketball team to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in her four seasons as a head coach. The Lady Bears are the tournament's No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region.

Baylor, Florida, Loyola Marymount and host New Mexico will play in The Pit on the campus of the University of New Mexico. Games will be on Sat., March 20 and Mon., March 22. Game times will be announced on Monday.

Baylor, ranked No. 14 by the Associated Press and sporting a 24-8 record, will face Loyola Marymount (24-5) who gained an automatic berth by winning the program's first West Coast Conference Tournament Championship with a win over Gonzaga, 61-58. Loyola Marymount, the Midwest Region's No. 13 seed, has won 15 consecutive games.

The winner of the Loyola Marymount/Baylor game will advance to play the winner of No. 5 seed Florida and No. 12 seed New Mexico on Monday.

The Lady Bears and Loyola Marymount have met on three previous occasions. Baylor leads the series 2-1, posting wins in Las Cruces, N.M., (69-56) on Dec. 20, 1994 and in Waco (77-66) on Dec. 18, 2000. Loyola Marymount's victory came in Los Angeles on Dec. 21, 1999 by a score of 71-55.

Baylor also was selected for the NCAA Tournament in 2001 and 2002. They lost in the first round to Arkansas (68-59) in 2001, beat Bucknell (80-56) in 2002 and were defeated in the second round in 2002 by Drake (76-72.

Three-game ticket packages are available at $20 for adults and $12 for individuals 18 and under. Please call the Baylor Athletic Ticket Office (254-710-1000) or go online at www.golobos.com and click on the NCAA logo.