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Sports news from The Baylor Lariat.

The Baylor men’s tennis team showed a valiant effort against the top-ranked Virginia Cavaliers Monday, but ultimately lost 6-1. The Bears (10-3) lost five of their six singles matches, and all losses were three-set thrillers.

“I thought we came out today and really came out swinging,” head coach Matt Knoll said. “We made a match out of it. Unfortunately we weren’t good enough to get a ‘W’, but we’re getting better.”

The No 1. Lady Bears played with a chip on their shoulder in the Big 12 Tournament Championship game after a sloppy game against Oklahoma State on Sunday. Baylor responded in dominating fashion as they went on to win the Big 12 Championship for the third consecutive year after defeating No. 23 Iowa State 75-47.

The Baylor men’s tennis team lost to the No. 2 UCLA Bruins Sunday, ending its eight-match win streak. The final match count was 6-1.

“They beat us up pretty good,” head coach Matt Knoll said. “We’ve got a lot to learn. There are a lot of opportunities to grow from this and that’s the key. If we take it as learners and make improvements, than it’s been a fantastic day. It’s still March, we got a long way to go and this is a great chance for us to see where we stand.”

The No. 1 Lady Bears defeated Oklahoma State 77-69 in a physical, hard fought battle Sunday in the semi-finals of the Big 12 Tournament with senior guard Jordan Madden coming through in the clutch.

Senior post Brittney Griner led Baylor with a double-double, scoring 30 points. She also had 10 rebounds, seven blocks and three steals. Senior forward Brooklyn Pope had 12 points, seven rebounds, three assist and three steals. Senior forward Destiny Williams scored all 10 of Baylor’s bench points.

By Parmida Schahhosseini Sports Writer The No. 1 Lady Bears defeated Kansas State 80-47 Saturday in the American Airline Center…

In a high-intensity event involving a rain delay, sportsmanship warnings and the biggest win of the season for the Baylor men’s tennis team, the No. 38 Bears defeated the No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats 6-1 Friday at the Jim and Nell Hawkins Tennis Facility.

It has been less than a week since the No. 17 Baylor Lady Bears made a statement and upset No. 3 Arizona State 6-2 in the last game of the Wilson DeMarini Invitational on Sunday in Tempe, Ariz. Baylor will play a three-game series against Purdue, beginning with a double header at noon on Saturday and concluding with a game at noon on Sunday in Getterman Stadium.

Baylor track and field is sending 10 athletes and one relay alternate to the 2013 NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., this weekend.

Altogether, the team is scheduled for six events, including three individual women’s events, two individual men’s events and one men’s relay.

The Baylor Bears host Illinois this weekend for a three-game series. Illinois and Baylor will square off today at 6:35 p.m. and then Saturday the two teams will meet for a double-header. Game one on Saturday is at 2:05 p.m., and the back end of the double-header is scheduled to start at 6:35 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark.

After nearly two months of traveling to different tryouts across the country, former soccer players Lisa Sliwinski and Hanna Gilmore may have found a new home playing professional soccer.

Sliwinski and Gilmore finished their senior seasons with 10 and seven goals respectively.

The Baylor Bears defeated Louisiana Tech in walk-off fashion 5-4 on Wednesday night. In the bottom of the ninth, the Bears were trailing Louisiana Tech 3-4 and scored two runs in the frame to come away with the 5-4 victory.

No one who races sled dogs is going to get filthy rich any time soon, even if they win Alaska’s 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

The prize for winning the sport’s premier race is only $50,400 and a new 2013 Dodge Ram pickup truck. That doesn’t even cover the annual dog food bill for many competitive mushers, who keep dozens of dogs in professional kennels geared to breed the sturdiest, fastest runners.

The 26th-ranked men’s tennis team will face its toughest test of the season, taking on the No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Hurd Tennis Center.

This is the start of a three-game stretch in which the Bears (9-1) will take on three top-five teams in three days.

Monday was an emotional night for the No. 1 Lady Bears as the seniors were honored at the end of their last regular season game with a tribute video on senior night. Many fans wore yellow shirts in support of the winningest seniors in school history.

The Baylor Bears defeated the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 4-2 Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark. Senior third basemen Cal Towey and senior shortstop Jake Miller both had RBIs for the Bears, and Baylor scored two more unearned runs off of Louisiana Tech errors. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Sean Spicer was the starting pitcher for the Bears, but junior right-handed pitcher Josh Michalec actually ended up earning the win.

Aaron Brooks is back with the Houston Rockets and he’s back with an all-new cast.

The 6-foot Brooks signed with Houston on Tuesday, returning to the team that drafted him with the 26th overall pick in 2007.

The Rockets traded Brooks in February 2011 and have since changed coaches and completely rebuilt the roster.

It was a bittersweet moment for Baylor fans as they watched the winningest senior class defeat Kansas State 90-68 in its last regular season game in front of a crowd of 10,600 Monday at the Ferrell Center.

It was only fitting that senior center Brittney Griner scored a career-high 50 points, which also happened to be a new Big 12 record for the most points scored in a game as the crowd cheered her name.

“I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” Griner said. “I’m glad I got to do it right here in front of our fans.”

The Baylor Bears lost to the Texas Longhorns 79-70 in Austin on Monday. It was a loss that carried a lot of weight in determining Baylor’s hopes of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. With only one regular season game remaining on Saturday against Kansas, the Bears will likely have to have a stellar performance in the Big 12 tournament to earn an NCAA bid.

The red-hot men’s tennis team beat Laredo Community College and Abilene Christian Saturday with 7-0 victories in both matches.

The 26th-ranked Bears (9-1) have extended their win streak to seven with these two wins.

“It felt great,” head coach Matt Knoll said. “14-0, wonderful day to be a Baylor Bear.”

The No. 20 Lady Bear softball team passed its first real challenge on Sunday as it defeated No. 3 Arizona State 6-2 in the final game of the Wilson DeMarini invitational. Baylor handed the Sun Devils their first loss of the season, as Baylor faced its first ranked opponent of the season.

With one second left in the game and the score tied 61-61, Kansas State senior guard Rodney McGruder buried a three-pointer at the buzzer to sink Baylor 64-61 in regulation.

It was a heart-breaking loss for the Bears considering they played toe-to-toe with the No. 13 team in the country for 59 minutes and 59 seconds.

The No. 20 Baylor Lady Bears softball team’s 14-game winning streak was snapped on Friday after a 3-0 loss to North Carolina. However, Baylor responded by winning the second game of the double-header 20-4 against North Dakota. Baylor is now 16-3 for the season and will play in another double-header on Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

The No. 1 Lady Bears will make their first trip to Morgantown to square off against West Virginia at 6 p.m. Saturday. This will be the second meeting between these teams since West Virginia joined the Big 12. Last time the two teams met on Jan. 19, Baylor’s defense did its job holding West Virginia to 32.8 percent shooting.

West Virginia struggled offensively from the three-point line as well and only made four of its 14 attempts. Free throws were also a problem and ended up making a difference in the game. Baylor won the last meeting by 18 points; West Virginia missed 17 free throws.

The Baylor Bears are set to take on the No. 13 Kansas State Wildcats at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Ferrell Center. The Bears are fresh off of a 65-62 road win against West Virginia and are trying to gain momentum for the last three games of the Big 12 Conference schedule.

“It was a good road win for us,” senior guard A.J. Walton said. “We’ve been working hard in practice just trying to stay focused and stay together and not get down on ourselves. We’re 1-6 now in games under five points so it’s good for us to get that win. It just shows how much we’ve been working and how much we’ve grown.”

The No. 20 Baylor softball team (15-2) will compete in the Wilson/Demarini Invitational from Friday to Sunday in Tempe, Ariz. Baylor will put its 14-game winning streak, which is tied for the best in program history, on the line as it faces off against North Carolina. Baylor will finish the weekend with a game against Arizona State.

On Friday, Baylor will start with a double-header against North Carolina at 10:00 a.m. and will play North Dakota at 12:30 p.m. North Carolina (11-5) is coming off of five straight wins, including the Carolina Classic. However, they have a 1-3 record against ranked teams. Lori Spingola, 2012 ACC Pitcher of the Year, is 4-3 and has 66 strikeouts in 60 innings. Spingola was also named Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday. The pitching staff collectively has an ERA of 2.24 and the Tar Heels are hitting .292 as a team.

The Baylor Bears went into Morgantown on Wednesday and earned a 65-62 win over West Virginia. It was Baylor’s first-ever trip to Morgantown, and the win snapped its three-game losing streak.

“Road wins are always great,” head coach Scott Drew told ESPN Radio after the game. “Any Big 12 win is obviously nice, especially when you are at this time of year. This time of year every game is so big and so critical. We are really proud of how our team responded.”

Freshman center Isaiah Austin led the Bears with 21 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Senior guard Pierre Jackson contributed 15 points, six rebounds and five assists. Senior guard A.J. Walton scored some clutch baskets to give the Bears much-needed momentum down the stretch. Walton finished with 10 points and two rebounds.

The No. 22 Baylor Lady Bears softball team has been getting better every tournament, improving upon the little things before competition gets harder. Everyone is expected to perform at a high level, but the freshman class has surprised many people.

The upperclassmen and returning players continue to do their job.

Senior centerfielder Kathy Shelton has a .404 batting average and has 10 runs, 23 hits and nine RBIs this season.