Feb. 7, 2008
WACO, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
#5/5 Baylor (20-2, 8-1) vs. Texas Tech (14-8, 2-6)
Saturday, Feb. 9 - 1:00 p.m.
Ferrell Center (10,284) - Waco, Texas
OVER THE AIRWAVES
Television - Fox Sports Network
Kevin Eschenfelder (Play-by-play)
Brenda VanLengen (Color analyst)
Internet Feeds
Webcast: None
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 AND TEXAS TECH
No. 5 Baylor will meet up with Texas Tech for the second time this season when it hosts the Lady Raiders on Saturday, Feb. 9, at 1:00 p.m. in a nationally televised game.
Baylor, 20-2 on the season and 8-1 in Big 12 action, is off to its best start in program history, while the Lady Raiders are 14-8 on the year and 2-6 in league play.
THINK PINK - BREAST CANCER AWARENESS
The Baylor Lady Bears will be participating in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's "THINK PINK" campaign supporting breast cancer awareness. The Lady Bears have designated the game versus Texas Tech as the "THINK PINK" game. Lady Bear players and coaches will incorporate pink into their game attire and fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game.
In a special promotion for the game, fans can purchase a $30 package that includes four tickets, four hot dogs and four Dr Peppers.
BAYLOR LADY BEARS
IN THE POLLS
5 - Associated Press
5 - USA Today/ESPN Coaches
PROBABLE STARTERS
G-3 Jessica Morrow - Jr., 6-0 - 11.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg
G-5 Melissa Jones - Fr., 5-10 - 5.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg
P-11 Danielle Wilson - So., 6-3 - 11.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg
P-14 Rachel Allison - Jr., 6-1 - 13.4 ppg, 8.4 rpg
G-20 Angela Tisdale - Sr., 5-7 - 15.0 ppg, 2.9 apg
TOP RESERVES P-1 Jessika Bradley - So., 6-3 - 4.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg
TEXAS TECH LADY RAIDERS
IN THE POLLS
NR - Associated Press
NR - USA Today/ESPN Coaches
PROBABLE STARTERS
G-2 Keisha Walker - Jr., 5-9 - 5.6 ppg, 2.8 apg
G-3 Maria Moore - Jr., 5-5 - 8.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg
G-23 LaVonda Henderson - Jr., 5-7 - 3.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg
F-31 Ashlee Roberson - So. - 5-11 - 4.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg
F-41 Dominic Seals - Jr., F, 6-2 - 14.1 ppg, 8.9 rpg
TOP RESERVES
G-13 Jordan Murphree - So., 6-0 - 8.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg
F-24 Stanecia Graham - Jr., 6-1 - 7.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg
C-34 Erin Myrick - Sr., C, 6-3 - 10.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg
LADY BEAR LEADERS
With 22 games under their belt, the Lady Bears boast four players averaging double-digit scoring. Leading the way is the squad's lone senior, All-Big 12 candidate Angela Tisdale, with 15.0 a contest, while junior Rachel Allison, another All-Big 12 candidate, manages 13.4 points and a team-leading 8.4 rebounds a game. Junior guard/forward Jessica Morrow follows with 11.9 a contest and sophomore post Danielle Wilson manages 11.3 points an outing. In addition to Allison's 8.4 boards, two other players haul down 5.4 or more rebounds an outing. Wilson manages 7.0 a game while freshman Melissa Jones manages 5.4.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP IN THE CLUTCH
Baylor's lone senior, point guard Angela Tisdale has shown that in the clutch, she can get it done.
- In Baylor's 59-56 win over No. 13 Texas A&M, Tisdale missed her first 10 3-point attempts, but made her first trey of the day with 38 seconds left to give the Bears a one-point lead and Baylor went on to win.
- On the road against No. 11 Oklahoma, an 84-73 victory, Tisdale scored a career-high 35 points and helped put some distance between the Lady Bears and Sooners when she scored seven points in an 8-1 run midway through the second half. After sinking a 3-pointer from the top of the key, she scored a basket in transition off Melissa Jones' steal and then hit two free throws that extended Baylor's lead to 66-59 with 8 minutes remaining.
- In Baylor's one-point win over No. 25 Texas (61-60), Tisdale scored 19 points, including a game-winning 3-pointer with 19 seconds left.
ALLISON NAMED TO MIDSEASON NAISMITH TROPHY LIST Junior Rachel Allison was among 31 players named to the 2008 Naismith Trophy midseason list recently announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. The women's list, which includes 31 candidates because of a tie, was voted on by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country. The board based its criteria on player performances this season, and the list was narrowed down from the preseason list of 50 candidates who were announced at the beginning of the season.
A Big 12 Player of the Week selection this season, Allison, a 6-1 forward, averages 13.4 points and a team-leading 8.4 rebounds a game. The Jonesboro, Ark., native ranks among the league leaders in rebounding (3rd), free throw percentage (11th) and scoring (17th).
DEFENSE
Superior defense as well as a balanced offense has led Baylor to a 20-2 season mark. The Lady Bears rank among the NCAA's top in several defensive categories: No. 6 - field goal percentage defense (.343), No. 7- blocked shots (6.3), No. 11 - scoring defense (53.6), No. 50 - steals (10.5).
Among Big 12 defensive categories (all games), the Lady Bears are No. 1 in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense and blocks; No. 2 in 3-point field goal percentage defense. In league games only, Baylor ranks No. 1 in field goal percentage defense (.374); No. 2 in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.256) and scoring defense (58.9) and No. 3 in steals (9.67).
TISDALE JOINS ELITE GROUP
With her 18-point performance against Rice, senior point guard Angela Tisdale became the 24th Lady Bears to score 1,000 career points. She now has 1,178 career points to her credit.
In Baylor's 84-73 victory over 11th-ranked Oklahoma, Tisdale poured in a career-high 35 points, 15 of which came from 3-point range. She is now No. 3 on Baylor's career 3-point list (146) and ranks No. 19 on the Baylor all-time scoring list.
ALLISON'S GOT A NOSE FOR THE BALL
Despite being the shortest of Baylor's posts, 6-1 junior Rachel Allison leads the Lady Bears in rebounding at 8.4 a game. She has hauled down 184 rebounds this season, including a career-high tying 14 at Oklahoma State. In addition, she has registered a team-leading 41 steals, 24 assists and 14 blocks on the year.
BAYLOR'S BLOCK MACHINE
Sophomore post Danielle Wilson owns two of the Big 12's top marks this season in blocks when she rejected nine shots against Oregon and seven at 11th-ranked Oklahoma. In fact, four of Wilson's seven against Oklahoma came in the second half with the Sooners' two-time All-American Courtney Paris as the victim.
She has blocked 59 shots which ranks No. 3 in the conference in block average at 2.8 a game, that mark also ranks her No. 10 nationally. With her 18 blocks over the past six games, Wilson now has 145 career blocks and ranks No. 2 on Baylor's career list. She needs just 15 rejections to surpass Steffanie Blackmon's top mark of 159.
In Baylor's 61-60 victory over Texas, the Longhorns had a chance at winning the game, but Kathleen Nash's shot with 3.4 seconds left was blocked by Wilson, her only block of the game.
BAYLOR QUICK HITS
- Entering the 2007-08 season, Baylor ranked No. 7 on the NCAA's Winningest Teams During the Last Five Years list with 135 victories. Schools ranking ahead of the Lady Bears are: Duke (159), Tennessee (159), Connecticut (157), LSU (151), North Carolina (149) and Stanford (141).
- Baylor ranks among the top seven in all four RPI rating services: No. 6 Jeff Sagarin, No. 7 in both College Basketball News and collegerpi.com and No. 7 in NCAA. This ranks No. 1 among Big 12 schools. The Big 12 ranks No. 1 in all RPI listings as a conference.
- The contest versus Oklahoma State marked Baylor's seventh game versus a ranked opponent in 2007-08; Baylor is now 5-2 versus ranked teams. It defeated then-No. 12 California (69-56), lost to then-No. 5 Stanford (87-63), downed then-No. 13 Texas A&M (59-56), triumphed over 11th-rated Oklahoma (84-73), beat 25th-ranked Texas (61-60), defeated #18 Kansas State (63-49) and most recently lost at Oklahoma State (77-67).
- 2007-08 team captains - senior Angela Tisdale and juniors Rachel Allison and Jhasmin Player.
- Baylor's No. 5 AP ranking ties its highest listing since the Jan. 11, 2006, poll when it ranked No. 5.
- Baylor ranks in the top 15 in NCAA Division I statistics in seven categories as of games through Feb. 3: No. 2 in won-lost percentage (95.2); No. 4 in scoring margin (+22.0); No. 6 in field goal percentage defense (34.3); No. 7 in blocked shots (6.3); No. 9 in rebounding margin (+9.3); No. 11 in scoring defense (.536) and No. 14 in scoring offense (75.6).
- Danielle Wilson's 2.9 blocks per game rank her No. 10 nationally.
- The Lady Bears have shot 44.3 percent or higher in 13 of 22 games this season and have posted a 50.0 percent or higher mark in seven games. - Baylor has shot 50 percent or higher from 3-point range in five games.
- BU is 105-20 (.840) since the start of the 2004-05 season with 17 of the 20 setbacks coming at the hands of nationally ranked opponents. Baylor's last 15 losses have come to ranked opponents.
- Danielle Wilson has blocked at least one shot in 49 of 55 career games, including 4 or more 17 times and 3 or more on 21 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.
- Tisdale has 450 career assists and needs just eight to claim the top spot on BU's career chart from Chelsea Whitaker (457, 2002-05). She is the fourth player in school history to score more than 1,000 points and dish out at least 400 career assists.
- The trio of Danielle Wilson (59), Jessika Bradley (26) and Jessica Morrow (23) have combined for 108 of the team's 136 season blocks. - Baylor led NCAA Division I last season in blocks per game with 7.2. So far this season the Lady Bears are averaging 6.3 a contest to rank No. 7 nationally.
20 VICTORIES AGAIN
For the eighth straight season and 14th time in school history the Lady Bears, with their 63-49 victory at Kansas State on Feb. 2, have achieved a 20-win season. Baylor has posted 20-win campaigns in each season since Coach Mulkey assumed the program's helm.
LADY BEARS CLOSE TO TOPPING 100,000 AGAIN
Baylor needs just 16,544 fans to pass through the Ferrell Center doors in its four remaining home games to eclipse the 100,000 fan mark for the third straight season. The Lady Bears average 5,961 fans a home game this season and would need to average 4,136 in the remaining home games to reach 100,000.
2005-06 - 13 games = 100,316
2006-07 - 19 games = 119,603
2007-08 - 14 games = 83,456
SCOUTING THE LADY RAIDERS
The Texas Tech Lady Raiders, 14-8 on the season, come into the game with a 3-5 road record. They are coming off a 66-58 road loss to Iowa State. The Lady Raiders' two league wins were over Texas (70-58) and Colorado (62-44).
Head coach Kristy Curry is in her second season at Texas Tech after a highly successful head coaching stint at Purdue. Curry posted a 179-51 record in six seasons at Purdue. She is 208-75 in eight seasons as a head coach and 29-24 at Texas Tech. Curry and Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey were both assistant coaches at Louisiana Tech at the same time, Mulkey served there from 1985-2000 while Curry was there for three seasons (1996-99).
Texas Tech is led in scoring by 5-10 junior forward Dominic Seals' 14.1 points and 8.9 rebounds. Senior center Erin Myrick ranks second on the team in both categories, scoring 10.6 points and hauling down 5.9 boards an outing.
SERIES RECORD
Texas Tech holds a 46-19 series lead over Baylor. However, the Lady Bears have won four straight and eight of the last nine contests. Baylor is 7-20 versus Texas Tech in games played at Waco. Five of the seven victories have come under Kim Mulkey's direction, as she is 11-7 versus the Lady Raiders overall and 5-1 at Waco.
