The Baylor Bears women's basketball team represents

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

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 collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

. The team plays its home games in the

Foster Pavilion Foster Pavilion is a multi-purpose arena on the campus of Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Completed in 2024, the arena hosts the Baylor Bears men's and women's basketball teams. The arena replaced the Ferrell Center for both basketball teams, ...

. 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 division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

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 coach and former player. Since 2021, she has been the head coach for Louisiana State University's LSU Tigers women's basketball, women's basketball team. A Pan-American ...

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 (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retire ...

and

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

) 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 and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

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 sh ...

, previously 2018 WNBA Coach of the Year WNBA's

Atlanta Dream The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Dream compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded for the ...

, 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 Sophia Yvonne Ashley Young-Malcolm (born December 15, 1983) is a Vincentian-American former professional women's basketball player. She played with the San Antonio Stars in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Young-Malcolm has ...

(2005) *

Brittney Griner Brittney Yvette Griner (; born October 18, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is a three-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 Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). An AP and WBCA All-American, Sims was born in Irving, Texas and graduated fro ...

(2014) *Nina Davis (2015) * Kalani Brown (2018) *

NaLyssa Smith NaLyssa Smith (born August 8, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for Baylor Lady Bears basketball, Baylor, winning the 2019 ...

(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 with ...

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

DiJonai Carrington DiJonai Victoria Carrington (born January 8, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for Stanford and later Baylor before bein ...

(2021) * Jordan Lewis (2022) Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year *Abiola Wabara (2006) *

(2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) *

(2014) * Lauren Cox (2018, 2019) * DiDi Richards (2020) Big 12 Sixth Woman Award *Melissa Jones (2009) * Destiny Williams (2013) *Khadijiah Cave (2015) * Lauren Cox (2017) *

Queen Egbo Queen Kamsiyochukwu Egbo (born June 29, 2000) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. She previously played in the WNBA for the Indiana Fever, Washington Mystics, Connecticut Sun, Los Angeles Sparks and Las Ve ...

(2020) *DiJonai Carrington (2021) Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player *

(2005) *Jessica Morrow (2009) *

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

(2016) * Kalani Brown (2018, 2019) *

(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) NCAA Division I, Division I competition. It is named after three–time national champion Delta State ...

*Brittney Griner – 2011–12, 2012–13 *Odyssey Sims – 2013–14 *

– 2020–21

Naismith College Player of the Year The Naismith College Player of the Year is "the most prestigious national award presented annually to the men's and women's college basketball players of the year," as chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors. It is named in honor o ...

*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 players who excelled on the court in spite of their height. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-law, was establi ...

*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 women's basketball. The winner is selected from among the winners of the defensive player ...

*Brittney Griner – 2010–11, 2011–12 * DiDi Richards – 2019–20

NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player The Most Outstanding Player (MOP) is awarded to one player after the conclusion of the championship game of the NCAA Division I NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, men's and NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, women's basketb ...

– 2005 *

– 2012 * Chloe Jackson – 2019

Nancy Lieberman Award The Nancy Lieberman Award, named for Basketball Hall of Fame legend Nancy Lieberman is given to the nation's top collegiate point guard in women's Division I basketball. Sue Bird won the inaugural award in 2000, making her the first of only thre ...

– Nation's top collegiate point guard *Odyssey Sims – 2013–14 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award * DiDi Richards – 2019–20

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 also included schools from Oklaho ...

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

Postseason results

NCAA Division I

The Bears have appeared in 23 tournaments, with a record of 53–17.

AIAW Division I

The Lady Bears made two appearances in the

AIAW National Division I basketball tournament The AIAW women's basketball tournament was a national tournament for women's collegiate basketball teams in the United States, held annually from 1972 to 1982. The winners of the AIAW tournaments from 1972 to 1981 are recognized as the national ...

, with a combined record of 5–3.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baylor Lady Bears Basketball