When Nicki Collen was hired as the Baylor women’s basketball head coach, she inherited a squad that had just watched Kim Mulkey, its former coach, leave for LSU. Left with only nine players for the 2021 season, Collen made it work, as she continued the 11-year streak of regular season Big 12 championships.
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In front of a sellout crowd of 10,419, senior center Brittney Griner eclipsed the NCAA record of blocked shots with her eight blocks as the No. 1 Baylor Lady Bears defeated No. 20 Oklahoma 82-65 on Saturday at the Ferrell Center.
With a national championship last season, the No. 1 Baylor Lady Bears take the hardwood at noon today, defending both their title and the basket.
“They got everybody’s best shot last year because they were No. 1, and they were undefeated,” head coach Kim Mulkey said. “But now they’re going to get everyone’s best shot because they’re the defending national champions.”
The word “defense” has become taboo around Waco because of the Bears’ football woes. But the football teams’s defense isn’t the only squad under the microscope. The No. 18 Baylor basketball team is undergoing some fundamental changes on the defensive side of the floor.
After bringing home major national awards last season one after the other, senior post Brittney Griner is back in the green and gold for her final season as a Lady Bear. Averaging 23.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.2 blocks a game, Griner has both dominated and changed the game of women’s basketball. Even though Griner is a force of nature on the hardwood, she doesn’t stop improving her game.
Baylor fell to the eventual National Champion, Kentucky, last year in the Elite Eight 82-70. A big reason for Kentucky’s success was its 6-foot-10-inch freshman Anthony Davis.
Davis torched the Bears that game for 18 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks. Baylor had no answer for the Associated Press Player of the Year and eventual first overall pick in the NBA Draft.
So what did Baylor head coach Scott Drew do about it? He went to Arlington and got an Anthony Davis of his own, minus the unibrow. This one goes by the name of Isaiah Austin.
While the football team is busy trying to scrape a win out of the goose egg in the conference win column, the women’s basketball team is protecting its 40-game win streak.
What’s the difference between the two besides the obvious?
The No. 1 Baylor Lady Bears picked up where they left off, defeating the Oklahoma City University Stars 91-42 Monday evening in Waco.
“I got to play some combinations and situations,” head coach Kim Mulkey said. “I expected everything that I saw but it was just good to have it in a game setting. I thought first of all, the freshmen did fine. I think conditioning for several of them is obvious. They’ve got to learn to play longer stretches, but that’s being a freshman and having to play at an intense level at both ends of the floor.”
The No. 1 Baylor Lady Bears picked up where they left off, defeating Oklahoma City University 91-42.
“I got to play some combinations and situations,” head coach Kim Mulkey said. “I expected everything that I saw but it was just good to have it in a game setting. I thought first of all, the freshmen did fine. I think conditioning for several of them is obviously they’ve got to learn to play longer stretches but that’s being a freshman and having to play at an intense level at both ends of the floor.
From the tip, Baylor was defending both its title and the floor, beginning the game forcing four turnovers.
As far as exhibition games go, whether a team wins or loses, the result is not included in the season’s win or loss column. Technically, the season for the defending national champion Baylor Lady Bears doesn’t start until Nov. 9, but they see this game as the start to their season.
“We get to get away from playing each other,” junior guard Odyssey Sims said. “We always make each other better: going against each other we compete, but at the end of the day we’ve got to leave it on the court. Just to know that we play Tuesday, it’s really exciting.”
A 103-75 win for the No. 18 Baylor basketball team over the Abilene Christian Wildcats showed the high ceiling for the Bears.
“When you’re in practice and you go against the same guys every day, you tend to pick up their tendencies,” freshman center Isaiah Austin said. “It’s always good to get out there and find out ways to play defense other than against your teammates.”
The Baylor basketball team ended their weekend in Fort Hood with a redeployment ceremony where soldiers returned home from Afghanistan and were reunited with their families.
“Words cannot describe the emotion, especially for those of us that have kids and thinking about not seeing your family and kids for a year. That’ll get anyone teary-eyed,” head coach Scott Drew said. “They put on a great show and you can tell how much it touched these guys.”