No. 1 WBB Kicks Off NCAA Tournament vs. No. 16 Seed ACU



	^#1/1 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (31-1) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes	^#1/1 BAYLOR (31-1) vs. ABILENE CHRISTIAN (23-9) March 23, 2019 • 4:30 p.m. Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center (10,284) LIVE STATS: Live Stats WATCH: Watch ESPN Talent: Pam Ward (PBP), Carolyn Peck (Color) LISTEN: BaylorBears.com/1660 AM/92.9 FM Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Maggie Davis-Stinnett (Color) Baylor Social Media: Channel Lineup: DISH: 143 DIRECTV: 209 UVERSE: 606/1606 GRANDE: 34

	ABILENE CHRISTIAN (23-9) Location: Abilene, Texas Conference: Southland Conference Head Coach: Julie Goodenough (UT-Arlington, 1991) Roster \| Stats \| Game Notes

NCAA First & Second Round Central | Baylor Postseason Media Guide

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Just like it took more than Sophia Young and Brittney Griner to win Baylor's first two national championships in 2005 and 2012, it will take more than Kalani Brown and Lauren Cox for the Lady Bears to win another one.
            "You've seen those post players sometimes not play well and the perimeter players pick up the slack," said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, whose top-ranked Lady Bears (31-1) open the NCAA Tournament with a game against 16^th-seeded Abilene Christian (23-9) at approximately 5 p.m. Saturday at the Ferrell Center.
            "You've got to stay away from injury, you've got to have a little bit of luck when it's a tight game, and you've just got to have a team that's on a roll offensively. That's what it takes to win a national championship."
            Playing at home for the first two rounds for the seventh consecutive year, the Lady Bears will try to take the first step of what Mulkey hopes is a six-game run to the program's third national championship. But, "none of that matters if you don't win the next one."
            "We realize that you're going to get everyone's best shot," Mulkey said. "We realize that and we embrace it. That's why these players came to Baylor, but it doesn't mean that we prepare any differently. You push, you work; you know when to take off. It's just what we do. It's all we know how to do."
            ACU head coach Julie Goodenough says the Wildcats "have nothing to lose at all." In just their second year of full Division I eligibility, they made a three-game run to the Southland Conference Tournament title that included an 88-79 victory over top-seeded Lamar in the semifinals and beating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 69-68, in last Sunday's final.
            "It's a daunting task," said Goodenough, who was 1-5 against Baylor in three seasons at Oklahoma State (2002-05) and then fell to the Lady Bears, 79-34, two years ago with an ACU team that made its second straight trip to the WNIT. "I saw on ESPN a couple days ago that the 15 and 16 seeds in the last 29 years are 1-231. It's a really tough matchup for us."
            The biggest mismatch for the Wildcats is in the post area, where 6-1 forwards Makayla Mabry and Lexie Ducat will be matched against the 6-7 Brown (15.7 ppg, 8.0 rebounds) and 6-4 Cox (12.6 ppg, 8.2 rebounds, 2.5 blocks).
            "I think the significant size is the biggest factor," Goodenough said. "Obviously, their post players will tower over our post players. Their guards are about the size of our post players."
            Baylor's defense will have to be prepared for an all-out assault from downtown. ACU is shooting 33.0 percent from 3-point distance, knocking down 259 of 786 attempts. Dominique Golightly and Breanna Wright lead the way with 69 and 64 made 3-pointers, respectively.
            That's nothing new, though. Baylor's opponents have launched 784 3-point attempts this season, making 236.
            "The numbers are astronomical," Mulkey said. "Teams that don't even shoot that many threes shoot a lot of threes against us. We prepare for that. I think our field goal percentage defense from three (30.1) is much better than it used to be, because we see it so much now. So, it won't be anything we haven't seen."
            In a 67-49 win over Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship final, Baylor held the Cyclones to just 3-of-15 shooting from outside the arc.
            "Coach has put an emphasis on that just because so many teams have done it, and I think we're going to continue to see that." Cox said, "because you've got me and Kalani inside to start the game. And then you have (freshmen) NaLyssa (Smith) and Queen (Egbo) coming in who are both 6-2, 6-3. So, a lot of teams don't want to bring it in the paint, because we're going to send it right back out."
            What makes this Baylor team such a serious national championship contender, if not the favorite, is a deep bench, 3-point threats in Juicy Landrum and Moon Ursin, the lethal mid-range jumpers of Chloe Jackson and lock-down defenders in Cox and DiDi Richards.
            "I think it's big for them to step up like that," Cox said of the guards, "because it opens it up inside for us so we're not getting double- and triple-teamed when they're hitting shots from the outside."
            While Brown and Cox have played in 11 and seven NCAA Tournament games, respectively, including the first two rounds in Waco each year, Jackson is playing in just her third NCAA Tournament game. She bowed out in the first round the last two years at LSU, including a 55-52 loss to California two years ago at the Ferrell Center.
            "It's a blessing to be here and playing on this stage with Baylor across my chest," said Jackson, who is averaging 11.4 points and 5.4 assists per game. "I think about it all the time. I was here two years ago, and the journey was cut short. So now, just being here, I want to go a long way with Baylor."
            Eighth-seeded California (19-12), sent to Waco for the third time in the last six years, will face ninth-seeded North Carolina (18-14) in the early game at 2:30 p.m. The two winners will play for a Sweet 16 berth on Monday at a time to be announced.
            "I just saw Kim in the weight room, and she and I were joking that I should have bought property here back then (in 2014) and invested in it," Cal coach Lindsey Gottlieb said. "We're just excited to be playing on this stage, in this venue, and very happy to be back in Waco."

LADY BEARS CLAIM NO. 1 OVERALL SEED FOR NCAA TOURNAMENT
   For the third time in program history, the Baylor Lady Bears are the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament joining the 2011-12 and 2012-13 teams who also had the top spot. It marks the sixth time program history that Baylor will serve as the No. 1 seed. If Baylor emerges out of the first two rounds in Waco, the Lady Bears will head to Greensboro, N.C. for the NCAA Sweet 16 and Elite 8. Baylor's appearance in the Sweet 16 would be the 11^th straight. Abilene Christian comes to Waco as the No. 16 seed as Southland Conference Tournament champions and face the Lady Bears while No. 8 Cal and No. 9 North Carolina round out the bracket of four.

BAYLOR LADY BEARS TAKE HOME BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS NO. 19 AND NO. 20
   Kim Mulkey arrived as head coach of the Lady Bears in 2000-01, and in her 19 seasons she has claim to 20 Big 12 Championships. The Lady Bears ran the table for the fourth time in school history with an 18-0 record to claim their 10^th regular season championship and rolled through the Big 12 Championship tournament in Oklahoma City March 9-11 to capture their 10^th tournament title.

BROWN PICKS UP 9^TH ALL-AMERICA HONOR AS THE CENTER IS A 2^ND TEAM CHOICE FROM ESPNW
   Kalani Brown entered the 2018-19 season with eight different all-America honors to her credit; two from her sophomore season and six last year. The first of likely more this season came March 14 when Brown was named to ESPNW.com exclusive list on the second team.

LADY BEARS RACK UP BIG 12 POSTSEASON HONORS
   Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey was named Big 12 Coach of the Year for the seventh time, Lauren Cox earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second-straight season and Kalani Brown along with Cox were named All-Big 12 First Team members, the league announced Wednesday. In addition, Baylor landed guards Chloe Jackson and Juicy Landrum on the All-Big 12 Second Team while setting a record by landing three players from the same school on the Big 12 All-Defensive Team with DiDi Richards joining Cox and Brown. Brown's nod to the first team was her third, while Cox earned first-team honors for the second time.

LADY BEARS ARE NO. 1 FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2013, BUT BAYLOR HASN'T GONE ANYWHERE
     Much was made when Baylor returned as No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 Jan. 28. However, Baylor has ranked in the top 10 in the AP poll for 91 consecutive weeks with high-rankings of two with the lowest being 13 since the 2013-14 season prior to regaining the top spot. Those 91-straight weeks mark the third-longest active streak in the nation next to UConn and Notre Dame. In fact, Baylor holds the second-longest active streak of ranking in the AP Top 25 at 298 weeks.

BROWN AND COX UP FOR SEVERAL NATIONAL AWARDS, MULKEY A FINALIST FOR NAISMITH COACH OF THE YEAR
   Feb. 14 Lauren Cox was named a finalist for the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame's Katrina McClain Award, honoring the nation's top power forward for the second-straight year, while Brown was named a finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award, honoring the nation's top center for the second-consecutive season Feb. 15.
   In addition, both players were named semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award (Cox a finalist), and the post duo was each considered for the Wade Trophy as late-season watch list members. Brown made the national ballot for the John Wooden Award along with 15 other top NCAA women's players.
   March 4, Brown was among 10 semifinalists to be considered for the Citizen Naismith Trophy honoring women's basketball's top college player.

MULKEY NAMED TO NAISMITH WOMEN'S COACH OF THE YEAR LATE-SEASON WATCH LIST
    March 22 the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced the four finalists for the 2019 Werner Ladder Naismith Women's Coach of the Year Award, and Baylor's Kim Mulkey was named along with Iowa's Lisa Bluder, NC State's Wes Moore and Mississippi State's Vic Schaefer.
   Entering into the NCAA Tournament, Mulkey has a career record of 570-99, good for an .852 winning percentage.
   This season, the Lady Bears are 8-1 vs. the AP Top 25, including a win over No. 1 UConn Jan. 3 in Waco. Mulkey helped the team to a regular season and tournament championship in the Big 12, and the Lady Bears have the nation's longest active winning streak at 23 games.

INTERIOR DEFENSE DOMINANT
   While some may look at the fact that Baylor has surrendered 236 3-point field goals this season (most by a Big 12 school) as a negative, take into account that only 704 of 1,745 points given up by Baylor this season have come on two-point field goals. That' s just 352 two-pointers in 32 games, which averages 11 2-point field goals per game or 22.0 points per game given up inside the 3-point arc this season.

POUND THE PAINT, CLEAN THE GLASS, D-UP: LADY BEARS AMONG NATION'S BEST IN REBOUNDING, SCORING EFFICIENCY, DEFENSE
   In 14 statistical categories, the Lady Bears rank in the top 10 nationally. But, the Lady Bears (thru games March 20) rank tops in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (33.0), rebound margin (+16.8) and field goal percentage defense (.312) while ranking fourth in field goal percentage (.500). Kalani Brown ranks seventh in the nation in field goal percentage at a .623 clip. In addition to the nation's best defensive field goal percentage, the Lady Bears rank tops in the nation in blocked shots per game (7.1), led by Lauren Cox's 2.53 per contest. Baylor's rebounding is a staple of the program, and the Lady Bears have out-rebounded its opponents in 31 of 32 games this season, Baylor won the rebounding battle in 34 of 35 contests last year, and in 100 of the last 104 contests, BU has had the upper hand on the boards. Baylor outscores its opponents in the paint by an average of 45.6 to 15.6 through 32 games this season.

LADY BEARS ON THE RUN
   Baylor has 29 runs this season of at least 10 unanswered points including at least one in 12 of the 18 Big 12 contests. In 20 of 32 games this season, the Lady Bears have had at least one such run, and Baylor has also put together five runs of 20 or more points. In addition, Baylor is dominating opponents in transition, out-scoring opponents 343-77 on the fast break this season.

SHARING IS CARING: BAYLOR LEADS NATION IN ASSISTS PER GAME
   Baylor's 22.6 assists per contest ranks best in the nation (thru March 20) while the Lady Bears rank second in assists-to-turnover ratio at 1.73:1. Chloe Jackson's 5.47 assists per contest (ranks 27th nationally) and 2.32:1 assists-to-turnover ratio (ranks 31^st nationally) lead Baylor. DiDi Richards is averaging 4.0 assists per contest while ranking 21st nationally in assists-to-turnover ratio at 2.61:1 and post Lauren Cox ranks 24th in that category at 2.53:1. Juicy Landrum also ranks fifth in the Big 12 in assists-to-turnover ratio while third on the team at 3.9 assists per contest. As a team Baylor's ball distribution has been the hallmark of the offense in 2018-19. In fact, out of Baylor's 1,026 made field goals this season, the Lady Bears have assisted on 723 marking 70.4 percent of the team's buckets coming on an assist from a teammate.

50 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: BAYLOR NEARLY UNBEATABLE WHEN HITTING HALF ITS SHOTS
   In just one occurrence since Kim Mulkey's arrival at Baylor in the 2000-01 season have the Lady Bears lost a game when shooting 50 percent or better. Baylor's record under Mulkey when shooting 50 percent or better is 215-1, and the Lady Bears are 36-0 when shooting 60 percent or better. The lone loss came in the 2017 NCAA Tournament when Baylor fell to Mississippi State in the Elite 8, 94-85 on March 26 despite shooting 53.3 percent from the floor.

ABOUT BAYLOR'S HISTORIC WIN OVER NO. 1 UCONN
   Two elite programs met in Waco Jan. 3, and for the first time in school history (previously 0-14) the Baylor Lady Bears knocked off a No. 1-ranked team with UConn falling 68-57 at a sold-out Ferrell Center on ESPN. Not only did Baylor win the game, the Lady Bears put an end to a long line of streaks set by the Huskies, who are the standard for women's basketball with 11 NCAA Championships. Baylor's victory ended a streak of 126 consecutive regular season games for the Huskies and a streak of 55 consecutive regular season road wins. UConn had won 209 straight games in regulation; it's last loss in regulation also came to No. 1 Baylor Dec. 18, 2011.
   The Lady Bears' 11-point win was the largest margin of victory for a team vs. UConn since Feb. 27, 2012 when UConn fell to Notre Dame 72-59. In addition, Baylor's defense held UConn to just a 29.4 shooting percentage, its lowest in any game the past 20 seasons.
   Baylor became the third Big 12 school to ever defeat a No. 1 team joining Texas Tech who accomplished the feat twice and Texas, and just the second time that a Big 12 team has beaten a No. 1 in a non-conference matchup.
   BU's big win kept an overall home win streak at the Ferrell Center alive at 28 games while extending its non-conference home win streak to 47 games.

BROWN PICKS UP ESPNW NATIONAL HONOR AFTER LEADING BAYLOR TO WIN OVER NO. 1 UCONN
   Kalani Brown didn't shy away from the spotlight when the lights came on Jan. 3 vs. No. 1 UConn. In front of a sold-out crowd at the Ferrell Center and nationally televised on ESPN, the senior post put up 22 points and a season-high 17 rebounds. She was 11-for-17 from the floor in 36 minutes of play. Her games that week also included performances vs. UTRGV and at Texas Tech, but ESPNW.com singled out her performance against the No. 1 Huskies and tabbed her National Player of the Week on Jan. 7.

No. 1 WBB Kicks Off NCAA Tournament vs. No. 16 Seed ACU

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Players Mentioned

Kalani Brown

Lauren Cox

Chloe Jackson

Juicy Landrum

DiDi Richards

Moon Ursin

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No. 1 WBB Kicks Off NCAA Tournament vs. No. 16 Seed ACU

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kalani Brown

Lauren Cox

Chloe Jackson

Juicy Landrum

DiDi Richards

Moon Ursin

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