By Ben Everett | Sports Writer
The No. 4-ranked Baylor Lady Bears basketball team looks to clinch a share of their seventh straight Big 12 regular season championship when they take on Texas Tech at noon on Saturday in the Ferrell Center.
The game will serve as senior day for guards Alexis Jones and Alexis Prince as well as for forward Nina Davis and post Khadijiah Cave.
Davis said while senior day will be emotional, there is still work to be done tomorrow.
“It’s bittersweet,” Davis said. “We’re not really trying to focus on that too much or be too emotional about that. But it’s just been great from the fan support, the teammates I’ve had, the coaches. It’s just been a great opportunity.”
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey said the most impressive thing about this senior class is their record. However, there is still work to be done.
“Look at their record here, there’s so much to be said about them,” Mulkey said. “The one thing missing is a Final Four… I think they will all tell you that is our goal this year.”
In addition to the senior day festivities, Mulkey is going for her 500th career win, all at Baylor. Despite the milestone, Mulkey credits her players and assistants with the success of the program.
“We’re only as good as our players; we’re only as good as the assistants that can go out and recruit players,” Mulkey said. “To sum it up, we’ve remained consistent. We’ve won a lot of games through the years and we’ve won a lot of championships through the years. It’s not anything I’ve done.”
The Lady Bears (26-2, 15-1) are coming off a thrilling comeback victory over No. 6-ranked Texas that solidified Baylor’s spot atop the league standings.
In order to cement a seventh straight conference title, the Lady Bears will have to get a win on Saturday, possibly without the scoring and leadership of Jones who is suffering from a bone bruise.
Mulkey said Jones, who suffered a knee injury against the UT Longhorns last week, is able to come back and play when she is ready and healed up.
“She’s day-to-day based upon her pain tolerance,” Mulkey said. “[There is] no structural damage. It’s just time and pain tolerance. Some people play with that. You just take pain medicine and gut it out. We’re very hopeful that we can get her back sometime in March.”
As for the Lady Raiders (12-15, 4-12), Mulkey said the defensive size and talent of sophomore guard Recee’ Caldwell will be a problem for the Lady Bears.
“They mix their defenses,” Mulkey said. “Caldwell is going to shoot the majority of their shots. You have to defend her and her ability to pass. They have size so they can bang with us.”
Caldwell leads the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game and assists with 4.6 per game on the season.
The Lady Bears won the first meeting in Lubbock 79-61 on Feb. 4.
Following the Texas Tech game, the Lady Bears face No. 16 Oklahoma at 7 p.m. on Monday in Norman, Okla. in their regular season finale.
