Dec. 18, 2008
Games 12 & 13
#7/7 Baylor (10-1) vs.
at Oregon Ducks (3-5)
Saturday, Dec. 20 - 10 p.m. (CST)
McArthur Court (9,087) - Eugene, Oregon
at #12/9 California Golden Bears (8-2)
Monday, Dec. 22 - 7 p.m. (CST)
Haas Pavilion (11,877) - Berkeley, Calif.
OVER THE AIRWAVES
TV: Oregon - Comcast Sports Network Northwest
Webcast: BaylorBears.com - live audio (free)
Radio: ISP Sports Network
92.9 FM-KLRK
www.baylorbears.com
Radio Talent:
Rick May (Play-by-play)
Lori Fogleman (Color analyst)
Live Stats:
Oregon - www.goducks.com/liveStats
Cal - www.baylorbears.com
BAYLOR TO TAKE ON TWO PAC-10 TEAMS TO CLOSE OUT 2008
The seventh-ranked Baylor Lady Bears (10-1) will close out their 2008 slate with a Pacific Northwest road trip to take on two Pac-10 schools, Oregon and California.
Baylor played both Oregon and Cal at home last season and will complete a home and away series with the upcoming trip. The matchups will mark the second and third contests against Pac-10 team this season as the Lady Bears previously downed then-No. 2 Stanford, 81-65, in Waco.
Oregon enters the contest 3-5 on the season while 12th-ranked Cal is 8-2.
NEARING 1,000 CAREER POINTS
Lady Bear senior Rachel Allison is nearing the 1,000 career point milestone.
Allison, a forward/post from Jonesboro, Ark., currently has 988 points to her credit, needing just 12 to collect 1,000. She will become the 26th Lady Bears to attain the milestone.
ZACHARIASON'S WAIT OVER
Sophomore Whitney Zachariason's wait is finally over. The Little Rock, Ark., native and transfer from the University of Arkansas will play in her first collegiate game on Saturday, Dec. 20 at Oregon. After transferring, she sat out a year in accordance with NCAA transfer rules.
Zachariason left the Arkansas squad in early November 2007 after playing in two September exhibition games in Canada.
BAYLOR LADY BEARS
IN THE POLLS
7 - Associated Press
7 - USA Today/ESPN Coaches
PROBABLE STARTERS
21 Kelli Griffin-So., G, 5-8 - 5.2 ppg, 2.8 ppg, 3.7 apg
15 Jhasmin Player-Sr., G, 5-10 -9.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.7 apg
3 Jessica Morrow-Sr., G, 6-0 - 9.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg
14 Rachel Allison-Sr., F, 6-1 - 15.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg
11 Danielle Wilson-Jr., P, 6-3 14.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg
TOP RESERVES
5 Melissa Jones-So., G, 5-10 - 7.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg
55 Morghan Medlock-Jr., F, 6-2 - 6.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg
24 Ashley Field-Fr., G, 6-2, 5.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg
BAYLOR QUICK HITS
- The then-19th-ranked Lady Bears downed No. 2 Stanford, 81-65, on Sunday, Nov. 16.
- After moving up to No. 6 in the AP poll, Baylor dropped to No. 10 after losing to Wisconsin (59-58) and remained in that spot for the two weeks. The Lady Bears moved up to No. 7 in the Dec. 15 poll. Baylor is also No. 7 in the USA Today ESPN Coaches' Poll, up from last week's No. 9 ranking.
-BU's victory over No. 2 Stanford marked the program's highest-ranked regular season win.
-Senior post Rachel Allison, 6-1, scored 25 points and hauled down eight rebounds against Stanford's tall posts.
-Baylor tallied a school record 70 rebounds versus an NCAA opponent in its win over Florida Atlantic.
-Baylor has not been out-rebounded this season and owns a +17.5 rebounding advantage over its opponents. The Lady Bears rank No. 2 nationally in rebounding margin.
-BU leads the Big 12 in all rebounding categories, rebounding offense (48.1), rebounding defense (30.6) and rebounding margin (+17.5).
-The Lady Bears own the Big 12's top two team rebounding marks this season. They hauled down 70 against Florida Atlantic (Nov. 14) and 64 versus Lamar (Dec. 8).
-Baylor has topped the 50-rebound mark five times this season (Florida Atlantic-70; Rice-52; UCF-50; Lamar-64; UT-Pan Am-50).
-Junior post Danielle Wilson blocked six shots against Stanford. Currently, at the 11-game mark, she has rejected 34 shots and totals 200 for her career to extend her school record.
-Wilson currently ranks No. 7 on the Big 12's career shot block chart.
-Over the past five games, Wilson has averaged 18.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.2 blocks and a .643 (36-56) shooting percentage.
-Wilson ranks No. 2 in the Big 12 Conference in blocks per game (3.1) and No. 11 nationally.
-Wilson leads the team in double-doubles with four (Wisconsin, Lamar, Samford, UT-Pan Am).
-Allison has two double-doubles to her credit this season, both have been recorded by halftime (Florida Atlantic, Rice).
-Allison saw her 46 consecutive starts and 109 consecutive games-played streaks halted when she sat out the UT-Pan American game with an injured left ankle.
-Jessica Morrow became the 25th Lady Bears to score 1,000 career points when she achieved the feat on Dec. 8 versus Lamar. She now has 1,018 career points.
-After scoring a three-pointer in 43 straight games, dating back to Feb. 28, 2007, the Lady Bears have come up empty from behind the arch twice this season, they were 0-6 against Wisconsin and 0-9 from 3-point range versus Samford.
-BU's Morghan Medlock is familiar with both Oregon and Cal and their respective arenas. She played two seasons at USC prior to transferring to Baylor.
ALL-AMERICAN NUMBERS
Baylor's Rachel Allison has begun the season with considerable success. After hanging 18 points and 13 rebounds against Florida Atlantic, the 6-1 forward/post scored 25 points, 20 of which came in the first half, against No. 2 Stanford. She was 9-for-16 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. In addition, she hauled down eight rebounds and had a block and a steal. She continues to excel, notching another double-double (11p/10r) in the first half against Rice en route to a 16 point and 14 rebound effort.
On the season, Allison is averaging a team high 15.1 points an outing and 7.4 rebounds per game.
BAYLOR IN THE RANKINGS
After defeating the then-No. 2 Stanford Cardinal on Nov. 16, the Lady Bears moved up nine spots, to No. 10, in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and then moved up to No. 6 after wins over Stephen F. Austin and Rice. After slipping to No. 10 for two weeks, the Lady Bears currently sit at No. 7. Baylor has been ranked in a school-record 97 straight AP polls dating back to week nine of the 2003-04 listing when it broke in at No. 24.
In the latest USA Today ESPN Division I Top 25 Coaches' poll, the Lady Bears are ranked No. 7, tied with Notre Dame.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
OREGON DUCKS
The Oregon Ducks enter Saturday's game on a three-game losing streak and sporting a 3-5 record. The Ducks are 2-1 at home this season. Oregon has posted wins over San Jose State (69-68), Pacific (76-71) and Wyoming (51-45) and lost to BYU (67-45), South Dakota State (80-63), Montana (60-52), Georgia Tech (74-59) and Marquette (69-39).
The Ducks have one player who averages double-digit scoring, leading the way is 5-8 junior guard Micaela Cocks with 16.0 an outing. The team's top rebounder at 5.5 a contest is 6-2 freshman forward Amanda Johnson. The Ducks' second-leading rebounder (5.4 rpg), 6-3 sophomore Ellie Manou, sat out the Marquette game with a knee injury, she is currently day-to-day. Manou and Johnson rank second and third on the team, respectively, in scoring with Manou averaging 9.9 a contest while Johnson scores 7.8 a game.
Head coach Bev Smith, a 1982 Oregon graduate, is in her eighth season on the Eugene, Ore., campus and owns a career record of 117-105.
OREGON'S PROBABLE STARTERS
1 Taylor Lilley - Jr., G, 5-6 - 3.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg
2 Micaela Cocks - Jr., G, 5-8 - 16.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg
11 Amanda Johnson - Fr., F, 6-2, 7.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg
45 Lindsey Saffold - Jr., F, 5-10 - 2.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg
54 Nicole Canepa - So., C, 6-5, 7.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg
CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS
No. 12/9 Cal comes into Monday's matchup with an 8-2 record and a nine day break under its belt. The Golden Bears last contest came on Dec. 13, an 86-75 loss to fourth-ranked Oklahoma. Cal held a 26 point halftime lead (52-26) over the Sooners but couldn't hold it as OU outscored Cal 60-23 in the second half to secure the win at San Jose, Calif.
The matchup with Baylor marks the Golden Bears' third Big 12 opponent of the season, in addition to playing Oklahoma, Cal downed Texas Tech, 68-54, in the Virgin Islands' Paradise Jam.
Head coach Joanne Boyle, a 1985 Duke graduate, is in her fourth year at Cal and is 76-30. She came to Cal from Richmond where she led the Spiders to a 67-29 mark in three seasons.
The Golden Bears are led on the season by senior center Ashley Walker's 22.9 points and 8.8 rebounds a game. Alexis Gray-Lawson, a sophomore guard, follows with 12.5 points an outing.
CAL'S PROBABLE STARTERS
21 Alexis Gray-Lawson - Jr., G, 5-8 - 12.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 4.7 apg
2 Natasha Vital - Jr., G, 5-8 - 9.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg
10 Lauren Greif - Jr., G, 5-10, 7.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg
11 Kelsey Adrian - So., F, 6-1 - 5.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg
44 Ashley Walker - Sr., C, 6-2, 22.9 ppg, 8.8 rpg
SERIES RECORD
Oregon
Baylor leads 2-0
3-21-05 Baylor 69-46 (ESPN2) Seattle, Wash.
12-12-07 Baylor 80-45 Waco
Home - 1-0; Neutral 1-0
California
Baylor leads 2-1
2-26-81 California 82-72 Amarillo, Texas
11-26-05 Baylor 75-58 Riviera Maya, Mexico
11-25-07 Baylor 69-56 (FSN) Waco
Home - 1-0; Neutral 1-1
BAYLOR VERSUS THE PAC-10
The two upcoming Pac-10 matchups will be Baylor's second and third Pac-10 opponents of the season. Baylor posted an 81-65 home victory over then second-ranked Stanford on Nov. 16.
Baylor is currently 16-9 versus Pacific-10 schools.
