Baylor
McNeese State
WBB Hosts McNeese State Saturday to Cap 2020
12/18/2020 8:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Lady Bears finish fourth game in six days
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#7/7 BAYLOR LADY BEARS (6-1) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Kim Mulkey (La. Tech, 1984) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
#7/7 BAYLOR (6-1) vs MCNEESE STATE (0-6) December 19, 2020 | 2 PM (CT) Waco, Texas | Ferrell Center (10,284)  WATCH: Big 12 Now on ESPN+Talent: Lincoln Rose (PBP), Jim Haller (Analyst) RADIO: 92.9 FM DIGITAL RADIO LINK: Shooter FM Talent: Bruce Gietzen (PBP), Maggie Davis-Stinnett (Analyst) LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast Baylor Social Media:    ** Due to COVID-19, there will be no physical copies of stats, media almanacs, rosters, please use the following link for MEDIA RESOURCES ** |
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McNEESE STATE COWGIRLS (0-6) Location: Lake Charles, La. Conference: Southland Head Coach: Kacie Cryer (LSU-Shreveport, 2008) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
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BAYLOR SETS NCAA, BIG 12, AND PROGRAM RECORD FOR ASSISTS IN ROMP OF NORTHWESTERN STATE
One year to the day after Juicy Landrum set an NCAA, Big 12 and Baylor school record for 3-pointers in a game with 14, the Baylor Lady Bears made history again with the top mark in team assists. Baylor's 45 assists in its 136-43 romp of Northwestern State today were also an NCAA, Big 12 and school record. Coincidentally, Northwestern State shared the previous NCAA record with Nebraska at 43 assists. NWST had 43 vs. Arkansas Baptist, Jan. 10, 1987 and Nebraska had 43 vs. Howard, Dec. 11, 1992.
In addition, Baylor's 136 points were the second-highest total in program history, its 57 field goals were second-most all-time and multiple players tied or achieved career highs in the offensive explosion. NaLyssa Smith tied a career-high with 30 points, Hannah Gusters scored the most points (22) by a freshman since Kalani Brown had 24 in 2015, and Jordyn Oliver & Sarah Andrews each had career-bests with a dozen points. Jordyn Oliver had her first double-digit assists game with 10 while Moon Ursin had a career-high seven assists and Trinity Oliver had a career-best six. Caitlin Bickle matched a career-high with 11 rebounds, and the trio of Smith (30), Gusters (22) and Queen Egbo (21) became the first set of three to score 20 in the same game for Baylor since Khadijiah Cave (25), Lauren Cox (23) and Alexis Prince (23), Dec. 15, 2016 vs. Winthrop. That game in 2016 resulted in Baylor's single-game record for points with 140, which this year's Lady Bears missed by just four points.
LADY BEARS HOME WIN STREAK COULD TIE FOR 10TH-BEST IN NCAA HISTORY SATURDAY WITH WIN OVER MCNEESE STATE
Baylor has two separate home winning streaks on the line Saturday when the Lady Bears take on McNeese State, and both equal 60-straight wins. Baylor has the nation's longest-active home-win streak at 60 games. It marks the 11th-longest home win streak in NCAA history, and the second-longest streak in Baylor history. A win Saturday would result in a tie for the 10th-longest streak in NCAA history at 61 (Virginia, 1991-1996). In addition, Baylor has 60-straight non-conference home wins entering into Saturday's contest.
The Lady Bears have a seven-game win streak over McNeese State and lead the all-time series, 9-6. Under Kim Mulkey, Baylor is 5-0 vs. the Cowgirls, and the teams' last meeting came Dec. 13, 2017 in Waco when Baylor took a 95-34 win.
OWENS DECLARED ELIGIBLE AFTER NCAA INSTATES BLANKET WAIVER; MCDANIEL STILL SIDELINED WITH INJURY
The NCAA announced Wednesday a blanket waiver for transfer students at the NCAA Division I level, which activated Baylor's Jaden Owens and puts the Lady Bears active roster at 11 players. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all Division I basketball players will not have the 2020-21 season count against them, which prompted the NCAA Division I Council to make an exception Wednesday for Division I transfers who arrived at their current institution before the Fall 2020 term began. The blanket waiver would have also made eligible senior guard Kamaria McDaniel. However, the former Penn State standout was sidelined with a left-knee injury earlier in the fall and underwent successful surgery, Nov. 30 to repair an ACL and meniscus tear. She will miss the 2020-21 season.
Owens came to Baylor after one year with UCLA as a backup point guard. In her freshman season with the Bruins in 2019-20, she averaged 9.6 minutes per contest in 28 games off the bench. She averaged 2.5 points, 1.2 assists and 0.6 steals per contest. Her assist-to-turnover ratio was 1.8:1, and she backed up All-Pac-12 point guard and recent WNBA draft pick Japreece Dean. Owens debuted Friday vs. Northwestern State hitting her first attempt from the field, a 3-pointer, and she finished with 3 points and 2 assists.
COVID-19'S EFFECT ON THE LADY BEARS
All are having to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Lady Bears are no exception. Baylor lost four games scheduled for the Preseason WNIT in Waco in November, along with a Thanksgiving week game vs. Oregon in Las Vegas. Originally scheduled for Nov. 27, Baylor and Northwestern State's game was postponed due to COVID issues within the NWST program and was rescheduled for Dec. 18. Moon Ursin, lost her grandmother, Ruby Alexander, to the virus in April after a swift and brief battle with COVID. Kamaria McDaniel, a transfer from Penn State that is having to sit this season, lost her grandfather, Johnny Webster, Sr., in April as well.
RICHARDS RETURNS TO FLOOR AFTER SPINAL INJURY, FEATURED ON ESPN'S SPORTSCENTER
Oct. 24, Moon Ursin and DiDi Richards collided in mid-air during a practice scrimmage, leaving Ursin with a concussion and Richards with a Spinal Cord Injury Without Radiographic Abnormality
(SCIOWRA). Ursin returned to practice after clearing concussion protocol in mid-November while Richards' rehab began immediately after she briefly lost feeling below her knees. Richards was first confined to a walker to assist her in walking, but by mid-November she was completing individual drills and workouts with medical and strength & conditioning staff. Richards shocked doctors, team
medical staff and coaches with the rate of her rehab. Thirty-eight days after the injury, she played 30 minutes off the bench at South Florida Dec. 1. She scored a bucket 13 seconds into her entry, and picked up where she left off last season by leading Baylor with seven assists. Sunday in Fayetteville, Ark. she resumed her starting role, getting her first start at point guard and finished the contest with a game-high eight assists. She led the Big 12 in assists per game in 2019-20, ranked 13th in the nation and had the NCAA's sixth-best assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.9:1.
Her return to the floor sparked interest from ESPN with Mechelle Voepel writing a feature on her recovery, and Scott Van Pelt led off his Tuesday edition of SportsCenter, covering Richards' return with the "Best Thing I Saw Today" segment.
BAYLOR WINS 1,000TH WIN AS A PROGRAM; LADY BEARS BECOME 15TH PROGRAM IN D1 HISTORY TO REACH 1,000 VICTORIES
Baylor's win at South Florida Dec. 1 marked the program's 1,000th victory. Baylor became the 15th program in NCAA Division I history to reach 1,000 victories joining Tennessee, UConn, James Madison, Louisiana Tech, Stanford, Texas, SFA, Old Dominion, Ohio State, Maryland, Western Kentucky, Wisconsin-Green Bay, South Dakota State, and Notre Dame. Kim Mulkey has 606 of those wins as head coach for Baylor. At Louisiana Tech, she was either a player, assistant or associate head coach for 560 victories, which makes her a direct contributor to 1,106 wins between the two programs on the prestigious list.
BAYLOR FINISHED 2019-20 RANKED FIRST IN FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE DEFENSE FOR FOURTH-STRAIGHT YEAR
For the fourth-straight year and the fifth in Kim Mulkey's history as head coach at Baylor, the Lady Bears ranked No. 1 in the NCAA in defensive field goal percentage in 2019-20. Mulkey's Lady Bears are known for their tough-nosed defense, and last year's team was led by Richards who earned the national defensive player of the year award from both Naismith and the WBCA. The team held opponents to a .310 shooting mark, which tied with the 2011-12 squad for lowest opponent field goal percentage. Baylor has ranked in the top five in that category in each of the last six seasons and in 9 of the last 10. Baylor also won the category in 2010-11.
MULKEY JOINS STAR-STUDDED 2020 CLASS WITH NAISMITH HALL OF FAME INDUCTION
The Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments were cancelled, but Kim Mulkey did get some good news in April when she was announced as a member of the 2020 induction class to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. She and her class' peers are virtually peerless as she joined a star-studded class, including Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Tamika Catchings, Rudy Tomjanovich, Eddie Sutton, Barbara Stevens and Patrick Baumann.
Her induction ceremony was delayed due to COVID-19 and the 2020 class has yet to be enshrined. Her induction will be as a coach, although she has been nominated as a player on numerous occasions. She was also a finalist in 2018. Mulkey's many accomplishments earned her the honor, but among them are three NCAA titles, 21 Big 12 championships, and she was the fastest NCAA Division I head coach, man or woman, to reach 600 career victories (700 games).
