Nov. 5, 2005

WACO, Texas - Exhibition Game 1:
Baylor vs. Arkansas-Monticello

Nov. 7, 2005 • 7 p.m.
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

BAYLOR VS. ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO...
Baylor and the University of Arkansas-Monticello (UAM) Cotton Blossoms meet for the first time. The exhibition contest marks both team's first competition of the season.

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. 8 in the preseason coaches poll that came out on Nov. 2. The AP poll's first ranking of the season will be published on Nov. 10.

A PREVIEW OF THE LADY BEARS...
After a summer full of community appearances and summer school, it's back to the grindstone for the 2005 NCAA and Big 12 Conference champion Baylor Lady Bears.

After claiming the school's first team national championship in a women's sport and the Big 12 Conference's first basketball national title, the Lady Bears embarked on numerous appearances to honor the team. The highlight was a trip to the White House and a visit with President Bush in the Oval Office. Also, the Baylor squad was honored with a huge Ferrell Center welcome home celebration, a parade through downtown Waco, visits to the Senate and House of the Texas legislature and at the Houston Astros, Texas Rangers and Dallas Mavericks games.

Now, school has started, the 2004-05 season is behind them, and it's back to the business of defending their titles in 2005-06. Despite losing seven players off the championship squad, expectations are still high for the defending champions. Keys to the success of the upcoming season are the continued improvement of the seven returning players, contribution of the four newcomers and, with only 11 players available, freedom from injuries.

One very important key to the Lady Bears' recent success can by attributed to the stability of the coaching staff. When Kim Mulkey-Robertson arrived at Baylor in April 2000, she had very definite ideas as to who she wanted on her staff. Bill Brock, Jennifer Roberts and Johnny Derrick came on board and the staff still remains intact. Mulkey-Robertson and her staff have produced amazing results. In their five seasons at Baylor, the coaching staff has produced the ninth-best five year winning percentage (.775) among NCAA Division I schools. In addition, the Lady Bears rank No. 6 in victories (131) over that same time span, trailing only perennial national powers Connecticut, Duke, Tennessee, Stanford and Louisiana Tech. Mulkey-Robertson's .775 career head coaching percentage ranks No. 1 in the Big 12 and No. 6 nationally.

Not only has the program grown on the court, but the Lady Bears have continually climbed up the NCAA attendance charts and 2005-06 should produce similar results. This past season Baylor set a single-season record with 95,688 fans attending games in the Ferrell Center, which ranked it a program-high No.12 in the final NCAA attendance figures, averaging 6,835 a contest. In addition, Baylor was No. 2 in largest average increase from the previous year with an increase of 2,169. This was the second time under Mulkey-Robertson's guidance that Baylor has been among the national leaders in increased average attendance. The Lady Bears checked in at No. 5 in 2001-02 with an increase of 1,566.

Headlining the Baylor returnees is All-American Sophia Young. The 6-1 senior from St. Vincent, in the Grenadines, a contender for national player of the year honors and a consensus preseason All-American, returns for her senior season after leading the Lady Bears to the national title as a junior. Young, who has led Baylor in scoring and rebounding all three seasons on the Waco campus, averaged 18.4 points and 9.3 rebounds last year and averages 16.5 points and 9.3 rebounds for her career. In addition to being named most outstanding player at the NCAA's Final Four, Tempe Regional and Big 12 Championship, Young earned 2004-05 first-team All-America honors from both Kodak/WBCA and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association of America. She is the first player in school history so honored by the writers' organization and is its third Kodak honoree. Young also was named second-team All-America by The Associated Press and earned first-team All-District honors from Kodak/WBCA. The two-time first-team All-Big 12 performer, in nine career NCAA Tournament games has averaged 22.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per outing, which includes 2004-05 marks of 23.0 ppg and 8.5 rpg. She shot 51.9 percent (54-for-104) from the floor and 78.9 percent (30-of-38) at the line in BU's six 2005 NCAA Tournament wins.

Chameka Scott and Abiola Wabara return to their starting spots for 2005-06. Scott, probably one of the team's most improved players last season, combines outstanding defense with a dead-eye aim from three-point range. The 6-0 senior shooting guard started 35 of 36 games last season and can play the two or the three spot. As a junior the Friendswood, Texas, native averaged 7.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 25.9 minutes a game. In addition, the long-armed Scott ranked second on the team in blocked shots with 29 and was one steal off the team lead at 69. Wabara, a 6-1 junior, has big shoes to fill in the paint with the graduation of All-American Steffanie Blackmon. Wabara, who hails from Parma, Italy, has all of the tools to dominate down low and should benefit from increased playing time. She started 23 of the squad's 36 games and posted a .473 shooting percentage while seeing 16.1 minutes of action a game.

Returnees Angela Tisdale and LaToya Wyatt saw considerable action last year and will be counted upon even more in 2005-06. Tisdale, a 5-5 point guard, is expected to quarterback the squad this season. The Austin, Texas, native, who can knock it down from three-point range, started nine contests in 2004-05 and averaged 14.7 minutes, 3.7 points and 2.5 assists a game playing behind veteran Chelsea Whitaker. Tisdale proved to be one of the Big 12's top rookies last season, ranking No. 2 among freshman in assists and No. 4 in three-point percentage. Wyatt, a speedster who developed into a defensive stopper in her rookie season after transferring from Waco's McLennan Community College, should step into a starting role this, her junior campaign. The 5-7 guard out of Fort Worth, Texas, can drain it from the outside or drive the lane. She averaged 11.8 minutes and 3.9 points a game but maintained a .473 shooting percentage from the floor, including a .458 mark from beyond the arc. During Baylor's NCAA Tournament run, Wyatt shot 57.1 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from three-point range.

Senior guard Jordan Davis (Celina, Texas) steadily worked her way back into shape last season after redshirting her true junior season after suffering from blood clots. She showed flashes of her former form proving to be a definite threat for the long bomb. Chisa Ononiwu, a 5-7 sophomore guard, didn't see much court action as a freshman (3.8 mpg in 13 appearances) but has worked hard over the summer and is one of the squad's quickest players. Ononiwu, who hails from Houston, Texas, could see increased court time this season.

In order for the Lady Bears to achieve their lofty goals, the newcomers will need to make large contributions this season. And, with the caliber of players the coaching staff brought in, that is a definite possibility. Jessica Morrow, Jhasmin Player and Tricia Abbott, all from the Houston area, and Arkansas native Rachel Allison, represent the deepest, most talented Lady Bear recruiting class to date, all four were all-state selections.

Morrow (Humble, Texas) and Player (Bay City, Texas) come to Baylor after earning TABC Class 5A and 4A player of the Year honors, respectively. Morrow, a three-time all-state selection and two-time district MVP was touted as one of the state's best recruits. She averaged 17.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists as a senior. She led the Humble Wildcats to the 5A state championship game and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the championship game.

Player, a 5-10 guard, averaged 32 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals as a senior at Bay City High School. A two-time all-state and all-district selection, Player was rated one of the top 10 players in the state. Morrow and Player won't be on the court for the first time together at Baylor, as they were teammates on the Houston Hotshots AAU team that won the BCI National Tournament and finished second in the AAU nationals. Both players earned BCI and AAU All-American status.

Also joining Morrow and Player on the Hotshots was fellow Baylor teammate Abbott, who also earned dual All-American honors. En route to earning all-state and district MVP honors, Abbott, a 6-3 post, averaged 19.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 4.9 blocks and 2.2 steals as a senior at Houston's Memorial High School. In addition, she shot 73.0 percent from the free throw line and 59.9 percent from the floor.

Baylor's lone out-of-state newcomer, Allison, comes to the program with impressive credentials as well. A 6-1athletic forward/post out of Jonesboro, Ark., was a two-time all-state selection in basketball and earned all-state honors three times in volleyball. As a senior, Allison averaged 18.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.0 blocks a game.

Mulkey-Robertson and her staff have assembled their toughest schedule to date which features numerous games against teams ranked among the nation's top 10 in preseason polls. The Lady Bears play road games against perennial Southeastern Conference powers LSU and Georgia and will face UCLA, Washington, Marshall and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, all four of whom have four or five starters returning off last season's highly-successful squads. And, as usual, the Big 12 is chock full of nationally-ranked teams and also features a bevy of up-and-coming programs that always make league play a challenge.

As defending NCAA and Big 12 champs, the Lady Bears have a big target of their back. Hopefully, they will jell as a team during the non-conference portion of their schedule and find their identity by the time Big 12 conference play begins on Jan. 4.

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 every year, four times to the NCAA Tournament and to the finals of the WNIT. In 2005, the Lady Bears claimed Baylor's 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.

MULKEY-ROBERTSON AMONG WINNINGEST ACTIVE COACHES...
In just five seasons head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson has established herself as one of the most impressive coaches roaming the sidelines. Her 131-38 record and .775 winning percentage ranks her sixth nationally and No. 1 in the Big 12 conference in career winning percentage.

Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000, Mulkey-Robertson inherited a Baylor program that was coming off a 7-20 season and promptly guided the Lady Bears to their first-ever NCAA Tournament and four seasons later, the NCAA championship. In Mulkey-Robertson's five seasons along the Baylor sidelines, the Lady Bears have made four trips to the NCAA Tournament.

Since Mulkey-Robertson's arrival, Baylor has posted the ninth-best five year winning percentage among NCAA Division I schools. In addition, the Lady Bears rank No. 6 in victories over that same time span, trailing perennial national powers Connecticut, Duke, Tennessee, Stanford and Louisiana Tech.

Mulkey-Robertson has excelled at every level she's been at, as a player and coach at Louisiana Tech and as a head coach at Baylor. Her 24-year record as a player and coach is an impressive 691-112 for a 80.3 percent winning percentage.

TEAM CAPTAINS...
Seniors Jordan Davis, Chameka Scott and Sophia Young have been selected team captains for the 2005-06 season. They were elected to the position by their teammates. Young also served as a captain in 2004-05.

THE OPPONENTS...
The University of Arkansas-Monticello (UAM) Cotton Blossoms compete in NCAA Division II. They compete in the 17-team Gulf South Conference (GSC). The conference is split into divisions and UAM is in the nine-team South Division.

They completed the 2004-05 campaign at 15-14, and finished in a tie for third place in the South Division with an 8-8 mark.

Head coach Bob Boldon enters his second season as the Cotton Blossom's head coach. He served two years as associate head coach at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi prior to taking the UAM position. The Islanders were 34-20 during his stint.

Last season Boldon took over a team that posted a 1-15 conference mark two years ago and, basically with the same players, went 8-8 last year and won a game in the conference tournament.

Boldon returns seven of last season's top scorers led by Wendy Young and Katrina Dean. Young, a 6-3 center, averaged 14.6 points and 8.1 rebounds en route to earning All-GSC West team honors. She ranked eighth in the league in scoring and ninth in rebounding. Dean, a 5-6 senior guard, scored 10.7 points a game a year ago.

MUCH IN COMMON, FAST FRIENDS...
Baylor's Sophia Young and UAM's Wendy Young have much in common. Both share the same last name, both attended Evangel Academy in Shreveport, La., and both are fromSt. Vincent, The Grenadines in the West Indies. Although they didn't know each other in The Grenadines, they became best friends at Evangel Academy and have kept in touch during their collegiate careers.