Dec. 18, 2007
WACO, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
#11/11 Baylor (7-1) vs. Texas A&M-CC (3-7)
Wednesday, Dec. 19 - 7 p.m.
Ferrell Center (10,284) - Waco, Texas
OVER THE AIRWAVES
TV: None
Webcast: www.baylorbears.com
Radio: 92.9 FM - KLRK - Waco
Broadcast begins 30 minutes prior to tip off.
Radio Talent:
Rick May (Play-by-play)
Lori Fogleman (Color analyst)
BAYLOR AND TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
The Baylor Lady Bears and the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders face off for the third straight season in Waco when the two teams meet in the Ferrell Center on Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.
Baylor is 7-1 on the season, including a 6-0 mark at home, after suffering its first loss of the season, an 87-63 setback to fifth-ranked Stanford on Sunday.
After beginning the season at 0-6, the Islanders have won three of their last four, including two straight, to enter the contest at 3-7.
BAYLOR LADY BEARS
IN THE POLLS
11 - Associated Press
11 - USA Today/ESPN Coaches
PROBABLE STARTERS
20 Angela Tisdale-Sr., G, 5-7 - 14.6 ppg, 2.9 apg
15 Jhasmin Player-Jr., G, 5-10 - 15.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg
3 Jessica Morrow-Jr., G, 6-0 - 11.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg
14 Rachel Allison-Jr., F, 6-0 - 11.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg
11 Danielle Wilson-So., P, 6-3 -12.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg
TOP RESERVES
1 Jessika Bradley-So., F, 6-3 - 7.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg
5 Melissa Jones-Fr., G, 5-10 - 4.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg
21 Kelli Griffin-Fr., G, 5-8, 3.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg
LADY BEAR LEADERS
With eight games under their belt, the Lady Bears boast all five starters averaging double-digit scoring. Leading the way is junior guard Jhasmin Player with 15.0 a contest while the squad's lone senior, point guard Angela Tisdale, manages 14.6 a game. Sophomore post Danielle Wilson follows with 12.3 a contest and a team-leading 8.5 rebounds an outing. Rachel Allison, a junior forward/post, averages 11.0 points a game as does junior guard/forward Jessica Morrow.
In addition to Wilson, three other players haul down 5.0 or more rebounds an outing. Allison ranks behind Wilson in rebounding at 6.8 a game while sophomore post Jessika Bradley manages 5.5, followed by Players' 5.0.
BAYLOR QUICK HITS
- Baylor ranks in the top 10 in NCAA Division I statistics in six categories: No. 4 in field goal percentage (.494), No. 5 in scoring margin (+28.1), No. 7 in scoring offense (80.3) and rebound margin (+12.4), No. 8 in blocks per game (6.4) and No. 9 in field goal percentage defense (.328).
- Danielle Wilson's 3.4 blocks per game ranks her No. 6 nationally.
- All five of Baylor's starters rank among the Big 12's top-30 in scoring average (Player, Tisdale, Wilson, Morrow, Allison).
- BU is 92-19 (.829) since the start of the 2004-05 season with 16 of the 19 setbacks coming at the hands of nationally ranked opponents. Baylor's last 14 losses have come to ranked opponents.
- Baylor is 149-13 (.920) under Coach Mulkey when scoring 70 or more points, including 92-3 (.968) when putting 80 or more on the scoreboard.
- Bernice Mosby, who left school early in 2007 to play for the WNBA, received her Baylor degree last Saturday. Baylor boasts a 100% graduation rate by Lady Bears who have completed their athletic eligibility at BU since Coach Mulkey's arrival.
- Baylor has scored almost half of its points in the paint this season, 276 out of 579 (.477).
- Danielle Wilson has blocked at least one shot in 39 of 42 career games, including 4 or more 13 times and 3 or more on 17 occasions. Wilson's wing span is 82.25 inches, only 5 inches less than Mamadou Diene, the 7-foot center on the Baylor men's team.
- Wilson narrowly missed a triple-double when Baylor defeated Oregon. She hauled down 10 rebounds, rejected a school-record nine shots and scored nine points.
- Angela Tisdale has been named by the WNBA Player Personnel Department one of the 2008 WNBA Draft's top 20 prospects.
- Tisdale has 409 career assists and needs just 49 to claim the top spot on BU's career chart from Chelsea Whitaker (457, 2002-05).
- With 964 career points, Tisdale needs just 36 points to reach 1,000 points.
- Jhasmin Players' 13-of-13 effort from the free throw line against Saint Mary's and Danielle Wilson's nine blocks against Oregon both rank No. 1 in the Big 12.
- Sophomore posts Danielle Wilson (27) and Jessika Bradley (11) have combined for 38 of the team's 51 season blocks.
- On the season, Baylor has outscored its opponents by an average of 35.6 points a game and hauled down 15.4 more rebounds a contest.
- Baylor led NCAA Division I last season in blocks per game with 7.2. So far this season the Lady Bears are averaging 6.4 a contest.
HOME SWEET HOME
In Kim Mulkey's eight seasons along the Ferrell Center sidelines, her teams have posted some impressive numbers in the venue. The Lady Bears have maintained a 104-14 (.881) Ferrell Center record during that time span.
2000-01 - 12-2
2001-02 - 15-2
2002-03 - 17-4
2003-04 - 12-2
2004-05 - 14-0
2005-06 - 12-1
2006-07 - 16-3
2007-08 - 6-0
BAYLOR IN THE RANKINGS
After beginning the season ranked No. 15 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Preseason Polls, Baylor is now ranked No. 11 in both polls. Prior to the loss to fifth-ranked Stanford, Baylor was ranked No. 10 for three weeks.
Baylor has been ranked in a school-record 74 straight regular-season AP polls dating back to week nine of the 2003-04 listing when it broke in at No. 24.
THE OPPONENT
TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders, 3-7 on the season, are led by second-year head coach Robert Robinson. Robinson served as associate head coach for two seasons and an assistant coach for two seasons before taking over the reins of the program on June 13, 2006. His career record stands at 18-23.
The Islanders have two players averaging double-digit scoring and two more who manage 8.2 or more a game. Junior center Elisa Beagle leads the way with 11.5 points and 7.1 rebounds followed by sophomore guard Deziree Green's 10.3 points. Forward Adrienne Scott, a freshman from Waco High School, ranks second on the squad in rebounding at 5.5 an outing. Senior guard Mercedes Cooper manages 8.5 points a game while Shaye Montgomery, a sophomore guard, averages 8.2 points.
TAMU-CC has posted wins over Tennessee-Martin (71-53), Alcorn State (66-61 ot) and UT-Pan American (53-42) while suffering losses to Belmont (45-42), SMU (74-70), UTEP (67-52), North Texas (83-47), Austin Peay (66-57), North Florida (51-43) and Texas (88-41).
TAMU-CC PROBABLE STARTERS
1 Deziree Green - So., G, 5-10 - 10.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg
3 Mercedes Cooper - Sr., G, 5-8 - 8.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg
21 Shaye Montgomery - So., G, 5-6 - 8.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg
32 Elisa Beagle - Jr., C, 6-0, 11.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg
44 Adrienne Scott - Fr., F, 6-1 - 4.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg
SERIES RECORD
The two teams have met twice previously, both in Waco. Baylor posted a 92-64 victory on Nov. 22, 2005 and a 64-62 triumph on Nov. 30 last season.
LAST MEETING
Bernice Mosby's lay-up with 2.2 seconds remaining in the game thwarted an upset bid by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as the No. 13 Baylor Lady Bears claimed a hard-fought, 64-62 victory over the Islanders at the Ferrell Center.
Although the Lady Bears (7-1) could never build a lead larger than 10 points over the Islanders, Baylor seemed in control of the contest as it held a 51-42 advantage with only 8:43 to play.
However, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi exploded for 10 straight points over the next 2:20 as the Islanders took a surprising 52-51 lead with only six minutes remaining.
In a frantic final six minutes, the lead changed hands six times as the score was tied on four separate occasions before Mosby broke a 62-62 tie with a driving lay-up with only 2.2 seconds remaining to give Baylor a two-point lead.
The Islanders desperation heave at the buzzer came up short as Baylor picked up a thrilling two-point win and moved to 34-3 all-time in games in November under head coach Kim Mulkey. Mosby led all scores on the night with 21 points as the senior connected on 9-of-10 free throws on the evening as the senior has reached double figures in scoring in every game this season. Kirbria Lewis led Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with 16 points as Elisa Beagle added 14 points off the bench for the Islanders in the loss.
Jessica Morrow added 14 points in the win while Jhasmin Player scored 11 points as the Lady Bears had three players reach double figures on the night.
VERSUS THE SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE
The Islanders are in their second season as members of the Southland Conference. They finished tied for fourth place in the league last season with a 9-7 mark. Baylor is 70-35 versus Southland Conference teams all-time.
