March 27, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. -
Tournament Notes and Quotes
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Game 34
March 28 - 6 p.m. (CST)
#5/6 Baylor (30-3) vs. #4/2 North Carolina (30-3)
2005 NCAA Tournament
Elite Eight
Wells Fargo Arena • Tempe, Ariz.
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
ESPN
Dave O'Brien - play-by-play
Kara Lawson - color analyst
Heather Cox - sideline
THE SCHEDULE
March 28 (Monday)
No. 2 Baylor vs. No. 1 North Carolina - ESPN - 6 p.m. (CST)
BAYLOR VS. NORTH CAROLINA..
The Baylor/North Carolina contest matches two of the longest win streaks in NCAA Division I. Baylor comes into the contest on a 17-game streak, second-longest in the nation, while North Carolina's 16-game string currently ranks third-longest.
Baylor is competing in its fourth NCAA Tournament and has advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. All four NCAA Tournament appearances have come since Kim Mulkey-Robertson assumed the reins of the Lady Bear program. The fifth-ranked Lady Bears come into the contest riding a school record 17-game win streak and sporting a 30-3 record. This season the Lady Bears won the program's first conference championship and also claimed the Big 12 Conference Tournament title. Junior forward Sophia Young was named the tournament's MVP and senior post Steffanie Blackmon was named to the all-tournament team.
Young leads the team in both scoring and rebounding with 18.0 points and 9.2 rebounds a game while Blackmon averages 15.5 points and 8.2 boards a game. Both were named to The Associated Press All-American team recently. Young was a second team selection while Blackmon garnered third team honors, as Baylor and LSU were the only two schools with two players on the three honor teams.
The top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels, also 30-3 on the season, advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight by posting a 79-72 victory over No. 5 seed Arizona State on Saturday. The Tar Heels suffered their last loss on Jan. 20 when they dropped a 79-73 road contest at Florida State.
North Carolina is led by All-American Ivory Latta, a 5-6 sophomore guard, and has three other starters that average double-digit scoring. Latta leads the Tar Heels with 17.3 points a game, freshman center Erlana Larkin scores 14.8 a game, sophomore forward Camille Little tallies 11.9 points an outing and senior forward Nikita Bell averages 10.7 a contest. Guard La'Tangela Atkinson, a junior, is the team's top rebounder with 7.4 a contest.
THE COACHES...
Baylor's Kim Mulkey-Robertson is in her fifth season as a head coach and owns a 128-38 (.771) career record. In 2005 she guided the Lady Bears to the program's first-ever Big 12 regular season and tournament championship. Under her guidance, Baylor is making its fourth NCAA Tournament trip and its second consecutive NCAA Sweet 16 appearance and first Elite Eight trip.
North Carolina's Sylvia Hatchell is in her 19th season at UNC and sports a 412-185 record at the Chapel Hill campus. She is in her 30th season as a head coach with a career record of 683-265.
BAYLOR IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT...
Baylor is competing in its fourth NCAA Tournament and all four appearances have come since head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson assumed the program's helm. BU is 6-3 in NCAA Tournament games, 3-1 in first round games, 2-1 in second round games and 1-1 in the Sweet 16.
2001- No. 8 seed - West Region - Durham, N.C. (Duke host)
First round - lost to No. 9 seed Arkansas (68-59)
2002- No. 2 seed - East Region - Waco, Texas (Baylor host)
First round - defeated No. 15 seed Bucknell (80-56)
Second round - lost to No. 7 seed Drake (76-72)
2004- No. 4 seed - Midwest Region - Albuquerque (New Mexico host)
First round - defeated No. 13 seed Loyola Marymount (71-60)
Second round - defeated No. 5 seed Florida (91-76)
Sweet 16 - lost to No. 1 Tennessee (71-69) (Oklahoma host)
2005 - No. 2 seed - Tempe Regional - Seattle (Washington host)
First round - defeated No. 15 seed Illinois State (91-70)
Second round - defeated No. 10 seed Oregon (69-46)
Sweet 16 - defeated No. 3 seed Minnesota (64-57) (Arizona State host)
STEPPING IT UP IN THE NCAAS...
In Baylor's three NCAA Tournament games this season, four players are shooting above the 50 percent mark. Junior Sophia Young is shooting 59.6 percent (28-47) and sophomore Abiola Wabara has hit 13-of-22 for 59.1 percent. Sophomore LaToya Wyatt has connected on 9-of-16 for 56.3 percent and senior Steffanie Blackmon maintains a shooting percentage of 50.0 percent, making 15-of-30.
Young ranks No. 3 in NCAA Tournament scoring at 23.0 points a game and sophomore LaToya Wyatt is tied for No. 3 in 3-point field goal percentage at .750 (3-4).
OVER THE LAST SIX GAMES...
Over Baylor's last six games which includes three Big 12 Tournament contests (Missouri, Texas Tech, Kansas State) and three NCAA Tournament games (Illinois State, Oregon, Minnesota), the Lady Bears have out-scored their opponents by an average of 13.8 points. Baylor has averaged 70.0 points while limiting its opponents to 56.2 points. The Lady Bears are shooting 45.9 percent from the field and holding their opponents to 38.7 percent in that stretch.
NCAA TOURNAMENT TRIVIA...
There are only three NCAA Division I head coaches who have played on teams that played in the NCAA Championship game, and only two of them won an NCAA national title. Temple head coach Dawn Staley played for Virginia when it placed second in 1991, Jennifer Rizzotti, head coach at Hartford, guided Connecticut to a national title in 1995 and Baylor's Kim Mulkey-Robertson played on the Louisiana Tech team that claimed the first NCAA national title in 1982.
While at Louisiana Tech as a player, Mulkey-Robertson's teams placed first in 1982, second in 1983, tied for third in 1984. Throughout her career, Mulkey-Robertson, the consummate point guard, played in 14 NCAA tournament games and was 12-2 in those games. She was named to the all-tournament team in the 1982 Championships. She is 6-3 as a head coach in NCAA Tournament games and Baylor is making its second consecutive NCAA Sweet 16 and first Elite Eight appearances under her guidance.
THE SERIES RECORD...
This will be the first meeting between Baylor and North Carolina.
COMMON OPPONENTS...
The Lady Bears and the Tar Heels have faced only one common opponent, Penn State, this season. Baylor posted a 91-70 home win over the Nittany Lions while North Carolina lost a road game, 77-71, to Penn State.
BAYLOR VS. THE ACC...
The Lady Bears have previously faced only two ACC schools. Baylor defeated North Carolina State (79-63) in Puerto Rico last season (dec. 22, 2003) and lost to Virginia (80-51) on Jan. 24, 1999. The game was part of the Big 12/ACC Challenge and was televised on ESPN.
