Dec. 31, 2008
Game 13
#7/7 Baylor (11-1) vs. Texas State (6-5)
Saturday, Jan. 3 - 7 p.m.
Ferrell Center (10,284) - Waco, Texas
OVER THE AIRWAVES
TV: None
Webcast: BaylorBears.com
live audio (free) and video (pay)
Radio: ISP Sports Network
1660 AM-KRZI/ESPN
www.baylorbears.com
Radio Talent:
Rick May (Play-by-play)
Lori Fogleman (Color analyst)
Live Stats: www.baylorbears.com
BAYLOR BEGINS 2009 AT HOME HOSTING TEXAS STATE
After a two week holiday break, the seventh-ranked Baylor Lady Bears (11-1) will begin their 2009 slate the same way they started 2008, with a home contest against the Texas State Bobcats, Jan. 3.
Baylor enters Saturday's contest riding a five-game win streak after posting an 81-71 road win over Oregon on Dec. 20. The Lady Bears were to have played then-12th-ranked California on that road trip but weather issues forced cancellation of the Dec. 22 contest.
Texas State enters the contest 6-5 on the season after posting a 68-45 home victory over the University of Dallas on Tuesday evening.
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 994 points to her credit, needing just six to collect 1,000. She will become the 26th Lady Bears to attain the milestone.
Fellow Lady Bear Jessica Morrow scored her 1,000th career point on Dec. 8, versus Lamar. Morrow needed three points coming into the game to achieve the milestone and drained a three-point field goal at the 15:59 mark in the first half.
NCAA "TAKE A KID TO THE GAME" NIGHT Saturday's contest marks the NCAA's "Take a Kid to the Game" Night. Fans will receive a free youth ticket with the purchase of an adult ticket.
BAYLOR LADY BEARS
IN THE POLLS
7 - Associated Press
7 - USA Today/ESPN Coaches
PROBABLE STARTERS
21 Kelli Griffin-So., G, 5-8 - 5.4 ppg, 2.7 ppg, 3.75 apg
15 Jhasmin Player-Sr., G, 5-10 -9.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.83 apg
3 Jessica Morrow-Sr., G, 6-0 - 10.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg
14 Rachel Allison-Sr., F, 6-1 - 14.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg
11 Danielle Wilson-Jr., P, 6-3 14.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg
TOP RESERVES
5 Melissa Jones-So., G, 5-10 - 7.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg
55 Morghan Medlock-Jr., F, 6-2 - 6.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg
24 Ashley Field-Fr., G, 6-2, 4.9 ppg, 3.1 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 two weeks. The Lady Bears moved up to No. 7 in the Dec. 15 poll and has remained there for three weeks. Baylor is also No. 7 in the USA Today ESPN Coaches' Poll for the third straight week.
- 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 +16.5 rebounding advantage over its opponents. The Lady Bears rank No. 1 nationally in rebounding margin.
- BU leads the Big 12 in all rebounding categories, rebounding offense (47.42), rebounding defense (30.9) and rebounding margin (+16.5).
- 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 12-game mark, she has rejected 37 shots and totals 203 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 six games, Wilson has averaged 17.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.0 blocks and a .632 (43-68) shooting percentage. In addition, she has posted a double-double in four straight games.
- Wilson ranks No. 2 in the Big 12 Conference in blocks per game (3.1) and No. 7 nationally.
- Wilson leads the team in double-doubles with five (Wisconsin, Lamar, Samford, UT-Pan Am, Oregon).
- 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 1,039 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.
ALLISON CONTINUES TO POST IMPRESSIVE NUMBERS
Baylor All-American candidate 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 14.3 points an outing and 7.3 rebounds per game. Due to an ankle injury, she sat out the UT-Pan American game which halted her 46 consecutive starts and 109 consecutive games-played streaks.
WILSON ON A ROLL
Baylor's Danielle Wilson has been on a roll recently. Over the past six games, the junior post has produced five double-doubles, including four straight, led the team in scoring on four occasions and rebounding in five contests. Over the six games she has averaged a team-leading 17.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks while shooting 63.2 percent (43-68) from the floor.
Wilson has raised her season averages to 14.2 points and a team-leading 8.3 rebounds a game and owns the squad's top field goal percentage at 51.9 percent (68-131). She has blocked a team-leading 37 shots which ranks her No. 2 in the Big 12.
At of games through Dec. 21, Wilson ranks No. 7 nationally in blocked shots and No. 57 in field goal percentage (.519).
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
TEXAS STATE
The Texas State Bobcats enter Saturday's game on a two-game win streak and sporting a 6-5 record. The Bobcats have won four of their last five contests, a 94-45 loss at Texas A&M was the only blemish during that time frame. Texas State has posted wins over Navy (77-58), Long Island (63-61), Paul Quinn College (96-60), Huston-Tillotson (92-55), Concordia (68-58) and UT-Dallas (68-45) and lost to Drake (72-54), Iowa (87-45), Utah State (50-47), UTEP (85-74) and Texas A&M.
The Bobcats have two player who average double-digit scoring, leading the way is 6-2 senior forward Kim Cessna with 10.5 an outing followed by 5-8 senior guard Ashley Cole's 10.4 a game. The team's top rebounder at 5.6 a contest is 6-1 junior forward Aimee Hilburn. Gabriell Mattox, a 5-11 sophomore forward, manages 5.1 rebounds a game while Cole hauls down 5.0 an outing.
Head coach Suzanne Fox, a 1990 Abilene Christian graduate, is in her 13th season on the San Marcos, Texas, campus and owns a record of 148-173. She is in her 18th season as a head coach and is 265-206 throughout her career. Fox guided the Bobcats to the WNIT's second round last season, posting a 21-11 season mark.
TEXAS STATE'S PROBABLE STARTERS
4 Victoria Davis - Jr., G, 5-6 - 7.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg
2 Ashley Cole - Sr., G, 5-8 - 10.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg
15 Gabriell Mattox - So., F, 5-11, 7.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg
33 Kim Cessna - Sr., F, 6-2 - 10.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg
34 Aimee Hilburn - Jr., F, 6-1, 7.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg
BAYLOR IN REGULAR SEASON, NON-CONFERENCE GAMES
In Coach Mulkey's nine seasons at Baylor, the Lady Bears are 102-7 (.936) in regular season, non-conference games. Five of the seven losses have come against ranked opponents. Here's a year-by-year look at the Lady Bears' non-league record under Kim Mulkey:
2000-01 - 11-0
2001-02 - 12-0
2002-03 - 11-1, lost at Montana State (75-66)
2003-04 - 12-1, lost at No. 7 Penn State (74-63) 2004-05 - 10-1, lost to No, 3 LSU (71-70), State Farm Tip Off Classic, Austin
2005-06 - 10-1, lost at No. 4 LSU (88-57)
2006-07 - 13-1, lost to No. 12 Purdue (69-55) at Waco (Preseason WNIT)
2007-08 - 12-1, lost at No. 5 Stanford (87-56)
2008-09 - 11-1, lost to Wisconsin (59-58) at Paradise Jam, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Baylor's Ferrell Center record in regular season, non-conference games under Coach Mulkey is 65-1 (.985). During that nine-year time span, Baylor's lone Ferrell Center loss came against 12th-ranked Purdue on Nov. 19, 2006, in the Preseason WNIT championship game. Since then, Baylor has won 24 straight non-league home games.
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 have been ranked No. 7 for the past three weeks. Baylor has been ranked in a school-record 99 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.
BAYLOR'S AP POLL HISTORY
Baylor's 120 Associated Press Top 25 poll appearances in the 2000s, all of which have come under head coach Kim Mulkey, rank No. 14 on the wire service's all-time list. The Lady Bears' average ranking during that time frame is 11.04. Tennessee and Connecticut top the 2000s list with 176 each.
All told, the Lady Bears have appeared in the Associated Press Top 25 poll 136 times which ranks No. 35.
