GAME CENTER: GAME 18
MEDIA INFORMATION
Date: Sat., Jan. 23, 2010
Tip-Off: 1 p.m. CST
Location: Columbia, Mo.
Arena: Mizzou Arena (15,061)
Television: None
Radio: Star 92.9 FM (Waco)
Talent: Rick May (pxp), Lori Fogleman (color)
Video Web Stream: None
Audio Web Stream:
Live Stats:
#10/12 BAYLOR LADY BEARS
2009-10 Record: 14-3, 1-2
Ranking (AP/ESPN): 10/12
Last Game: L, 65-56, #11 Nebraska
Head Coach: Kim Mulkey
Career Record: 251-69 (10th season)
Record at BU: same
Mulkey vs. MU: 9-1
MISSOURI TIGERS
2009-10 Record: 10-7, 0-4
Ranking (AP/ESPN): NR/NR
Last Game: L, 62-61, #13 Oklahoma
Head Coach: Cindy Stein
Career Record: 248-287 (15th season)
Record at MU: 183-166 (12th season)
MU vs. Baylor: BU leads 13-4
STORY LINES
• Missouri enters the game at 10-7 overall and 0-4 in Big 12 action. The Tigers have lost five straight games, most recently a 62-61 home game Wednesday night to 13th-ranked Oklahoma.
• Five of BU's first six league games are against teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25; then-No. 23 Oklahoma State (L, 78-65), No. 13 Oklahoma (W, 57-47), then-No. 11 Nebraska (L, 65-56), at Missouri (Jan. 23), No. 9 Texas A&M (Jan 27).
• Three Lady Bears are averaging double-digit scoring. Freshman post Brittney Griner leads the team with 18.9 points a game while junior guard Melissa Jones (injured, game-to-game) averages 11.6 and senior Morghan Medlock manages 11.0 a game.
• As a team, Baylor ranks No. 1 nationally in blocks per game (8.1); No. 2 in scoring margin (25.0), field goal percentage (.506) and field goal percentage defense (31.2); No. 3 in 3-point field goal percentage defense (24.7); No. 4 in rebound margin (12.9); No. 8 in scoring offense (79.9).
• In 10 seasons under head coach Kim Mulkey, Baylor is 251-69 (.784), which ranks her No. 4 nationally in winning percentage. In addition, the Lady Bear program ranks No. 6 among the NCAA Division I's winningest teams over that span.
• With her dramatic improvement since the beginning of the season, Brittney Griner has emerged as a National Player of the Year, Big 12 Player of the Year and All-America candidate.
• Brittney Griner blocks more shots per game than 326 of the 332 NCAA €ˆDivision I schools and only 11 teams beside Baylor have blocked more shots than Griner. She ranks No. 2 nationally in blocks and needs 15 to break Courtney Paris' Big 12 single-season record of 119 set during the Sooners' 36-game 2005-06 campaign.
• Griner, with her 105 rejections, needs just 15 more blocks to break the Big 12's single-season block record of 119 set in 2006 by Oklahoma's Courtney Paris. She would have to average less than two blocks per game to break the record.
COMMON OPPONENTS
Baylor and Missouri have faced two common opponents so far this season, UT-Pan American and Oklahoma. Both teams posted wins over UT-Pan American, Baylor downed the Broncs, 100-46, while the Tigers won, 83-34. Baylor defeated 13th-ranked Oklahoma (57-47) while Missouri lost to the Sooners, 62-61.
SERIES RECORD
Baylor leads the series 13-4 and holds a 4-2 edge in Columbia while BU head coach Kim Mulkey is 9-1 versus the Tigers, 3-1 in Columbia. The Lady Bears' lone loss at Missouri under Mulkey came on Jan. 4, 2006. The Tiger victory snapped fourth-ranked Baylor's 30-game win streak.
BYG BLOCKS MORE THAN MOST TEAMS
In NCAA Division I statistics of games through Jan. 17, Brittney Griner blocks more shots per game (6.2) than 326 of the 332 NCAA Division I teams ranked.
In addition, only 11 NCAA Division I teams (excluding Baylor) have blocked more shots than Griner's 105.
FRESHMEN PRODUCING
All five of the team's freshmen are averaging 4.0 or more points a game. Brittney Griner leads the rookies with 18.9 a contest, Shanay Washington averages 7.3 points, Jordan Madden manages 5.9 a game, Kimetria Hayden scores 4.8 an outing and Mariah Chandler follows with 4.0 a contest.
All five average 9.3 or more minutes an outing, and two, Griner and Washington, are in the starting lineup.
