The Baylor Bears women's basketball team represents

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

in Waco, Texas, in NCAA Division I women's basketball competition. They currently compete in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

. The team plays its home games in Ferrell Center. Before the 2021–22 season, the team had been known as the "Lady Bears", but on September 3, 2021, the school officially announced that women's basketball had dropped "Lady" from its nickname. At the same time, soccer and volleyball, the other two Baylor women's teams that were still using "Lady" in their nicknames, also abandoned that usage. The then-Lady Bears went undefeated at 40–0 to become the 2012

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

National Champions in Women's College Basketball.

History

Olga Fallen years (1974-1979)

Olga joined the faculty of Baylor University in 1956 and served as an assistant professor of physical education through 1997. She developed Baylor's women's athletic program from its beginning within the physical education department in 1959 and from 1972 to 1979, served as the coordinator of women's athletics. She was inducted into the Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. Under her coaching the softball team, advanced to the AIAW regional tournament in 1978 and 1979. The Bearette basketball team posted a five-year record of 143–50 and earned two consecutive bids to the national AIAW tournament in 1976 and 1977, rated fifth and seventh in the nation those years.

Pam Bowers years (1979-1994)

Sonja Hogg years (1994-2000)

Source:

Kim Mulkey years (2000-2021)

In 2000,

Kim Mulkey Kimberly Duane Mulkey (born May 17, 1962) is an American college basketball player and coach. She is the head coach for Louisiana State University's women's basketball team. A Pan-American gold medalist in 1983 and Olympic gold medalist in 1984, ...

took over a Baylor program that had finished the 1999–2000 season 7–20 and last in the

. In her first season at Baylor, she turned the Lady Bears program around, leading the team to its first NCAA tournament bid. The Lady Bears have now (as of 2019) put together 19 consecutive 20-win seasons and only once has the team lost more than 10 games in a season. The rise of the Baylor program under Mulkey was capped off in 2005 with a national title. This made her the fourth person to have won NCAA Division I basketball titles as a player and a head coach (after Joe B. Hall,

Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is an American former basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-ti ...

and

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hi ...

) and the first woman to do so. The Lady Bears also captured the 2012 title with an undefeated season and the 2019 title. Mulkey departed the program for

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

in 2021. Source:

Nicki Collen era (2021–present)

Nicki Collen Nicki Collen (née Taggart; born May 13, 1975) is an American basketball coach and is currently the head women's basketball coach at Baylor University. Early life Collen was born in Indiana and her family moved to Platteville, Wisconsin when she ...

, previously 2018 WNBA Coach of the Year WNBA's

Atlanta Dream The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real ...

, replaced Mulkey as head coach after the latter's departure for LSU.

National Championships

Conference Championships

Conference honors and awards

Southwest Conference Player of the Year *Mary Lowry (1993–94) Big 12 Coach of the Year *

(2005, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2019) Big 12 Player of the Year * Sophia Young (2005) *

Brittney Griner Brittney Yevette Griner (; born October 18, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women's natio ...

(2011, 2012, 2013) *

Odyssey Sims Odyssey Celeste Sims (born July 13, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Connecticut Sun of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). An AP and WBCA All-American, Sims was born in Irving, Texas and graduated from ...

(2014) *Nina Davis (2015) *

Kalani Brown Kalani Brown (born March 21, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for Hatayspor. She has received multiple honors during her playing career, and was nam ...

(2018) * NaLyssa Smith (2021, 2022) Big 12 Freshman of the Year *

(2010) *

(2011) *Nina Davis (2014) Big 12 Newcomer of the Year *Nicole Palmer (1997) * Sheila Lambert (2001) * Bernice Mosby (2007) * Destiny Williams (2011) *

Alexis Jones Alexis Whitney Jones (born July 6, 1983) is an American activist and motivational speaker best known for competing on the reality competition show '' Survivor''. Early life and education Jones was born in Austin, Texas, and grew up there w ...

(2016) * Te'a Cooper (2020) *

DiJonai Carrington DiJonai Carrington (born January 8, 1998) is an American basketball player for the Connecticut Sun. She played college basketball for Stanford and later Baylor before being drafted by the Connecticut Sun in the 2021 WNBA draft. Early life Ca ...

(2021) *

Jordan Lewis Jordan Michael Lewis (born 24 April 1986) is a former Australian rules football player who played with the Hawthorn Football Club and Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League. AFL career Hawthorn Lewis was drafted by Hawthorn ...

(2022) Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year *Abiola Wabara (2006) *

(2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) *

(2014) *

Lauren Cox Lauren Elizabeth Cox (born April 20, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for Valencia Basket. She played college basketball for the Baylor Lady Bears. She was named a preseason All-American by Lindy's Sports, Athlon Sports, and S ...

(2018, 2019) *

DiDi Richards Deauzya "DiDi" Richards (born February 8, 1999) is an American basketball player for the Sydney Flames of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). She played college for the Baylor Lady Bears. Following the 2019–20 season, Richards was ...

(2020) Big 12 Sixth Woman Award *Melissa Jones (2009) * Destiny Williams (2013) *Khadijiah Cave (2015) *

(2017) *

Queen Egbo Queen Kamsiyochukwu Egbo (born June 29, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at Baylor. She represented the United Sta ...

(2020) *DiJonai Carrington (2021) Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player * Sophia Young (2005) *Jessica Morrow (2009) *

(2011, 2012, 2013) *Nina Davis (2014, 2015) *

(2016) *

(2018, 2019) * NaLyssa Smith (2021)

National honors and awards

USBWA National Freshman of the Year The USBWA National Freshman of the Year, with the men's and women's versions respectively named the Wayman Tisdale Award and Tamika Catchings Award, is an annual basketball award given to college basketball's most outstanding freshman male player ...

*Brittney Griner – 2009–10 *Odyssey Sims – 2010–11

Elite 90 Award The Elite 90 Award or more formally The Elite 90 Academic Recognition Award Program, originally the Elite 88 Award and later the Elite 89 Award, is an award by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognizing the student athlete wi ...

*Lindsay Palmer – 2010, 2012

Wade Trophy The Wade Trophy is an award presented annually to the best upperclass women's basketball player in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after three–time national champion Delta State University coac ...

*Brittney Griner – 2011–12, 2012–13 *Odyssey Sims – 2013–14 * NaLyssa Smith – 2020–21

Naismith College Player of the Year The Naismith College Player of the Year is an annual basketball award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the top men's and women's collegiate basketball players. It is named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. History an ...

*Brittney Griner – 2011–12, 2012–13

Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award was an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor shorter-than-average players who excelled on the court despite their size. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-la ...

*Sheila Lambert – 2001–02 *Odyssey Sims – 2013–14

WBCA Defensive Player of the Year The WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year is awarded by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association to the best defensive player in NCAA Division I college basketball, women's basketball. The winner is selected from among the winners of ...

*Brittney Griner – 2010–11, 2011–12 *

– 2019-20

NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player At the conclusion of the NCAA men's and women's Division I basketball championships (the "Final Four" tournaments), a media panel selects a Most Outstanding Player (MOP). It is usually awarded to a member of the championship team. There have been ...

* Sophia Young – 2005 *

– 2012 *

Chloe Jackson Chloe Jackson (born August 21, 1996) is an American professional basketball player who is a free agent. She most recently played for the Chicago Sky of the Women’s National Basketball Association. She was drafted by the Sky with the 15th overa ...

– 2019

Nancy Lieberman Award The Nancy Lieberman Award, named for Basketball Hall of Fame legend Nancy Lieberman, was given annually by the Rotary Club of Detroit in the Award's first 14 years to the nation's top collegiate point guard in women's Division I basketball. Sue Bi ...

– Nation's top collegiate point guard *Odyssey Sims – 2013–14 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award *

– 2019-20

Facilities

Ferrell Center

The

Ferrell Center The Paul J. Meyer Arena, which is part of the Ferrell Center, is an arena in Waco, Texas. Built in 1988 and located adjacent to the Brazos River, it is home to the Baylor University Bears basketball and volleyball teams. It is named for Charle ...

is an arena in Waco, Texas. It was built in 1988 and is located adjacent to the Brazos River. When the Lady Bears play, the arena can hold 10,350.

All-time series records against current & former Big 12 members

*As of Fall 2021 ALL-TIME BIG 12 WINS (REGULAR SEASON) AS OF 2018-2019 289 - Baylor (.753), 240 - Oklahoma (.625), 232 - Texas (.604), 221 - Iowa State (.576), 192 - Kansas State (.500), 182 - Texas Tech (.474), 152 - Oklahoma State (.396), 126 - Kansas (.328), 71 - West Virginia (.563), 50 - TCU (.397)

Year by year results

Conference tournament winners noted with # Source , -style="background: #ffffdd;" , colspan=8 align="center" ,

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

, -style="background: #ffffdd;" , colspan=8 align="center" ,

Postseason results

NCAA Division I

The Bears have appeared in 19 tournaments, with a record of 53-17.

AIAW Division I

The Lady Bears made two appearances in the AIAW National Division I basketball tournament, with a combined record of 5–3.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baylor Lady Bears Basketball