Feb. 11, 2008

WACO, Texas -

Complete Release in PDF Format

#8/5 Baylor (21-2, 9-1) vs. RV/RV Texas (15-8, 3-6)

Wednesday, Feb. 13 - 8:00 p.m.
Frank Erwin Center (16,775) - Austin, Texas

OVER THE AIRWAVES

Television - ESPNU

Doug Bell (Play-by-play)
Nancy Lieberman (Color analyst)

Internet Feeds
Webcast: None

Audio: Live audio stream at BaylorBears.com

Radio: KLRK 92.9 FM, Waco
KVCE 1160 AM, Dallas

Radio Talent:
Rick May, play-by-play
Lori Fogleman, color analyst

BAYLOR AND TEXAS
No. 8 Baylor will meet up with Texas for the second time this season when it travels to Austin to play the Longhorns on Wednesday, Feb. 13, at 8:00 p.m. in a nationally televised game.

Baylor, 21-2 on the season and 9-1 in Big 12 action, sits alone at the top of the conference standings and is off to its best league start in program history, while the Longhorns are 15-8 on the year and currently eighth in the league standings at 3-6.

BAYLOR LADY BEARS

IN THE POLLS
8 - Associated Press
5 - USA Today/ESPN Coaches

PROBABLE STARTERS
G-3 Jessica Morrow - Jr., 6-0 - 11.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg
G-5 Melissa Jones - Fr., 5-10 - 5.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg
P-11 Danielle Wilson - So., 6-3 - 11.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg
P-14 Rachel Allison - Jr., 6-1 - 13.4 ppg, 8.5 rpg
G-20 Angela Tisdale - Sr., 5-7 - 15.0 ppg, 2.9 apg

TOP RESERVES
P-1 Jessika Bradley - So., 6-3 - 4.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg

TEXAS LONGHORNS

IN THE POLLS
RV - Associated Press
RV - USA Today/ESPN Coaches

PROBABLE STARTERS
F-00 Earnesia Williams - Jr., 6-1 - 8.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg
G-3 Carla Cortijo - Jr., 5-7 - 9.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg
G-10 Brittainey Raven - So., 6-0 - 15.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg
G-20 Erneisha Bailey - Sr., 5-9 - 7.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg
F-35 Ashley Lindsey - Sr., 6-4 - 11.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg

TOP RESERVES
F-5 Kathleen Nash - Fr., 6-2 - 9.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg

THINK PINK - BREAST CANCER AWARENESS
The Baylor Lady Bears will be participating in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's "THINK PINK" campaign supporting breast cancer awareness. The Lady Bears' game versus Texas is the Longhorns' "THINK PINK" game. Lady Bear players and coaches will incorporate pink into their game attire.

Baylor celebrated its "THINK PINK" game on Saturday against Texas Tech.

LADY BEAR LEADERS
With 23 games under their belt, the Lady Bears boast four players averaging double-digit scoring. Leading the way is the squad's lone senior, All-Big 12 candidate Angela Tisdale, with 15.0 a contest, while junior Rachel Allison, another All-Big 12 candidate, manages 13.4 points and a team-leading 8.5 rebounds a game. Junior guard/forward Jessica Morrow follows with 11.7 a contest and sophomore post Danielle Wilson manages 11.6 points an outing.

In addition to Allison's 8.5 boards, two other players haul down 5.4 or more rebounds an outing. Wilson manages 7.0 a game while freshman Melissa Jones manages 5.4.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP IN THE CLUTCH
Baylor's lone senior, point guard Angela Tisdale has shown that in the clutch, she can get it done.

- In Baylor's 59-56 win over No. 13 Texas A&M, Tisdale missed her first 10 3-point attempts, but made her first trey of the day with 38 seconds left to give the Bears a one-point lead and Baylor went on to win.

- On the road against No. 11 Oklahoma, an 84-73 victory, Tisdale scored a career-high 35 points and helped put some distance between the Lady Bears and Sooners when she scored seven points in an 8-1 run midway through the second half. After sinking a 3-pointer from the top of the key, she scored a basket in transition off Melissa Jones' steal and then hit two free throws that extended Baylor's lead to 66-59 with 8 minutes remaining.

- In Baylor's one-point win over No. 25 Texas (61-60), Tisdale scored 19 points, including a game-winning 3-pointer with 19 seconds left.

ALLISON NAMED TO MIDSEASON NAISMITH TROPHY LIST
Junior Rachel Allison was among 31 players named to the 2008 Naismith Trophy midseason list recently announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. 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 Big 12 Player of the Week selection this season, Allison, a 6-1 forward, averages 13.4 points and a team-leading 8.4 rebounds a game. The Jonesboro, Ark., native ranks among the league leaders in rebounding (3rd), free throw percentage (13th) and scoring (16th).

DEFENSE
Superior defense as well as a balanced offense has led Baylor to a 21-2 season mark. The Lady Bears rank among the NCAA's top in several defensive categories: No. 2 - field goal percentage defense (.339), No. 7- blocked shots (6.3), No. 15 scoring defense (54.3), No. 64 - steals (10.3).

Among Big 12 defensive categories (all games), the Lady Bears are No. 1 in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense and blocks; No. 2 in 3-point field goal percentage defense. In league games only, Baylor ranks No. 1 in field goal percentage defense (.360) and scoring defense (57.5); No. 2 in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.243) and No. 3 in steals (9.90).

TISDALE JOINS ELITE GROUP
With her 18-point performance against Rice, senior point guard Angela Tisdale became the 24th Lady Bears to score 1,000 career points. She now has 1,178 career points to her credit.

In Baylor's 84-73 victory over 11th-ranked Oklahoma, Tisdale poured in a career-high 35 points, 15 of which came from 3-point range. She is now No. 3 on Baylor's career 3-point list (146) and ranks No. 19 on the Baylor all-time scoring list.

TISDALE CLAIMS TOP SPOT ON BAYLOR ASSIST CHART
With her nine assists against Texas Tech on Saturday afternoon, Angela Tisdale became Baylor's all-time assists leader. Her 459 career assists surpasses former Lady Bear Chelsea Whitaker's school-record of 457.

ALLISON'S GOT A NOSE FOR THE BALL
Despite being the shortest of Baylor's posts, 6-1 junior Rachel Allison leads the Lady Bears in rebounding at 8.5 a game. She has hauled down 196 rebounds this season, including a career-high tying 14 at Oklahoma State. In addition, she has registered a team-leading 44 steals, 26 assists and 14 blocks on the year.

BAYLOR'S BLOCK MACHINE
With her 22 blocks over the past six games, sophomore post Danielle Wilson now has 149 career blocks and ranks No. 2 on Baylor's career list. She needs just 11 rejections to surpass Steffanie Blackmon's (2001-05) top mark of 159.

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 63 shots which ranks No. 2 in the conference in block average at 2.9 a game, that mark also ranks her No. 10 nationally. In Baylor's 61-60 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 block of the game.

Last year in her rookie campaign, Wilson blocked a school-record 86 shots.

BAYLOR QUICK HITS
- The contest versus Oklahoma State marked Baylor's seventh game versus a ranked opponent in 2007-08; Baylor is now 5-2 versus ranked teams. It defeated then-No. 12 California (69-56), lost to then-No. 5 Stanford (87-63), downed then-No. 13 Texas A&M (59-56), triumphed over 11th-rated Oklahoma (84-73), beat 25th-ranked Texas (61-60), defeated #18 Kansas State (63-49) and most recently lost at Oklahoma State (77-67).

- 2007-08 team captains - senior Angela Tisdale and juniors Rachel Allison and Jhasmin Player.

- Baylor ranks in the top 15 in NCAA Division I statistics in seven categories as of games through Feb. 10: No. 2 in field goal percentage defense (33.9); No. 5 in scoring margin (+20.6); No. 6 in won-lost percentage (91.3); No. 7 in blocked shots (6.3); No. 15 in rebounding margin (+7.8); No. 15 in scoring defense (.543) and No. 17 in scoring offense (74.9).

- Danielle Wilson's 2.9 blocks per game rank her No. 10 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 13 of 23 games this season and have posted a 50.0 percent or higher mark in seven games.

- Baylor has shot 50 percent or higher from 3-point range in five games. - BU is 106-20 (.841) since the start of the 2004-05 season with 17 of the 20 setbacks coming at the hands of nationally ranked opponents. Baylor's last 15 losses have come to ranked opponents.

- 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 50 of 56 career games, including 4 or more 18 times and 3 or more on 22 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.

- With her 1,192 points and 459 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.

- The trio of Danielle Wilson (63), Jessika Bradley (27) and Jessica Morrow (25) have combined for 115 of the team's 144 season blocks.

- 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. 7 nationally.

20 VICTORIES AGAIN
For the eighth straight season and 14th time in school history the Lady Bears, with their 63-49 victory at Kansas State on Feb. 2, have achieved a 20-win season. Baylor has posted 20-win campaigns in each season since Coach Mulkey assumed the program's helm.

LADY BEARS CLOSE TO TOPPING 100,000 AGAIN
Baylor needs just 9,483 fans to pass through the Ferrell Center doors in its three remaining home games to eclipse the 100,000 fan mark for the third straight season. The Lady Bears average 6,034 fans a home game this season and would need to average 3,161 in the remaining home games to reach 100,000.

2005-06 - 13 games = 100,316
2006-07 - 19 games = 119,603
2007-08 - 15 games = 90,517

MULKEY VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS
With Baylor's loss at 17th-ranked Oklahoma State on Feb. 5, head coach Kim Mulkey is now 38-39 against ranked opponents, including a 5-2 record this season.

Since a 69-55 loss to No. 15 Texas A&M during the 2004-05 season, Baylor is 23-15 versus ranked opponents.

SCOUTING THE LONGHORNS
The Texas Longhorns are 15-8 on the season and 3-6 in Big 12 Conference action enter the contest on a three-game losing streak. However, the Longhorns are 9-2 in the Erwin Center this season.

Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors is in her first season as the Longhorns' head coach and 16th year as a head coach overall. Goestenkors is 15-8 in her first season at Texas and 411-107 in 16 campaigns all-told along the sidelines.

Texas is led in scoring by 6-0 sophomore guard Brittainey Raven's 15.2 points an outing. Junior Ashley Lindsey, a 6-4 forward, is the team's second-leading scorer and top rebounder with 11.6 points and 7.0 rebounds a contest. Kathleen Nash, a 6-2 freshman guard, comes off the bench to match Lindsay's rebounding mark with 7.0 boards a game.

SERIES RECORD
Baylor and Texas will meet for the 73rd time when the two teams square off on Wednesday evening in Austin. Texas leads the series 52-20, but Baylor currently enjoys a five-game win streak and has claimed victory in six of the last seven outings. Texas' most recent triumph over Baylor came on Jan. 22, 2005, in Austin, 69-55.

The Lady Bears are 5-25 versus the Longhorns in Austin and four of those wins have come since the arrival of head coach Kim Mulkey. Mulkey owns an 11-5 record against Texas, including a 4-3 mark in Austin.