DALLAS, Texas - Baylor's Brittney Griner earned five Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference women's basketball awards the league office announced today. The rookie post was named the league's Freshman of the Year, Co-Defensive Player of the Year and to the All-Big 12 first team, All-Defensive team and All-Freshman team.
Connie Yori (Nebraska) earned her first Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year honor while Kelsey Griffin (Nebraska) became the first Cornhusker to garner Big 12 Player of the Year. Danielle Adams (Texas A&M) was voted Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, Nebraska's Yvonne Turner shared Defensive Player of the Year with Griner while Bianca Smith (Colorado) earned the Sixth Man Award. The honors were voted by the league's head coaches who are not allowed to vote for their own players.
Griner is the first Baylor player to receive Freshman of the Year honors and the second selected for Defensive Player of the Year with Abiola Wabara in 2006. She is the eighth Lady Bear to earn first-team All-Big 12 recognition and sixth to be named to the All-Defensive team.
Griner, a 6-8 post, set the Big 12 single-season blocks record in her rookie campaign and is already 12th on the league's career chart with 173. Her 6.0 blocks average is second in the NCAA. She is third in the Conference in both scoring and rebounding with 19.0 ppg and 8.7 rpg. The Houston, Texas, native has recorded three triple-doubles to tie for the most in a season in Big 12 history and is two shy of tying the league career mark. It is also tied for the most in the NCAA this season.
Senior post Morghan Medlock and junior point guard Kelli Griffin each received All-Big 12 honorable mention honors.
Brittney Griner Awards
Big 12 Freshman of the Year
Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year
All-Big 12 first team
All-Big 12 Defensive team
All-Big 12 Freshman team
Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year
Naismith Trophy Midseason list
Wooden Award Midseason list
Big 12 Player of the Week - Feb. 1-7
Big 12 Freshman of the Week - Nov. 23-29, Dec. 7-13, Dec. 14-21, Dec. 29-Jan. 3, Jan. 11-17, Feb. 1-7, Feb. 22-28
World Vision Classic All-Star team
MVP Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic
Kelli Griffin Awards
All-Big 12 honorable mention
Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic All-Tournament team
Morghan Medlock Awards
All-Big 12 honorable mention
World Vision Classic All-Star team
WACO, Texas (AP) - Baylor could have used freshman star Brittney Griner in the second half Sunday, when the Bears (No. 15 ESPN/USA Today, No. 14 AP) managed only a pair of field goals.
Instead, Cokie Reed and Brittainey Raven scored 18 points each and Texas (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 18 AP) cruised to a 70-54 momentum-building victory heading into the Big 12 tournament.
Griner is serving a two-game suspension after throwing a punch at Texas Tech's Jordan Barncastle during a win in Lubbock on Wednesday night. She attended the game but sat in the student section near the Baylor bench, where she signed autographs and posed for pictures.
"Brittney Griner is loved here," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "Brittney Griner is loved a lot of places. She just made a bad mistake and is paying for it dearly."
So did the Bears.
Kathleen Nash added 12 points for the Longhorns (21-9, 10-6), who didn't allow a second-half field goal by Baylor until there was 4:44 left. Erika Arriaran added 10 points and Ashley Gayle had 11 rebounds for Texas.
Kimetria Hayden scored 14 points to lead Baylor (22-8, 9-7), while Kelli Griffin had 10 points and Morghan Medlock had 12 rebounds.
Baylor led 32-28 at halftime and was up 41-34 with 15:21 to play, before Texas switched to a zone defense and played extended minutes with two post players.
"We played Ashley Gayle and Cokie together, and we don't really play them together often," coach Gail Goestenkors said. "Because we were in a zone, it allowed us to play them together. They changed or altered so many shots and if they didn't, they got the rebounds. I thought they were very effective together."
After moving to the zone, Texas embarked on a 19-0 run to build a 53-32 lead with 8:02 left.
Baylor made 13 of its first 14 free throw attempts in the second half before Lindsay Palmer's jumper with 4:44 left gave the Bears their first field goal.
By that point, Texas had built a 62-47 lead.
"It was hard trying to get a shot off with their size inside, even though we did attack," Griffin said. "They had a good strategy in the second half to go to a zone. We just did a poor job of attacking it."
Medlock said Baylor can usually handle a zone defense with Griner playing.
"It's like she draws all the attention and then that leaves everybody else open to cut," she said. "We didn't have her, so they just stretched out and were big in there and it was hard for the guards to see over a player like Brittainey Raven, who's long and fast."
GAME CENTER: GAME 30
MEDIA INFORMATION
Date: Sun., March 7, 2010
Tip-Off: 2:35 p.m. CST
Location: Waco, Texas
Arena: Ferrell Center (10,284)
Television: FOX Sports Net
Talent: Brent Stover (pxp), Brenda VanLengen (color)
Radio: Baylor ISP Sports Network; KLRK 92.9 FM (Waco)
Talent: Rick May (pxp), Lori Fogleman (color)
Video Web Stream: None
Audio Web Stream: www.BaylorBears.com
Live Stats: www.BaylorBears.com
BAYLOR LADY BEARS
2009-10 Record: 22-7, 9-6
Ranking (AP/ESPN): 14/15
Last Game: W, 69-60, at Texas Tech
Head Coach: Kim Mulkey
Career Record: 259-73 (10th season)
Record at Baylor: same
Mulkey vs. Texas: 12-9
TEXAS LONGHORNS
2009-10 Record: 20-9, 9-6
Ranking (AP/ESPN): 18/22
Last Game: W, 60-41, at Missouri
Head Coach: Gail Goestenkors
Career Record: 459-133 (18th season)
Record at Texas: 63-34 (3rd season)
Texas vs. Baylor: Texas leads 56-21
STORY LINES
- No. 14 Baylor, 22-7 on the season and 9-6 in league play, finds itself locked in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Big 12 standings with Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Texas. BU will play its final regular-season game when it hosts No. 18 Texas on Sunday, March 7. Baylor enters the game as winners of five straight and seven of nine after home victories over Texas Tech, No. 17 Oklahoma State and Kansas and road wins at No. 15 Texas A&M and Texas Tech.
- No. 18 Texas is 20-9 overall and 9-6 in Big 12 action after posting a 60-41 win at Missouri on Wednesday. Texas' win at Missouri snapped a three-game losing streak after dropping contests at Oklahoma State and Texas A&M and a home loss to Oklahoma.
- BU needs to draw 6,812 fans in its final home game on Sunday, March 7, when it hosts No. 18 Texas, to break the arena's single-season mark of 119,603 over 19 games in 2006-07.
- Sunday's game marks Baylor's lone senior Morghan Medlock's final Ferrell Center game. She will be honored in pregame ceremonies.
- The Baylor-Texas game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports Net, marking the Lady Bears' program-high 10th regular season natinonal telecast. The game will be carried live on the following FSN outlets: Arizona, Detroit (Plus), Houston, Midwest, Northwest, Ohio, Rocky Mountain, South, Southwest, Comcast Bay Area, Comcast Chicago, Comcast Mid-Atlantic, Comcast Philadelphia, MSG Plus, Prime Ticket and additionally on a delayed basis by Fox Sports North, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin and Sun Sports.
- Former Lady Bear point guard Nicole Collins (1998-01) will be honored as a "B" Association Lady Bear Basketball Legend.
- In addition to a one-game suspension mandated by NCAA basketball playing rules, Brittney Griner has been suspended for an additional game by Lady Bears' head coach Kim Mulkey following Griner's ejection from the Lady Bears' 69-60 victory at Texas Tech, March 3. Griner will miss BU's game against Texas and the Lady Bears' Big 12 Championship opener.
- Three Lady Bears, Ashley Field (first team), Lindsay Palmer (first team) and Whitney Zachariason (second team) were named Academic All-Big 12, league officials announced on Thursday.
- As a team, Baylor ranks No. 1 nationally in blocks per game (7.4); No. 2 in field goal percentage defense (33.2); No. 5 in rebound margin (9.9); No. 6 in field goal percentage (.473); No. 10 in scoring margin (17.3); No. 16 in 3-point field goal percentage defense (27.6); No. 26 in scoring defense (56.0) and No. 27 in both scoring offense (73.3).
- In 10 seasons under head coach Kim Mulkey, Baylor is 259-73 (.780), which ranks her No. 4 nationally in winning percentage. In addition, the Lady Bear program ranks No. 6 among the NCAA Division I's winningest teams over that span.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The 18th-ranked Texas Longhorns enter the contest with a 20-9 mark, 9-6 in Big 12 action, locked in a four-way tie with Baylor, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State for fourth place in the league standings. The Longhorns are 8-6 on the road this season, including a 4-3 Big 12 road mark.
Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors is in her third season as the Longhorns' head coach and 18th year as a head coach overall. Goestenkors is 63-34 in her three seasons at Texas and 459-133 in 18 campaigns all-told along the sideline.
The Longhorns are led by senior guard Brittainey Raven's 14.8 points a game. Junior guard Kathleen Nash scores 12.2 points a game and is the team's top rebounder at 6.8 a contest. Ashley Gayle, a 6-4 sophomore post, hauls down 6.2 rebounds an outing and has 90 blocks to her credit.
Series Record
Texas leads the series 55-22 and holds a 21-4 margin in Waco while BU head coach Kim Mulkey is 12-9 versus the Longhorns, 7-2 in Waco. Texas' last win over Baylor in Waco came last season (Feb. 1), 58-55. Texas won in Austin this season (Jan. 31), 61-50.
20 WINS AGAIN
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey kept her 20-win streak intact, securing her 10th straight 20-win season and the program's 16th overall.
Mulkey has had 10, 20-win seasons as a head coach and 28 in 29 years as a player, assistant and head coach in the college game.
HOME, SWEET HOME
In Kim Mulkey's 10 seasons along the Ferrell Center sideline, her teams have posted some impressive numbers in the venue. The Lady Bears have maintained a 145-18 (.890) Ferrell Center record during that time span. Mulkey's first three seasons produced a 45-8 (.849) Ferrell Center mark while over the past seven years the Lady Bears are 100-10 (.909).
The Lady Bears have won 87 of their last 95 home games, including 45 of their last 49. § Last season, Baylor finished with a 14-2 home record and it is 15-1 this season.
Three members of the Baylor's women's basketball team were named to the Academic All-Big 12 team, the league office announced on Thursday. Sophomores Ashley Field and Lindsay Palmer were selected to the first team, while junior Whitney Zachariason earned second-team honors.
Field, a general studies major, has played in 28 Lady Bear games this season and started two contests. The 6-2 post from Burnet, Texas, averages 6.4 points and 3.5 rebounds a contest and maintains the team's best shooting percentage at .622 (69-111). Palmer, a psychology major from Tulsa, Okla., has played in 19 games this season with two starts. The 5-10 guard averages 1.5 points and 1.8 rebounds a contest. Zachariason, a 6-2 forward/post, averages 1.5 points and 1.1 rebounds in 17 games this season. The Little Rock, Ark., native, a general studies major, is a two-time Academic All-Big 12 selection after earning first-team honors last season.
To qualify for the Academic All-Big 12 team, student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of her team's scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.
The academic all-league squad consists of 34 first-team members combined with 13 on the second team. First- team members include those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA, and the second team are those who have a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.
Baylor Academic All-Big 12 Selections
Year - Player - Team
1998-99 Brittany Bruns, Nicole Collins, Lara Webb- First team
1998-99 Eboni Hammond - Honorable mention
1999-00 Hilary Akromis, Cynthia Benson, Brittany Bruns, Nicole Collins - First team
2000-01 Nicole Collins, Hilary Akromis, Michelle Neely - First team
2001-02 Nicole Collins, Brooke McCormack, Jessika Stratton - First team
2002-03 Steffanie Blackmon, Jessika Stratton - First team
2003-04 Steffanie Blackmon, Jessika Stratton - First team
2004-05 Steffanie Blackmon, Chanelle Fox - First team
2006-07 Rachel Allison, Jessica Morrow - Second team
2007-08 Rachel Allison, Haylee Abbe - First team
2008-09 Rachel Allison, Whitney Zachariason - First team
2009-10 Ashley Field, Lindsay Palmer - First team
Whitney Zachariason - Second team
WACO, Texas - In addition to a one-game suspension mandated by NCAA basketball playing rules, Baylor University freshman post Brittney Griner has been suspended for an additional game by Lady Bears' head coach Kim Mulkey, following Griner's ejection from the Lady Bears' 69-60 victory at Texas Tech, March 3.
Because Griner's foul against Texas Tech's Jordan Barncastle was ruled flagrant and she was ejected by game officials, per NCAA basketball playing rules, Griner is automatically suspended for Baylor's next contest, a Sunday, March 7, match-up against No. 18 Texas in Waco. Mulkey then imposed an additional one-game suspension which will force Griner to miss Baylor's Big 12 Championship opener on either March 11 or 12.
"I am very disappointed in the incident which happened during our basketball game last night at Texas Tech," said Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey said. "There is no place for those types of actions in sports. I do not condone that type behavior in my program and have dealt with it accordingly. Also, the rules of the game are clear that coaches and players are not allowed to leave the bench area in these situations.
"I don't believe this incident should define Brittney Griner - either as a person or as a player," she added. "Anyone who has been around her knows that she's a great kid. Her actions last night were very uncharacteristic of her. Unfortunately, she let her emotions get the best of her, and that can't happen. Brittney is a special young lady, she is great for our game, and I believe she will learn from this mistake and will become a better person moving forward."
Griner, a 6-8 native of Houston, Texas, leads the 14th-ranked Baylor squad, currently 22-7 and 9-6 in Big 12 play, in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. She is averaging 19.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.0 blocks per game. Griner's averages are among the NCAA Division I and Big 12 Conference leaders.
"I'd like to apologize to Jordan for my actions during last night's game," Griner said. "I also owe an apology to the Lady Raider team, my teammates and coaches, the fans and the game of women's basketball. I let my emotions get the best of me and I am deeply sorry for my actions. I am committed to doing a better job of maintaining my composure in the future. I will grow from this and I am dedicated to setting an example to others of how to learn from personal mistakes."
