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Lady Bear Hoops to Face Fresno State in NCAA's First Round
March 19, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 2008 NCAA Tournament #12/#11 Baylor (24-6) vs. Fresno State (20-10) First Round - March 22 (Saturday) No. 3 Baylor (24-6) vs. No. 14 Fresno State (20-10) - 1 p.m. (CDT) Second Round - March 24 (Monday) OVER THE AIRWAVES TV: ESPN2* * Complete coverage in home market with whip-around coverage from other games provided. Internet Feeds Audio: Live audio stream at BaylorBears.com Radio: KLRK - 92.9 FM - Waco Radio Talent: Baylor is competing in its fifth straight and seventh all-time NCAA Tournament, as all seven appearances have come since head coach Kim Mulkey assumed the program's helm. BU is 12-5 in NCAA Tournament games including 5-1 in first round games, 3-2 in second round games, 1-2 in the Sweet 16, 1-0 in the Elite Eight, 1-0 in the semifinals and 1-0 in championship games. The Lady Bears have made three Sweet 16 appearances and won the 2005 NCAA championship. Baylor secured an at-large bid after finishing the regular season at 24-6 and posting a 12-4 Big 12 Conference mark. The Lady Bears, ranked No. 12 in the final AP Poll, are competing in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed. Fresno State, a No. 14 seed, will be making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in the school's 43-year history. The Bulldogs, winners of 20 of their last 22 games, earned an automatic bid after beating New Mexico State in the championship game of the WAC Tournament. The winner of the Baylor/Fresno State contest will advance to the second round and face the winner of the Pittsburgh/Wyoming game on Monday, March 24. ESPN TO BROADCAST ALL GAMES TICKETS Tickets may also be purchased on-line at www.unmtickets.com. When ordering tickets via phone or the internet, Baylor fans should indicate their desire to sit close to the Lady Bear bench.
BAYLOR'S NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY 2001- No. 8 seed - West Region - Durham, N.C. (Duke host) 2002- No. 2 seed - East Region - Waco, Texas (Baylor host) 2004- No. 4 seed - Midwest Region - Albuquerque (University of New Mexico host)
First round - def. No. 13 seed Loyola Marymount (71-60) 2005 - No. 2 seed - Tempe Regional - Seattle (University of Washington host) 2006 - No. 3 seed - Albuquerque Regional - Tucson (University of Arizona host) 2007 - No. 5 seed - Fresno Regional - Raleigh, N.C. (N.C. State host) 2008 - No. 3 seed - Spokane Regional - Albuquerque (New Mexico host) LADY BEAR LEADERS In addition to Allison's 8.6 boards, two other players haul down 5.2 or more rebounds an outing. Wilson manages 6.6 a game while freshman Melissa Jones averages 5.2. DEFENSE Among Big 12 defensive categories (all games), the Lady Bears are No. 1 in field goal percentage defense and blocks and No. 2 in 3-point field goal percentage defense and No. 3 in scoring defense. In league games only, Baylor finished regular season play ranked No. 1 in field goal percentage defense (.374); No. 2 in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.277) and blocks (5.56). BAYLOR QUICK HITS - Baylor has victories over seven NCAA Tournament teams: Texas, Cal, Iowa State, Nebraska, Oklahoma (twice), Kansas State, Texas A&M. - Baylor is one of just 24 school that have both men's and women's teams in the NCAA Tournament. - In Angela Tisdale's four-year career, Baylor has posted 109-24 record, winning 82.0 percent of its games. Tisdale has played in 129 of the 133 games and started in 102. - The trio of Danielle Wilson (77), Jessika Bradley (34) and Jessica Morrow (34) have combined for 145 of the team's 188 season blocks. - The Lady Bears 3-game losing streak is the school's first since the 2000-01 season, Kim Mulkey's first campaign at Baylor. Since then, Baylor had lost no more than two in a row. - Versus Baylor's 10 ranked opponents this season, Angela Tisdale averages 18.3 points a game while Jessica Morrow manages 14.1 a contest. - Entering the 2007-08 season, Baylor ranked No. 7 on the NCAA's Winningest Teams During the Last Five Years list with 135 victories. Schools ranking ahead of the Lady Bears are: Duke (159), Tennessee (159), Connecticut (157), LSU (151), North Carolina (149) and Stanford (141). - Baylor ranks among the top seven in all four RPI rating services: No. 6 in Jeff Sagarin and No. 7 in collegerpi.com, College Basketball News and NCAA. This ranks No. 1 among Big 12 schools while the Big 12 ranks No. 1 in all RPI listings as a conference. - The contest against No. 20 Oklahoma State on Thursday, March 6, marked Baylor's 10th game versus a ranked opponent in 2007-08; Baylor is now 6-4 versus ranked teams. - 2007-08 team captains - senior Angela Tisdale and juniors Rachel Allison and Jhasmin Player. - Baylor ranks in the top 25 in NCAA Division I statistics in five categories as of games through March 16: No. 4 in blocked shots (6.3); No. 10 in scoring margin (+15.5); No. 12 in field goal percentage defense (35.3); No. 16 in rebounding margin (+6.6) and No. 20 in won-lost percentage (80.0). - Danielle Wilson's 2.7 blocks per game rank her No. 17 nationally. - BU owns the top game high mark in the league in six categories this season: FG % (.604 vs. N.C. A&T), FT made (42 vs. St. Mary's), FT attempts (58 vs. St. Mary's), rebounds (63 vs. Howard), blocked shots (15 vs. Oregon), turnovers (30 vs. Howard). - The Lady Bears have shot 44.3 percent or higher in 14 of 30 games this season and have posted a 50.0 percent or higher mark in seven games. - BU is 109-24 (.820) since the start of the 2004-05 season with 19 of the 24 setbacks coming at the hands of nationally ranked opponents. Of Baylor's last 19 losses, 17 have come to ranked opponents. - Baylor is 159-13 (.924) under Coach Mulkey when scoring 70 or more points, including 96-3 (.970) when putting 80 or more on the scoreboard. - Baylor is 16-0 this season when scoring 70 or more points, 9-0 when putting 80-plus on the scoreboard. - Bernice Mosby, who left school early in 2007 to play for the WNBA, received her Baylor degree on Dec. 15. Baylor boasts a 100% graduation rate by Lady Bears who have completed their athletic eligibility at BU since Coach Mulkey's arrival. - Danielle Wilson has blocked at least one shot in 55 of 63 career games, including 4 or more 19 times and 3 or more on 23 occasions. Wilson's wing span is 82.25 inches, only 5 inches less than Mamadou Diene, the 7-foot center on the Baylor men's team. - Wilson narrowly missed a triple-double when Baylor defeated Oregon. She hauled down 10 rebounds, rejected a school-record nine shots and scored nine points. - With her 1,334 points and 483 assists, Angela Tisdale is the fourth player in school history to score more than 1,000 points and dish out at least 400 career assists. She ranks No. 13 on Baylor's scoring list and No. 1 in career assists. - Baylor led NCAA Division I last season in blocks per game with 7.2. So far this season the Lady Bears are averaging 6.3 a contest to rank No. 4 nationally. DOING MORE WITH LESS Mulkey began the season with 10 players, using an eight player rotation. Until the season-ending injury to guard Jhasmin Player (vs. Kansas State), all five Baylor starters were averaging double-digit scoring. Baylor was 20-1 overall and 8-0 in league games entering the Kansas State game. With just nine players available and now using a seven player rotation, the Lady Bears have continued to be successful. Baylor's strength this season, in addition to balanced scoring, has been its stingy defense, a trademark of Mulkey-coached teams. Baylor leads the Big 12 Conference in field goal percentage defense (.352) and blocked shots (6.27) and ranks second in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.268). TISDALE 1 OF 17 ON WOODEN AWARD BALLOT A panel of more than 300 voters, comprised of sports media members and college basketball experts from around the nation, have until 3 p.m. EST on Monday, March 31, to cast their votes for the five-member women's All-American Team and Player of the Year, a long voting period that allows voters to evaluate players up through the first several rounds of the NCAA Tournament. All players on the ballots have proven to their universities that they are making progress toward graduation and are maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. TISDALE JOINS ELITE GROUP In addition, she is No. 3 on Baylor's career 3-point list with 159 makes. In Baylor's 84-73 victory at 11th-ranked Oklahoma, Tisdale poured in a career-high 35 points, 15 of which came from 3-point range. FOUR LADY BEARS CLAIM ALL-BIG 12 HONORS Tisdale and Allison were named to the 10-member first team while Morrow and Player were honorable mention selections. In addition, Allison was named to the five-player all-defensive team. ALLISON NAMED TO MIDSEASON NAISMITH TROPHY LIST The women's list, which includes 31 candidates because of a tie, was voted on by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country. The board based its criteria on player performances this season, and the list was narrowed down from the preseason list of 50 candidates who were announced at the beginning of the season. A first-team All-Big 12 Big 12 selection this season, Allison, a 6-1 forward, averages 12.8 points and a team-leading 8.6 rebounds a game. The Jonesboro, Ark., native ranks among the league leaders in rebounding (2nd), steals (14th) and scoring (17th). Danielle Wilson BREAKS BAYLOR CAREER BLOCK RECORD In addition, Wilson owns two of the Big 12's top marks this season in blocks when she rejected nine shots against Oregon and seven at 11th-ranked Oklahoma. In fact, four of Wilson's seven against Oklahoma came in the second half with the Sooners' two-time All-American Courtney Paris as the victim. She has blocked 77 shots which ranks No. 3 in the conference in block average at 2.7 a game, that mark also ranks her No. 17 nationally. In Baylor's 61-60 homecourt victory over Texas, the Longhorns had a chance at winning the game, but Kathleen Nash's shot with 3.4 seconds left was blocked by Wilson, her only rejection of the game. Last year in her rookie campaign, Wilson blocked a school-record 86 shots. She needs just 10 more this season to break that mark. 20 VICTORIES AGAIN Baylor needs one win to register its fifth straight season with 25 or more victories. SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS Head coach Adrian Wiggins, who assumed the role of interim head coach on Feb. 9, 2005. Prior to being named head coach, Wiggins served as Fresno State's top assistant from 2002-05. He is in his fourth season along the Fresno State sidelines and has posted a 69-35 record. Fresno State is led in scoring by 5-8 point guard Tierre Wilson's 15.4 points and 3.3 assists a game. Also scoring in double digits is guard Jaleesa Ross, a 5-8 freshman. Erica Henry, a 6-2 senior center, is the team's top rebounder at 6.5 an outing while 6-1 freshman forward Hayley Munro follows closely with 6.2 a contest. In addition, the Bulldogs have a trio of 3-point specialists in Ross with 88 makes, Bailey Amundsen has drained 51 and Wilson has nailed 49. On the season, Fresno State has attempted 745 treys, making 259 for a .348 shooting percentage. SERIES RECORDS The first meeting, a 129-66 Fresno State victory on Dec. 1, 1989, in the Fresno-hosted Taco Bell Classic, ranks No. 1 in the Baylor record book for most points scored by an opponent (129) and the largest margin of victory for an opponent (63 points). The next season the two met in the Santa Clara (Calif.) Classic in both school's season opener. The Bulldogs posted a 73-72 victory. The most recent meeting between the two schools produced a 72-65 Baylor victory. That game, played March 26, 2003 at Waco, came in the quarterfinals of the 2003 Postseason WNIT, the only non-NCAA appearance in Kim Mulkey's eight years at Baylor. COMMON OPPONENTS
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