Jan. 28, 2005
WACO, Texas -
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Game 18
Jan. 29 - 2:00 p.m. (CST)
#7/8 Baylor (14-3, 4-2) at Oklahoma State (6-10, 1-5)
Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611) • Stillwater, Okla.
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
#7/5 BAYLOR VS.OKLAHOMA STATE...
The 7th-ranked Baylor Lady Bears, 14-3 on the season and 4-2 in league action, travel to Stillwater, Okla., to take on Oklahoma State on Saturday, Jan. 29 at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Baylor comes into the game having won 14 of its last 16 games. After opening the season with a 71-70 loss to then-No. 3 and currently No. 1 LSU, Baylor posted consecutive 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) before falling at Nebraska 103-99 in triple overtime. The Lady Bears got back on the winning track by defeating the University of Oklahoma (78-68) in Waco on Sunday, Jan. 16 but fell to Texas (69-55) in Austin on Jan. 22. Most recently, Baylor posted a 74-52 victory in Waco over Texas A&M.
National Player of the Year candidates Sophia Young and Steffanie Blackmon lead the team in both scoring and rebounding with Young averaging 17.3 points and 9.8 rebounds and Blackmon right behind with 15.9 points and 8.1 rebounds.
The Oklahoma State Cowgirls enter the contest well rested after a mid-week bye. The Cowgirls are 6-10 on the season and own a 1-5 Big 12 mark. OSU broke a five-game losing streak last Saturday by defeating Colorado in overtime (76-70) at Stillwater to claim its first league win of the season. They have suffered losses to Missouri (67-49), Texas Tech (76-38), Texas A&M (49-44), Texas (63-42) and Oklahoma (70-43). The Cowgirls are 6-4 on their home court this season and 1-2 in league play in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Guard Nina Stone, a 5-7 senior, leads the team in both scoring and rebounding with 15.4 points and 5.3 rebounds a game. Taleesha Condor, a 6-0 freshman forward, ranks second in both categories with 10.4 points and 5.0 boards an outing.
THE SERIES RECORD...
The Jan. 29 Baylor-Oklahoma State contest marks the 20th meeting between the two squads. With its two victories last season Baylor extended its series lead to 12-7. Baylor has won seven of the last nine games between the two schools including three straight. Prior to the beginning of Big 12 competition in 1997, Baylor had played the Cowgirls once, an 82-71 win in Waco during the 1974-75 season. In games played in Gallagher-Iba Arena, OSU owns a 6-2 series lead over the Lady Bears. However, Baylor has won two of the last three games played in Stillwater.
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson is 6-2 versus Oklahoma State.
The Cowgirls' last victory over Baylor came on Feb. 19, 2003 in Stillwater when Oklahoma State prevailed 64-55. Baylor won by scores of 76-61 and 70-60 last season.
BAYLOR HEAD COACH Kim Mulkey-Robertson...
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson owns a 112-38 head coaching record which equates to a .747 winning percentage in her fifth season along the Lady Bear sideline. She has produced 20-win seasons in each of her four years as a head coach and has taken the Lady Bears to postseason competition every season, three times to the NCAA Tournament and to the 2003 WNIT finals. In 2004, the Lady Bears advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.
Mulkey-Robertson gained her 100th victory with a 66-49 win at Mississippi State on Nov. 23. She achieved the milestone in four seasons and three games (136 games).
Baylor year-by-year under Mulkey-Robertson:
2000-01 - 21-9 - NCAA, lost in first round (Arkansas)
2001-02 - 27-6 - NCAA, lost in second round (Drake)
2002-03 - 24-11 - WNIT, lost in finals (Auburn)
2003-04 - 26-9 - NCAA, lost in Sweet 16 (Tennessee)
2004-05 - 14-3 - Highest preseason ranking in school history (No. 8); highest ranking in program history (No. 2).
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. She was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame in June of 2003.
BAYLOR IN BIG 12 ACTION...
The 2004-05 season marks the ninth year of competition for women's basketball in the Big 12 Conference. Baylor has a record of 70-64 in Big 12 games. However, in Kim Mulkey-Robertson's four years, Baylor is 43-27 in Big 12 play and has never posted a losing conference record.
2000-01 - 9-7
2001-02 - 12-4
2002-03 - 8-8
2003-04 - 10-6
2004-05 - 4-2
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 43.7 percent of the team's points, 530 of 1,215 points. Young has scored in double-digits in all 17 games and posted a Big 12-high nine double-doubles while Blackmon has registered double-digit scoring in 14 contests with four double-doubles. The tandem is combining to pull down 17.9 rebounds a game, good for 42.0 percent of the team's boards. Young is averaging a Big 12-leading 9.8 a game while Blackmon accounts for 8.1. In Baylor's first game against the then-seventh-ranked Texas Longhorns, the tandem combined for 44 of Baylor's 63 points and 21 of the team's 39 rebounds and versus Nebraska they scored 55 of BU's 99 points and hauled down 25 of the squad's 52 rebounds
The tandem sits among the Big 12 Conference's leaders in both scoring and rebounding. Young is No.1 in rebounding and No. 3 in scoring, while Blackmon is No. 6 in both categories.
