March 11, 2005
WACO, Texas -
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Big 12 Tournament Championship
March 12 - 6:00 p.m. (CST)
#6 Baylor (26-3) vs. #17 Kansas State (23-6)
Municipal Auditorium • Kansas City, Mo.
RADIO
1660 AM - ESPN - Waco
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
FSN Southwest (national broadcast)
Kevin Eschenfelder - play-by-play
Debbie Antonelli - color analyst
Big 12 Tournament Championship
March 12 (Saturday)
Baylor vs. Kansas State, 6 p.m. • FSN
BAYLOR IN THE BIG 12 TOURNAMENT...
Baylor is 4-3 in first round games, 2-3 in quarterfinal games, 2-1 in semifinal games and 0-1 in the finals. The Lady Bears are 9-8 all-told in Big 12 Tournament games, including 8-4 under head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson. BU has won its first Big 12 Tournament game in each of Mulkey-Robertson's first four seasons.
BAYLOR BITS...
The 6th-ranked Baylor Lady Bears advanced to the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament with a victory over Texas Tech on Thursday. Baylor is now 26-3 on the season and finished league play with a program-best 14-2 mark. The 2004-05 crown is Baylor's first-ever women's basketball conference title and its ninth Big 12 crown in school history overall.
• Both of Baylor's championship final appearances have come since Kim Mulkey-Robertson's arrival, the Lady Bears lost to Oklahoma in the finals during the 2001-02 season.
• BU has shot 50 percent or better in 10 of 29 games this season.
• BU has shot 50 percent or higher from three-point range in six games.
• Today's game marks the 10th game the Lady Bears have played on Saturday this season, they are 8-1 in Saturday games.
• Baylor is 6-2 versus ranked teams this season, two losses came against LSU and Texas.
• Baylor will try to become the sixth team to win both the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles in the same season. Texas Tech swept both crowns in 1997-98 and 1998-99, while Iowa State accomplished that feat in 1999-2000. Oklahoma accomplished both in 2001-02, as did Texas in 2002-03.
• Sophia Young is the only current BU player to be named to the all-tournament team at the Big 12 Tournament, she earned that kudo last season. Former Lady Bears Sheila Lambert and Danielle Crockrom were named to the 2002 All-Tournament team.
• The Lady Bears won 11 straight league games for the first time in school history. BU posted six straight league wins to close out its 2001-02 conference slate.
• Baylor's current 13-game win streak ranks fourth-nationally. The streak is the second double-digit win streak of the year for the Lady Bears.
• With 13 straight victories, Baylor has matched the programs win streak record. The 2000-01 squad, Mulkey-Robertson's first team at Baylor, also won 13 consecutive games.
• Baylor needs one more victory to match Mulkey-Robertson's highest season win total as a head coach, the 2001-02 squad finished the season at 27-6.
• BU claimed the program's fifth straight 20-win season, sixth 20-win season since the NCAA began sponsoring women's basketball in 1981-82 and 11th in school history with its victory over Missouri on Feb. 16.
• With 14 Big 12 wins this season, Baylor broke its all-time conference wins mark. The Lady Bears finished the 2002 portion of their Big 12 slate at 12-4.
• BU's 26-3 overall record is the school's best mark after 29 games since the NCAA began sponsoring the sport and second only to a 26-2 start to the 1975-76 season. That team opened at 28-2 and finished at 31-6. Previously, BU was 23-4 in 2001-02 on its way to a 27-6 finish. BU's 26 wins is the seventh-most in school history.
• In Big 12 Tournament games (seven games), Sophia Young averages 21.1 points and 10.1 rebounds. She shoots 5.1 percent from the floor and 85.7 percent from the free throw line and has 17 assists, four blocks and 16 steals to her credit.
• Steffanie Blackmon became the program's first Academic All-American when she was named to the ESPN The Magazine-CoSIDA third team.
• Steffanie Blackmon has been selected to play in WBCA All-Star game. She joins former Lady Bears Sheila Lambert and Danielle Crockrom in participating in the event.
• Steffanie Blackmon and Sophia Young are two of 17 in the final Wooden Award list.
• Point guard Chelsea Whitaker earned her first Big 12 Player of the Week nod with her 16-point, 8-assist, 2-block performance against Texas Tech. Baylor players took player of the week honors a Big 12-high five times this season.
• Baylor comes into the game having won 26 of its last 28 games and a school-record tying 13 straight.
National Player of the Year candidates Sophia Young and Steffanie Blackmon lead the team in both scoring and rebounding with Young averaging 17.4 points and 9.5 rebounds and Blackmon right behind with 16.0 points and 8.2 rebounds. Young is No. 2 in the Big 12 Conference in rebounding and No. 4 in scoring, while Blackmon is sixth in scoring and seventh in rebounding.
MULKEY, YOUNG AND BLACKMON HONORED BY COACHES...
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson was named Big 12 Coach of the Year by her league peers. It is her first league coach of the year honor. Junior Sophia Young and senior Steffanie Blackmon were both named first-team All-Big 12 for the second straight season.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT...
Seventeenth-ranked Kansas State is 23-6 on the season and enters the contest on a six-game win streak. The Wildcats advanced to the finals by posting a 72-69 win over Texas.
THE SERIES RECORD...
The March 12 Baylor-Kansas State contest marks the 14th meeting between the two squads. Kansas State owns an 8-5 series lead and has won the four of the last five contests between the two teams. Baylor won the only meeting between the two teams this season, posting a 72-62 victory in Waco.
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson is 3-4 versus Kansas State.
