By Ben Everett | Sports Writer
The No. 4-ranked Baylor Lady Bears basketball team takes on Oklahoma State at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Ferrell Center.
The Lady Bears (24-2, 13-1) look to win at home for the first time since being upset by Texas on Feb. 7.
Despite the home loss, Lady Bears head coach Kim Mulkey said her team has not lost confidence.
“I think their feelings are hurt,” Mulkey said. “I think they’re ticked and embarrassed. We’re too good to lose confidence.”
Additionally, Mulkey added that mistakes made against the Longhorns don’t define the flaws of the team and that they can improve as a team.
“A lot of the problems we had against Texas I think we can fix,” Mulkey said. “I didn’t think our defense was very good on the help side and we just need to be a better team.”
The Cowgirls (14-11, 4-10) snapped a five-game losing streak with a win over TCU on Wednesday.
Oklahoma State junior center Kaylee Jensen scored 32 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the win. On the season, Jensen leads the team with averages of 19 points per game and 10.7 rebounds per game while shooting 42.5 percent from 3-point range.
In the first meeting between Oklahoma State and Baylor, the Lady Bears prevailed with an 86-50 victory on Jan. 7 in Stillwater, Okla. In that game, Jensen was held to just 11 points on 4-for-16 shooting.
Baylor senior guard Alexis Jones expects the Cowgirls to motivated by the loss and come to Waco ready to for revenge.
“Oklahoma State is going to come out ready to play,” Jones said. “We just gotta come in ready to play, and we can’t taken any of these games for granted.”
In addition to Jensen, junior forward Mandy Coleman and sophomore guard Karli Wheeler are averaging double-digit points on the season for the Cowgirls.
The Lady Bears will look to senior guard Alexis Prince, who has scored in double figures in eight of the last ten games.
Additionally, Baylor will try to dominate the paint as they did in the first matchup. The Lady Bears outscored the Cowgirls 44-14 in the paint and out-rebounded them by a count of 61-30. Three post players scored in double figures in the game including sophomore center Kalani Brown, sophomore forward Beatrice Mompremier and freshman forward Lauren Cox.
Baylor leads the all-time matchup 37-11, winning 15 of the last 16 matchups and going 31-6 under Mulkey.
Moreover, the Lady Bears have not lost at home to Oklahoma State since March 6, 2008.
The contest Saturday is the annual Sic ‘Em for the Cure game in which fans are encouraged to wear pink.
Following the home stand, the Lady Bears look to beat No. 8 Texas at 8 p.m. Monday in Austin. The game is crucial to deciding the Big 12 Conference champion as the Lady Bears currently sit at second in the standings behind the Longhorns.
