Jan. 11, 2005
WACO, Texas -
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Game 13
Jan. 12 - 7:05 p.m. (CST)
#2/5 Baylor (12-1, 2-0) at Nebraska (10-4, 2-0)
Bob Devaney Sports Center (13,595) • Lincoln, Neb.
RADIO
1660 AM - ESPN Radio
Rick May - play-by-play
Lori Fogleman - color analyst
Broadcast begins 30 minutes prior to tip.
TELEVISION
None
INTERNET FEEDS
Audio - live broadcast stream at BaylorBears.com
Video (BearCast) - None
#2/5 BAYLOR AT NEBRASKA...
The 2nd-ranked Baylor Lady Bears, 12-1 on the season and 2-0 in league action, will play their second Big 12 road contest when they travel to Lincoln, Neb., to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Wed., Jan. 12.
Baylor comes into the game at 12-1 and riding a 12-game win streak, its longest since a 12-game string to open the 2001-02 season. The program's record for most consecutive victories is 13 which the Lady Bears achieved in head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson's first season at Baylor by winning the first 13 games of the year. Baylor has a chance to go 3-0 in league play for just the third time in school history. The 1982-83 and 1983-84 Lady Bear squads opened Southwest Conference action with 3-0 marks. This season marks just the second time Baylor has opened Big 12 play with a 2-0 mark, they also accomplished the feat in 2000-01.
After opening the season with a 71-70 loss to No. 3 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), Florida (89-62), Montana State (92-47), Texas A&M (64-50) and No. 7 Texas (63-60).
National Player of the Year candidates Sophia Young and Steffanie Blackmon lead the team in both scoring and rebounding with Young averaging 17.0 points and 9.5 rebounds and Blackmon right behind with 16.4 points and 8.2 rebounds.
Nebraska enters the contest with a 10-4 season record, a 2-0 Big 12 mark and is riding a four-game win streak of its own. Two of the Huskers' losses have come at the hands of ranked teams, then-No. 10 Notre Dame (73-57) and then-ninth-ranked Ohio State (86-61). Nebraska has posted Big 12 wins over Colorado (84-62) and Missouri (81-74).
BAYLOR 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. The Lady Bears have steadily risen in the polls and currently sit at their highest-ever position, No. 2. Another historic milestone was reached by the Lady Bears as they received 12 first-place votes in the most recent AP poll. It is the first time Baylor has received any first-place votes. 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. In the Jan. 4 poll, Baylor jumped up four spots and is currently ranked No. 5 by the coaches, their highest-ever coaches poll ranking.
DOUBLE TROUBLE...
The tandem of Steffanie Blackmon and Sophia Young in the paint has proven to be one of the most formidable inside duos in NCAA Division I. Last season the pair combined to average 32.3 points and 15.5 rebounds a game, which accounted for 39.7 percent of Baylor's scoring and rebounding. Over the past two seasons Blackmon has averaged 16.6 points and 7.5 rebounds while Young has scored 15.5 a game and hauled down 9.3 boards over that same span.
So far this season, the duo has scored 44.2 percent of the team's points, 434 of 983 points. Young has scored in double-digits in all 13 games while Blackmon has registered double-digit scoring in 11 contests. The tandem is combining to pull down 17.7 rebounds a game, good for 42.6 percent of the team's boards. Young is averaging 9.5 a game while Blackmon accounts for 8.2. Against the seventh-ranked Texas Longhorns, the tandem combined for 44 of Baylor's 63 points and 21 of the team's 39 rebounds.
The tandem sits among the Big 12 Conference's leaders in both scoring and rebounding. Young is No. 2 in rebounding and No. 4 in scoring, while Blackmon is No. 5 in scoring and No. 6 in rebounding.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT...
The Nebraska women's basketball team raised its record to 10-4 overall and 2-0 in league play when it scored the game's final nine points and did not allow Missouri to hit a field goal in the final 9:45, to overcome a 13-point deficit late in the second half and escape from the Mizzou Arena with an 81-74 victory on Saturday. In addition, the Huskers posted an impressive 84-62 win over Colorado in their Big 12 Conference opener.
Three Huskers are producing double digit scoring averages, although one, Chelsea Aubry, has recently been sidelined with a foot injury. Guard Kiera Hardy leads all Nebraska players with 18.0 points a game. Jessica Gerhart ranks second on the squad with 13.2 points a game and leads the team in rebounding with 7.0 an outing. Aubry averaged 10.1 points before her injury. She suffered the injury in practice on Jan. 1 and was expected to miss two weeks.
Nebraska's Connie Yori is in her third season at Nebraska after spending the previous 10 season as Creighton's head coach. Yori owns a 206-151 career record as a head coach at the Division I level and is 36-36 at Nebraska.
THE SERIES RECORD...
The Jan. 12 meeting between Baylor and Nebraska marks the 10th contest between the two schools. They had not played against each other prior to the formation of the Big 12 Conference. Baylor leads the series 6-3 and has won four straight games. The Lady Bears lead the series 3-1 in games played in Lincoln.
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson is 4-0 versus Nebraska.
