Lady Bears update – Morrow drafted

Baylor guard Jessica Morrow was the 27th overall pick in the 2009 WNBA draft by the Atlanta Dream Thursday afternoon.
The 6 foot senior became the seventh Lady Bear in history to be drafted into the WNBA. Baylor has had one player to go to the WNBA in each of the past five years, dating back to 2005.
Morrow averaged 11.2 points per game in her senior season and led the team in point production after junior post Danielle Wilson went down with a knee injury.
The Dream are only in their second year of existence and went 4-30 for a seventh place finish in the WNBA’s Eastern Conference in their inaugural 2008 season.
However, they do seemed poised to improve. Other notable draft picks include the No. 1 overall pick, Louisville’s Angel McCoughtry, who helped knock the Lady Bears out of the NCAA Tournament in the Sweet 16, and Kansas State’s Shalee Lehning.

All done in Oklahoma City

Women’s All-Tournament Team

• Tanisha Smith (TAMU)
• Morghan Medlock
• Courtney Paris (OU)
• Danielle Gant (TAMU)
• Jhasmin Player
• Jessica Morrow MVP

With the win, Baylor receives its second tournament championship. Men’s tennis, Women’s tennis and softball are the only other team sports to do that.

Player of the Game: Ha. It’s a play on words. Jhasmin Player gets the nod for taking the job of close and contributing 19 of her 25 points in the second half.

Biggest surprise of the game: Morghan Medlock. The junior transfer was 75% responsible for the Lady Bears digging out of a 10-point hole. She had 13 points in the first half in an 18-2 run.

Play of the game: Jessica Morrow getting fouled on a 3-point shot. There were two seconds on the shot clock and Morrow had lost her balance. She threw up a prayer and Danielle Gant fouled her. She hit 2-of-3, and gave Gant her fourth foul. Gant was just starting to get hot, and that shut her down.

Tomorrow at work, I’ll put a post up on a few other issues that Mulkey brought up in the press conference. As for now, I’m going to take a long drive back home to Waco, do some homework and try to get some sleep.

Thanks to everyone who followed Clint and I on the blog this week. It’s been a blast up here, and it’s great to know that someone is actually reading this thing. Let us know what you thought about the coverage, and what we could improve. All you have to do is leave a comment.

Thanks and check back tomorrow!

Baylor pulls out gritty performance: BU 63, ISU 57

Baylor will advance to the Big 12 Championship tomorrow with a win over Iowa State.

Jessica Morrow became the go-to player for the Lady Bears, scoring the following in the last five minutes:

• 13 points
• six 3-pointers
• 24 for the game (season-high)

I’m off to the men’s game. Check back tonight.

ISU catching up: BU 54, ISU 52, 2:53 2nd

The 3s are returning for the Cyclones. They have 10 in the game so far and four in this half. Amanda Nisleit has three of the four. She had no points in the first half.

Rachel Allison and Kelli Griffin both have four fouls. Three Cyclones have three fouls each.

Jessica Morrow is the leader of the Lady Bears in scoring. She has 19 including five, 3-point shots.

The Cyclones took the lead for a few possessions, but Jessica Morrow is back on the floor.

That’s the most 3-pointers the Lady Bears have made all year.

Halftime: BU 28, ISU 22

• Neither squad is having any difficulty scoring 3-pointers. They already have 13.
• Nicky Wieben leads the ISU palyers with 10 points. Needless to say, it’s all been away from the basket. Both schools only have four points in the paint.
• Jessica Morrow has 11 points, while Rachel Allison has seven.
• Baylor leads rebounding 18-13.
• Neither team has made a free throw, but ISU has been to the line twice.
• The Lady Bears are wearing their gold jerseys.

I might be leaving this one early. It’s almost 4 p.m. and the men’s starts at 5 p.m. If the game is close, I’ll stay. Otherwise, i’ll be heading out at 4:30 p.m.

Check back for updates all afternoon!

Long day

• Baylor is now 41-35 against Texas A&M.
• The 12-4 Big 12 Conference record marks the second-best ever for the Lady Bears.
• Tonight’s crowd was 10,118, the 3rd largest of all-time at the Ferrell Center.
• Baylor is now 23-0 when scoring 60 points.

This brings up an interesting point. Since I’ve been paying attention to Baylor basketball (That’s about 2003), I’ve only heard of five sell outs. Each one has a different total sold. One of these days I’m going to count every single chair in the Ferrell Center and determine exactly what a sell-out would be.

After the game, coach Mulkey gave a few quick words and then passed the microphone to the three seniors.

“If you think we’re going away because of an injury, I’m here to tell you we’re not.”

Speaking of that, Mulkey still refered to Wilson as “gone,” so that could mean anything from “she’s having surgery tomorrow” to “I’m going to let her rehab throughout the Big 12 Tournament and then surprise someone in the NCAAs.”

That’s all for tonight. Covering the Spread will be on Spring Break until the Big 12 Tournament. I will be there along with Photo contributor Clint Cox to bring you up-to-date information from Oklahoma City.

So check back Wednesday.

Morrow gives Baylor No. 2 seed: BU 64, TAMU 60

Jessica Morrow had the final 12 points of the game for the Lady Bears, including two 3-pointers, a jump shot and four free throws.

It was a sellout as well, Kim Mulkey just said. Her daughter just won a state championship down in Austin.

With Iowa State’s win, Texas A&M will drop to the 4th seed.

Lady Bears vs Texas Tech – 2nd Half

Texas Tech has slightly trimmed the Baylor lead to 58-41 but the Lady Bears still appear firmly in control.

Junior post Danielle Wilson has 13 points and 8 rebounds. She leads the game in both categories.

Senior guard Jessica Morrow has still has 11 points and sophomore guard Melissa Jones has 10 off the bench.

Tech is up to 17 turnovers on the night but Baylor has made a few of their own in the second half, upping their total to 12.

Lady Bears vs Texas Tech – Halftime

This game has been all Baylor.

The Lady Bears lead the Lady Raiders 48-28 at the half.

Sophomore guard Jessica Morrow has 11 points to lead the game and junior post Danielle Wilson isn’t far behind with 10. Wilson also has a game leading seven rebounds.

Wilson scored her 1000th career point on a jumper in the paint about six minutes into the game and was honored with a very brief ceremony during a timeout.

The Baylor defense has been the real story of the game so far. Taking advantage of a Lady Raider offensive effort that has looked downright sloppy at times, the Lady Bears have taken advantage of Tech’s 15 turnovers.

Lady Bears Vs Kansas State – Final

No. 8 Baylor defeated No. 18 Kansas State 59-50 Saturday in the Ferrell Center.

Sophomore guard Jessica Morrow has a big game. Check http://www.Baylor.edu/Lariat for a full wrap up in about an hour or so.