• No. 1 seed Lady Bears again hosting NCAA 1st- and 2nd-round games

    Lady Bears selection show party

    For the 4th time in 6 years, the Baylor Lady Bears are a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. And for the 5th time in 6 years, they’ll get to begin their tournament run right here in Waco.

    Coming off a sixth straight sweep of the both the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles, head coach Kim Mulkey’s squad will host Idaho in the first round Friday (4 p.m. CT on ESPN2). The winner of that game will face either St. John’s or Auburn on Sunday.

    [LINKS: BaylorBears.com Tournament Central || Get tickets || Complete bracket]

    The Idaho Vandals finished third in the Big Sky Conference during the regular season but won the conference tournament to earn their third NCAA tournament appearance in the last four years. Idaho (24-9 on the season) ranks 24th nationally in points per game and third in 3-pointers made per game. Five Vandals average 10+ points per game, led by first-team All-Big Sky guard Christina Salvatore (11.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists per game).

    Baylor enters the NCAA tournament with a 33-1 record, ranked No. 4 nationally and riding a 20-game winning streak since their lone loss of the season. The Lady Bears have won 38 straight games in the Ferrell Center, and under Mulkey’s guidance, Baylor is 9-1 in NCAA postseason games played in Waco (with the lone loss coming all the way back in 2002).

    The Lady Bears are led by a pair of national player of the year candidates in junior Nina Davis (15.6 points, 6.1 rebounds per game) and senior Niya Johnson (8.7 assists per game, No. 1 in the nation). In her first season at Baylor since transferring from Duke, junior Alexis Jones has sparked the Lady Bears by adding 14.6 points, 4.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game.

    Get your tickets now, and we’ll see you at the Ferrell Center!

    Sic ’em, Lady Bears!