By Elisabeth Tharp | Broadcast Reporter
Senior guard Kristy Wallace is the only out-of-state recruit for the Lady Bears, and traveled more than 8,200 miles to attend Baylor.
After making the decision to move to Waco to further her academics and continue her basketball career, Wallace is getting ready to graduate in May.
During the recruitment process her senior year in high school, Wallace said she didn’t really consider attending Baylor. However, after just one visit, Wallace said she had a good gut feeling, fell in love and decided to become a Lady Bear in 2014.
“I just loved the Christian atmosphere and the successful, winning program,” Wallace said. “I’m so glad I picked Baylor. They have been so supportive and helped me grow a lot.”
Being a student-athlete at Baylor, Wallace said it’s definitely been an interesting experience with so much outside support.
“The people are so lovely and nice to you and that’s really helped me especially with homesickness being so far away from home,” Wallace said. “Everyone has been so supportive and nice –– such a good family culture here.
Trading in the Great Barrier Reef for the Brazos River, Wallace said Australia is just a tad different than Waco.
“I definitely miss the beach,” Wallace said. “But I am going to miss the people a lot and the community here in Waco.”
Being so far from her home in Australia, Wallace said outside support has helped with her home sickness.
“Everyone has been so supportive and nice, it’s such a good family culture here,” Wallace said.
During her time at Baylor, Wallace has made many achievements, including playing in three straight trips to the Elite Eight and surpassing the 1,000-career point milestone. Wallace also earned Big 12 Conference All-Freshman honors in 2015, 2017 Gulf Coast Showcase Tournament Most Valuable Player and was part of the 2017 Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team.
The Lady Bears stomped out University of Texas Thursday night in the Ferrell Center 81-56, with Wallace pushing the team with a successful defense.
“Kristy can score. She just has been a great distributor for our team this year,” said Kim Mulkey, head coach. “When she’s got 6’7 and 6’4 inside and they’re having a great year, she doesn’t have to score. Tonight she just had some openings, felt them. I ran some quick hitters for her off the dribble. She did what Kristy is capable of doing night in and night out. She just doesn’t have to do it all the time.”
For her last season as a Lady Bear, Wallace said she just wants to enjoy it all.
“I just want to play hard and work hard,” Wallace said. “For the team, hopefully we can get as far as we can. Obviously, we’ve got Final Four goals set, but that’ll come in time, we’re just working towards every game and focusing on each game that’s coming.”
Wallace said right now, her favorite part of being a Lady Bear would have to be the trivia before each game, among other things.
“I’m losing in the score tally so that’s not great,” Wallace said. “We get to play it with our trainer and he always asks us fun questions, so that’s my favorite part right now.”
With a different team each year, Wallace said it’s been good to be part of a group of women that’s really close and gels really well.
“This year is just a really fun team to play in,” Wallace said. “I’m really going to miss them, it’s been such an awesome opportunity to play with these girls and experience a great season so far.”
After graduation, Wallace said she wants to continue playing basketball for as long as possible. Career-wise, Wallace is deciding between nutrition or becoming a personal trainer.
“I’ve always wanted to be an astronaut,” Wallace said. “It’s probably not going to happen, but we’ll see.”
Wallace will be on the court with the Lady Bears as they battle West Virginia at 2 p.m. Sunday in Morgantown, W. Va.
