Lady Bears claim No. 1 overall seed for third time in program history

Big 12 regular season champs.
Big 12 tournament champs.
The unanimous No. 1 team in the country.
The nation’s No. 1 overall seed entering the NCAA tournament.

The Lady Bears followed that path all the way to the national championship in 2012. Now, they’ll put that formula to the test again in 2019.

Monday night, head coach Kim Mulkey’s squad was named the No. 1 overall seed for the 2019 NCAA tournament — the third time the Lady Bears have earned that honor.

[LINKS: BaylorBears.com Tournament Central || Get tickets || Full NCAA bracket || ESPN experts each put Baylor in Final Four]

Baylor will kick the tournament off by hosting first- and second-round action in the Ferrell Center — the eighth time in nine years the Lady Bears have earned that honor. Baylor will play Southland Conference tournament champion Abilene Christian on Saturday at approximately 4:30 on ESPN2; the winner of that game will face the winner of Cal and North Carolina on Monday (time TBA).

Abilene Christian is making its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance. The Wildcats finished fourth in the Southland Conference during the regular season, but swept through the conference tournament to earn the league’s automatic bid. ACU is led by a pair of second-team all-Southland performers in juniors Dominique Golightly (13.8 points, 5.8 rebounds per game) and Breanna Wright (14.0 points, 4.8 assists, 3.9 rebounds per game).

Mulkey’s team enters the tournament at 31-1, having swept the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles for the eighth time in nine seasons. This year’s team is led by All-American senior center Kalani Brown, a semifinalist for the Citizen Naismith Trophy given to the national player of the year, and junior Lauren Cox, one of four finalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.

Ready for March Madness? Tickets are on sale now, as is Lady Bear Big 12 Champion gear from the Baylor Bookstore.

Sic ’em, Lady Bears!