Nov. 11, 2005
WACO, Texas -
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Game 1:
#6/7 Baylor vs. #8/T5 Georgia
Nov. 13, 2005 • 12 p.m.
State Farm Tip-Off Classic
United Spirit Arena (15,050) • Lubbock, Texas
RADIO
Baylor/ISP Sports Radio Network
KRZI/ESPN 1660 AM
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
TELEVISION
ESPN2
Dave Barnett - play-by-play
Doris Burke - color analyst
BAYLOR VS. GEORGIA...
Baylor and the University of Georgia meet for the first time in the season opener for both teams. The State Farm Tip-Off Classic is an event which directly benefits the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
For the 13th consecutive year, the State Farm Women's Tip-Off Classic will help to usher in another collegiate season for women's basketball.
The four teams in the 2005 State Farm Tip-Off Classic - Baylor, Georgia, LSU, and Texas Tech-have definitely made their mark in women's basketball.
Those same four teams have also made their presence known at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame (WBHOF). From inductees to team visits to displays throughout the Hall, the four teams have plenty of connections to the Hall of Fame.
TIP-OFF FACTS...
With the selection announcement of the Class of 2006 inductees for the Hall of Fame, all four teams now have a WBHOF honoree. Baylor coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson and the late Sue Gunter, the former LSU head coach, were members of the Hall of Fame's second group of inductees in 2000. Texas Tech head coach Marsha Sharp was inducted in 2003, and former Georgia great Katrina McClain Johnson will be enshrined in April 2006.
This year's Tip-Off Classic marks the first time in the event's history that two teams from one conference will go head-to-head with two teams from one other conference as Georgia and LSU from the Southeastern Conference will take on Baylor and Texas Tech, respectively, from the Big 12 Conference.
This marks the second consecutive year that the Tip-Off Classic has been held in the Lone Star State as well as only the third time that the event has been held West of the Mississippi River. The only other time that the Tip-Off Classic has ventured west was in 1996 when Stanford University hosted the event.
The 2005 State Farm Tip-Off Classic will be the fifth for Baylor coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson. In addition to being the Lady Bears head coach for the 2004 and 2005 events, she coached in three previous Tip-Off Classics as an assistant coach (1994 and 1995) and associate head coach (1999) with the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters.
There have been lots of teams to wear red or blue at the Tip-Off Classic, and even five different teams that have worn various shades of orange, but Baylor is the only team to wear green in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic history.
For the second consecutive year, two teams from the Lone Star State are playing in the Tip-Off Classic with Baylor joining host Texas in the 2004 field and host Texas Tech in the 2005 field. The only other time that two teams from the same state have been in the event the same year was 1993 when both Tennessee and Vanderbilt were in the inaugural Tip-Off Classic.
BAYLOR IN THE POLLS...
Baylor finished last season ranked No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and No. 5 in the Associated Press (AP) poll. The Lady Bears, defending NCAA champions, are ranked No. 7 in the preseason coaches poll that came out on Nov. 2. The AP poll's first ranking of the season (Nov. 8) lists Baylor at No. 6.
Baylor received two first-place votes in the preseason AP poll while Georgia received one. Of the teams in the current poll, only Baylor and Maryland appeared in the first AP poll on Nov. 25, 1976.
20-GAME WIN STREAK...
The Lady Bears enter the contest sporting the nation's longest win streak, 20-games. Baylor's last loss came on Jan. 22, 2005, in Austin, Texas when the Texas Longhorns handed the Lady Bears a 69-55 loss. Baylor would then go on to reel off 20 straight wins, including victories over three No.1 NCAA Tournament seeds, North Carolina, LSU and Michigan State, to claim its first national title.
BAYLOR IN SEASON OPENERS...
The Lady Bears are 24-7 in season openers, including a 6-3 record on neutral courts. Under head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, Baylor is 4-1 in season openers, 2-1 on neutral courts and 2-0 in the Ferrell Center. 2000-01 - Defeated Miami (Ohio), 75-62, in the Boston University Invitational 2001-02 - Defeated North Texas, 85-78, in the Nevada Bell Classic at Reno 2002-03 - Defeated Princeton, 86-47, in the Women's Sports Foundation Tournament at Waco 2003-04 - Defeated Mississsippi State, 88-45, in Waco 2004-05 - Lost to LSU, 71-70, in Austin (State Farm Tip-Off Classic)
BAYLOR IN THE TIP-OFF CLASSIC...
The Lady Bears will be making their second appearance in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic when they take on the University of Georgia. Baylor lost to LSU in last year's Classic hosted by the University of Texas in Austin. The Lady Bears trailed by as many as 20 points in the game, including a 19-point halftime deficit, but mounted a furious comeback but lost, 71-70.
BAYLOR HEAD COACH Kim Mulkey-Robertson...
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson enters her sixth season with a 131-38 head coaching record which equates to a .775 winning percentage. She has produced 20-win seasons in each of her five years as a head coach and has taken the Lady Bears to postseason competition all five seasons, four times to the NCAA Tournament and to the finals of the WNIT. In 2005, the Lady Bears claimed Baylor and the Big 12's first NCAA basketball championship.
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 - 33-3 - NCAA Champions
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.
2005-06 PRESEASON HONORS...
Naismith Trophy Preseason Candidate - Sophia Young
Wooden Award Watch List - Sophia Young
Wade Trophy Watch List - Sophia Young
Consensus Preseason All-American - Sophia Young
Preseason All-Big 12 - Sophia Young, Abiola Wabara
Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year - Sophia Young
YOUNG'S COUNTDOWN TO...
2,000 points - 1,744 (needs 256)
1,000 rebounds - 987 (needs 13)
300 assists - 233 (needs 67)
300 steals - 244 (needs 56)
When she attains the 2,000-point, 1,000-rebound mark, Young will become just the third player in Lady Bear history to join that club. Suzie Snider Eppers, who played from 1973-77, scored 3,861 points and hauled down 2,176 rebounds and Maggie Davis Stinnett (1986-89, 90-91) amassed 2,027 points and 1,011 rebounds.
Sophia Young MISCELLANEOUS...
Double figure scoring - 97 of 106 games and 46 consecutive. The 46-game streak began on Feb. 21, 2004 versus Oklahoma. 20 or more point scoring efforts - 29 including 14 in 2004-05. Double figure rebounding games - 45 Double-Doubles - 44
THE OPPONENTS...
The University of Georgia has already hit on some hard times this season with four frontcourt players sidelined by injuries. Head coach Andy Landers, beginning his 27th season with the Lady Bulldogs, lost forward Rebecca Rowsey (torn ACL, right knee), senior Ebony Felder (chronic knee pain), sophomore Reicina Russell (personal reasons) and freshman Angel Robinson (left knee) prior to the start of the regular season.
The Lady Bulldogs finished the 2004-05 season at 24-10 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 where they were eliminated by Duke (63-57).
Sophomore forward Tasha Humphrey headlines the Georgia squad that returns four starters from a season ago. The 6-3 Humphrey averaged 19.0 points and 8.4 rebounds en route to earning co-National and SEC Freshman of Year honors.
PROBABLE STARTERS...
BAYLOR
20 Angela Tisdale G 5-5 So-1L Austin, Texas
12 LaToya Wyatt G 5-7 Jr-2L Fort Worth, Texas
21 Chameka Scott G 6-0 Sr-3L Friendswood, Texas
33 Sophia Young F 6-1 Sr-3L St. Vincent, The Grenadines
35 Abiola Wabara F 6-0 Jr-2L Parma, Italy
THE SERIES RECORDS...
This will be the first meeting between Baylor and Georgia.
