• Lady Bears advance to Sweet 16 for 6th straight season

    Lady Bears seniors Chandler, Robertson and Sims

    Six straight Sweet 16 seasons. It’s a tongue twister — and a reality for Baylor women’s basketball.

    In front of a raucous Monday night crowd that included Baylor football head coach Art Briles and men’s basketball head coach Scott Drew, the Lady Bears pulled away from Cal late to win 75-56 and join the Baylor men in the NCAA’s Sweet 16.

    [LINKS: Photos and highlights from BU’s opening win over Western Kentucky || ESPN interviews Mulkey and Sims after the Cal win || Get your Lady Bears gear]

    Lady Bear fans are used to success, up to and including the two national championship banners hanging in the Ferrell Center. But though the success is the same, this year is different; head coach Kim Mulkey’s squad has succeeded despite losing four starters from a year ago, including the national player of the year, and yet another projected starter from this year after Alexis Prince went down to injury.

    National Player of the Year finalist Odyssey Sims led the charge, however, and National Freshman of the Year candidate Nina Davis cleaned up the boards, together helping the Lady Bears add yet another Sweet 16 to their resume on top of sweeping the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles for the fourth straight year.

    Baylor will face Kentucky in the next round (Saturday, time and TV coverage TBA). You might remember that these two teams have already met once this season, back in December — a four-overtime, 133-130 thriller that saw the Lady Bears end up on the wrong end of the highest scoring game in Division-1 women’s history. Fans should be in for yet another show Saturday night in South Bend, Ind.

    Sic ’em, Lady Bears!