Dec. 26, 2006
WACO, Texas -
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#9/#9 Baylor (11-1) vs. North Carolina A&T (6-4)
Thursday, Dec. 28 - 4:00 p.m. (CT)
Ferrell Center - Waco, Texas
OVER THE AIRWAVES
TV: None
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Video: Live video stream at BaylorBears.com
Audio: Live audio stream at BaylorBears.com
Radio: KRZI/ESPN - 1660 AM - Waco
Radio Talent:
Rick May, play-by-play
Lori Fogleman, color analyst
BAYLOR Lady Bears
IN THE POLLS
9 - Associated Press
9 - USA Today/ESPN Coaches
PROBABLE STARTERS
Angela Tisdale - Jr., G, 5-5 - 10.8 ppg, 4.4 apg
Jhasmin Player - So., G, 5-10 - 6.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg
Jessica Morrow - So., G, 6-2 - 10.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg
Rachel Allison - So., P, 6-1 - 7.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg
Bernice Mosby - Sr., P, 6-1 - 18.3 ppg, 9.1 rpg
NORTH AROLINA A&T Aggies
PROBABLE STARTERS
Ta'Wuana Cook - Fr., G, 5-8 - 14.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg
Amber Bland - So., G, 5-11 - 18.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg
Ahmad Williams - So., G, 5-10 - 8.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg
Lamona Smalley - Fr., F, 6-0 - 8.0 ppg, 7.2 rpg
Lonise Coulter - Fr., C, 6-2 - 6.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg
BAYLOR VS. NORTH CAROLINA A&T
Ninth ranked Baylor, 11-1 on the season, puts its eight-game win streak on the line as it hosts the North Carolina A&T Aggies in an afternoon (4 p.m.) contest on Thursday, Dec. 28. Baylor ranks No. 1 nationally in blocked shots and will try to maintain that ranking as it hosts the Aggies in the first of two games to close out 2006.
Just 12 games into the season, four players are averaging double-digit scoring.
Senior All-America candidate Bernice Mosby leads the way with 18.3 a game while junior point guard Angela Tisdale scores 10.8 points, freshman post Danielle Wilson manages 10.4 and sophomore Jessica Morrow averages 10.3 an outing. Mosby is averaging a team-leading 9.1 rebounds a game while sophomore post Rachel Allison is the squad's second-leading rebounder with 7.3 a contest and is followed by Wilson's 6.0.
North Carolina A&T, 6-4 on the season, begins a two-game Texas swing with the contest against Baylor, as it plays at TCU on Saturday, Dec. 30. The Aggies come into the Ferrell Center winners of five straight games, their last loss coming on Nov. 24 versus Providence (79-64).
NO. 1 IN NCAA BLOCKING STATISTICS
The Lady Bears come into the contest ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division I statistics (through games Dec. 17) in blocked shots at 8.2 per game. Undefeated and fourth-ranked Duke sits at No. 2 with 8.1 an outing while second-ranked North Carolina is No. 3 (7.8). In total blocks, Baylor far outdistances the rest of the field with 98, North Carolina has 86 on the season and Kansas State, No. 4 in blocked shots per game, has 80.
Freshman post Danielle Wilson ranks No. 9 nationally in blocks per game with 3.3. In total blocks on the season, Wilson sits at No. 5 with 39. Only two freshmen have registered more blocks this season than Wilson, Michigan State's Allyssa DeHaan has 40 and Xavier's Amber Harris has 41.
Wilson needs just one more block this season to crack BU's single season top 10.
WINNINGEST COACH IN LADY BEAR HISTORY
Seventh year head coach Kim Mulkey's next victory will give her 169 career wins making her the winningest coach in Baylor women's basketball history. Pam Bowers previously held the record with 168 wins which she accomplished in 15 seasons.
BAYLOR QUICK HITS
- Baylor ranks No. 1 in NCAA Division I statistics in blocked shots at 8.2 a game.
- BU's opponents have averaged just 24.6 first-half points this season. The Lady Bears have held seven of their 12 opponents to 25 points or less in the first half. In fact, three opponents have been held to 20 or less (Hofstra, 18; UCF, 20; Southeast Missouri, 17).
- Kim Mulkey's December record is 42-1, including a 25-0 home mark (more details later in notes package).
- Baylor has shot an impressive .587 (121-206) in its last three games; .658 (50-76) against Sam Houston State, .621 (41-66) versus UA-Pine Bluff and .469 (30-64) at UCLA.
- Four Lady Bears have posted double-doubles this season: Bernice Mosby (5, UNT, Hofstra, Purdue, LSU, SEMO), Danielle Wilson (LSU), Angela Tisdale (SDSU) and Rachel Allison (UAPB).
- Over the past seven games sophomore Jessica Morrow has shot .592 (42-71) from the field and has averaged 14.7 points per game over the last six contests.
- Freshman Latara Darrett has, in the last four games, hit 13-of-29 (.448) from the field including 8-for-16 (.500) from three-point range.
- Sophomore Rachel Allison recorded her first career double-double versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
- Two freshmen, Danielle Wilson (39) and Bradley (13), have combined for over half of Baylor's blocked shots, 52-of-98. Senior Bernice Mosby has added 17 as well.
- Danielle Wilson ranks No. 5 nationally in blocked shots (39) and needs just one more to crack Baylor's single season top 10.
- Baylor is 132-12 (.917) under Mulkey when scoring 70 or more points, including 83-3 (.965) when putting 80 or more on the scoreboard. In 2006-07, the Lady Bears are 9-0 when scoring 70 or more points, 7-0 when topping the 80-point barrier.
- Baylor is 70-11 (.864) since the start of the 2004-05 season with eight of the 11 setbacks coming at the hands of nationally ranked opponents. Baylor's last six losses have come to ranked opponents.
ON DECEMBER 28
Today's game marks the third time the Lady Bears have played on Dec. 28. Baylor is 2-0 in games played on that date. The Lady Bears defeated Nevada in 1984, 88-78, at Irvine, Calif., while in 2002 they beat Mercer University at Waco, 108-55.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Greensboro based North Carolina A&T, 6-4 on the season, begins a two-game Texas swing with the contest against Baylor, as it plays at TCU on Saturday, Dec. 30. The Aggies come into the Ferrell Center winners of five straight games, their last loss coming on Nov. 24 versus Providence (79-64). They began the season with a victory over Stetson University (61-49), lost the next four contests against Georgia (89-35), South Carolina (117-63), Wofford (66-60) and Providence (79-64), but have since reeled off wins against Longwood (79-63), South Carolina State (74-61), UNC-Asheville (63-59), Navy (64-59) and Elon (81-46).
Head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs is in her second season at the Aggie helm where she owns a 15-23 record. She owns a career record of 386-238 in 21 seasons as a head coach. Cage-Bibbs was 244-122 at Grambling, her alma mater, and posted a 127-93 record at Hampton University.
North Carolina A&T is led in scoring by sophomore guard and Penn State transfer Amber Bland's 18.2 points. Freshman point guard Ta'Wuana Cook ranks second in scoring at 14.3 an outing. Sophomore guard/forward Brittanie Taylor-James is the final Aggie to manage double-digit scoring at 10.3, she became eligible in mid-December after transfering from UC-Santa Barbara. Freshman forward Lamona Smalley is the team's top rebounder at 7.2 a contest while Bland follows with 5.6 a game.
SERIES RECORD
This will be the first meeting between the Baylor and North Carolina A&T.
BLOCKING BUNCH
If the Lady Bears continue their current pace blocking shots, they could break the record for blocks in a season that the 2002-03 squad set in 35 games with 204. At this point of the 2002-03 season the Lady Bears had blocked 96 shots, while the current Baylor squad has blocked 98 so far.
Freshman Danielle Wilson (39) and senior Bernice Mosby (17) have combined to account for 56 of this year's rejections while freshman Jessika Bradley has blocked 13.
In fact, Wilson could set a record for blocked shots by a Baylor freshman. She currently has 39 and former Lady Bear Sophia Young owns the top mark at 43 during her rookie season in 2002-03.
Wilson continues to dominate the Big 12 Conference statistics in blocked shots with 39. Her nearest competitor is Oklahoma's Courtney Paris with 23.
EMERGING FROM A DRY SPELL
In the three games prior to the victory over Southeast Missouri State (SEMO), the Lady Bears had struggled from long distance. They were 2-23 (.087) over that span from three-point range.
In the past four games, the Lady Bears are 24-of-49 (.490) from three-point range. The trio of Angela Tisdale (10-19/.526), Latara Darrett (8-16/.500) and Jessica Morrow (5-8/.625) account for 23-of-43 during that four-game stretch for 53.5 percent.
BAYLOR IN THE RANKINGS
The Lady Bears are ranked in both major polls. They are listed at No. 9 in the most recent (Dec. 25) AP Poll which extends their school-record streak to 56 straight weeks. Baylor cracked the top 10 for the first time this season on Dec. 11 and has now been in the AP top 10 50 times in program history. For the second straight week, BU is also ranked No. 9 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.
DECEMBER IS MONEY FOR MULKEY
In her seven seasons at the helm of the Lady Bear program, Kim Mulkey's December record is 42-1. Her only loss during December came at seventh-ranked Penn State (74-63) in 2003. Under her guidance, the Lady Bears are 25-0 in the Ferrell Center in December and 17-1 on the road.
ALMOST PERFECT
Under Coach Mulkey, Baylor sports a 51-3 non-conference mark in the Ferrell Center, with two losses coming in postseason play. In 2002 Baylor lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Drake, 76-72, and it lost to Auburn (64-63) in the championship game of the 2003 Postseason WNIT. Purdue ended Baylor's 20-game non-league win streak on Nov. 19.
Baylor's overall record versus non-conference opponents since Coach Mulkey's arrival is 103-14.
