Quick Facts: #1 Baylor vs. Oklahoma State Wednesday night

30 FOR 30: LADY BEARS UP TWO IMPRESSIVE STREAKS TO 30 IN WIN AT OKLAHOMA
   Thirty consecutive Big 12 wins, and 30 consecutive Big 12 road wins were achieved Sunday when Baylor took down Oklahoma 74-53 in Norman. Juicy Landrum [baylorbears.com] scored 21 points, Kalani Brown [baylorbears.com] added 20 and Lauren Cox's [baylorbears.com] 12 rebounds helped Baylor improve to 17-1 on the season and 7-0 in Big 12 play. The regular season streak of 30 win vs. Big 12 opponents is the second-longest streak in Big 12 history next to Baylor's run of 44 from 2011 to 2014. The 30-win road streak vs. Big 12 opponents in the regular season is a league record, the second longest streak of any NCAA Division I team next to UConn's 47 and tied for fourth-best all-time with Albany's run from 2015-2017.
 
IT'S A LONG WAY TO THE TOP: BAYLOR RETURNS TO NO. 1 RANKING FOR FIRST TIME SINCE MARCH OF 2013
     For the first time since the March 18, 2013 poll, the Associated Press Top 25 has placed the Baylor Lady Bears as the No. 1 team in the nation. Baylor's 17-1 overall record, 7-0 mark in the Big 12 and four wins over Top 25 opponents have played a role in the nation's highest ranking.
     Monday's poll marks the 40th time that Baylor has ranked at No. 1 in the weekly poll. The Lady Bears spent seven weeks in the top spot from January to mid-February in 2011, spent 21-straight weeks as the favorite from Oct. 29, 2011-Nov. 12, 2012 and ranked No. 1 the last 11 weeks of the 2012-13 season. Baylor's 21-week streak was the eighth-longest streak of all-time.
 
OSU IN SHORT
   After beginning the season at 9-2, the Cowgirls have dropped four of their last seven and enter Wednesday with a two-game skid in league play with losses at Kansas State (59-48, Jan. 23) and at home to No. 20 Iowa State (84-71, Saturday). As a team, while OSU doesn't shoot primarily well overall at 38.1 percent, the Cowgirls take advantage of the three-ball hitting 35.2 percent of shots from deep while averaging just over seven made per contest. In addition, at the free-throw line OSU hits 71.5 percent of hits shots, good for third in the Big 12. 6'1" sophomore forward and Argyle, Texas native, Vivian Gray, leads OSU at 18.7 points per contest while the Cowgirls' sophomore guard Braxtin Miller is not far behind at 18 points per contest. Eighth-year head coach Jim Littell is 159-86 as OSU's head coach.
 
TOUGH ON THE ROAD: LADY BEARS ON RECORD-SETTING CONFERENCE STREAK
   Baylor's win at Oklahoma Jan. 27 gave the Lady Bears 30 consecutive Big 12 road wins in the regular season, a league record passing its own mark of 22 set from Feb. 27, 2011-Jan. 8, 2014. In fact, since 1999-2000, Baylor's 30-straight road wins in league play is the second-best active streak and tied for fourth-best all-time. UConn's current streak of 48-straight road wins in the AAC dates back to Jan. 1, 2014, and is tied with Stanford for the all-time record. The Cardinal had 48 consecutive Pac-12 wins from Jan. 22, 2009 to Feb. 7, 2014.
 
LIMITING TURNOVERS
   Through the first 10 games of the season Baylor compiled 154 turnovers, averaging 15.4 points per contest. With No. 1 UConn coming to town Jan. 3, the team set a goal to have single-digit turnovers vs. the Huskies, a team known for among many things, taking care of the ball. In the 12-point win over UConn, the Lady Bears limited themselves to just five turnovers. Baylor has averaged 10.5 over the last eight contests leading to a league-leading 13.2 per contest. The Lady Bears are second in the nation in assists-to-turnover ratio at 1.77:1.
 
POUND THE PAINT, CLEAN THE GLASS, D-UP: LADY BEARS AMONG NATION'S BEST IN REBOUNDING, SCORING EFFICIENCY, DEFENSE
   In 12 statistical categories, the Lady Bears rank in the top 10 nationally. But, the Lady Bears (thru games Jan. 27) rank tops in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (34.0), rebound margin (+17.9) and field goal percentage defense (.310) while ranking third in field goal percentage (.516). Kalani Brown [baylorbears.com] ranks 9th in the nation in field goal percentage at a .628 clip. In addition to the nation's best defensive field goal percentage, the Lady Bears rank tops in the nation in blocked shots per game (7.1), led by Lauren Cox's [baylorbears.com] 2.47 per contest. Baylor's rebounding is a staple of the program, and the Lady Bears have out-rebounded all 18 opponents this season, Baylor won the rebounding battle in 34 of 35 contests last year, and in 87 of the last 90 contests, BU has had the upper hand on the boards.
 
LADY BEARS ON THE RUN
   Baylor has 17 runs this season of at least 10 unanswered points including one in five of the first seven Big 12 contests. In 12 of 18 games this season, the Lady Bears have had at least one such run, and Baylor has also put together four runs of 20 or more points. Against TCU Jan. 12, Baylor held TCU without a field goal for 14:53 from near the end of the first quarter to early in the third quarter, outscoring the Horned Frogs 27-3 in that span, including a 21-0 run. In addition, Baylor is out-scoring opponents 206-54 on the fast break this season.
 
SHARING IS CARING: BAYLOR LEADS NATION IN ASSISTS PER GAME
   Baylor's 23.4 assists per contest ranks best in the nation led by Chloe Jackson's [baylorbears.com] 6.8 assists per contest (ranks 6th nationally) while Lauren Cox's [baylorbears.com] assists-to-turnover ratio of 3.00:1 ranks 11th nationally, Jackson (2.84:1) ranks 18th, DiDi Richards [baylorbears.com] (2.65:1) ranks 21st and Juicy Landrum [baylorbears.com] is 23rd (2.62:1. In fact, out of Baylor's 598 made field goals this season, the Lady Bears have assisted on 421 marking 70.4 percent of the team's buckets coming on an assist from a teammate.
 
50 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: BAYLOR NEARLY UNBEATABLE WHEN HITTING HALF ITS SHOTS
   In just one occurrence since Kim Mulkey [baylorbears.com]'s arrival at Baylor in the 2000-01 season have the Lady Bears lost a game when shooting 50 percent or better. Baylor's record under Mulkey when shooting 50 percent or better is 210-1, and the Lady Bears are 34-0 when shooting 60 percent or better. The lone loss came in the 2017 NCAA Tournament when Baylor fell to Mississippi State in the Elite 8, 94-85 on March 26 despite shooting 53.3 percent from the floor.
 
JACKSON, LANDRUM THRIVING AT POINT GUARD OUT OF POSITION
   Head Coach Kim Mulkey [baylorbears.com] said at the Big 12 Women's Basketball Tipoff Oct. 16 that she had never entered a season without knowing who her point guard would be. Despite that fact, Baylor has had no trouble distributing or sharing the ball through 17 games this season. Through Jan. 27, Baylor ranks tops in the nation in assists per game (23.4) and are second in assists-to-turnover ratio (1.77:1).
   Chloe Jackson [baylorbears.com] and Juicy Landrum [baylorbears.com], true-two guards, are the Lady Bears' primary point guards this season and both have met the challenge thus far with success. Jackson ranks 7th in nation in assists per game (6.8) and 18th in assists-to-turnover ratio. (2.84:1). Landrum ranks 23rd in that category at 2.62:1 while ranking second on the team with 76 assists (4.2 p/g), and DiDi Richards [baylorbears.com] ranks 21st at a 2.65:1 and is third on the team in assists at 3.8 per contest. Add post player Lauren Cox's [baylorbears.com] 3.00:1 assists-to-turnover ratio that leads the Big 12 and ranks 11th in the nation, Baylor has done well for itself without a true one.
 
MULKEY NAMED AS CANDIDATE FOR NAISMITH MEMORIAL 2019 HALL OF FAME CLASS BOTH AS PLAYER AND COACH
     For the third-straight year Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey [baylorbears.com] was named as a candidate both as a coach and player for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Last season, she was named a finalist as a coach in February. The finalists will be announced in mid-February during the NBA All-Star break, and the 2019 class will be introduced at the 2019 NCAA Men's Final Four in Minneapolis, Minn.
     Mulkey remains the only person to win an NCAA National Championship as a player, assistant and head coach and is one of three along with Dean Smith and Bobby Knight to win one as a player and head coach.
     From the sideline, she's coached Baylor to 18 Big 12 championships with nine regular-season titles and nine Big 12 Championship crowns. Three times Baylor has made the NCAA Final Four, and she's led the green and gold to two national championships in 2005 and 2012.
     As a player, Mulkey won the 1981 AIAW national championship and her Lady Techsters won the inaugural NCAA Women's Basketball title in 1982.
 
BROWN AND COX NAMED TO TWO MIDSEASON WATCH LISTS
   Both Kalani Brown [baylorbears.com] and Lauren Cox [baylorbears.com] collected numerous postseason accolades after the 2017-18 season, which resulted in a multitude of 2018-19 preseason honors. Jan. 9, the post duo earned spots on the John Wooden Trophy Award Midseason Top 25 watch list and Jan. 25 the duo was named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Midseason Watch List. Last season, Brown was recognized as a top-five finalist for the Wooden Trophy award.
 
BAYLOR PLAYERS PAY FOR MULKEY'S 550-WINS TRIBUTE
   The Baylor players took it upon themselves to congratulate Kim Mulkey [baylorbears.com] in a pre-game presentation Wednesday for her 550th career victory achieved Sunday at Texas Tech. Senior Kalani Brown [baylorbears.com] took the PA microphone and addressed the crowd an Mulkey prior to the K-State game Jan. 9, and the Lady Bears chipped in their own money for three easels of roses shaped in the numbers 5-5-0. Mulkey was told postgame that the players paid for the flowers and later in the postgame press conference said "My players bought those 550-numbered roses. [Out of their pocket] Wow. That's the kind of kids I get to coach. I didn't know that until the game was over, and I thought wow, my players are buying that."
 
ABOUT BAYLOR'S HISTORIC WIN OVER NO. 1 UCONN
   Two elite programs met in Waco Jan. 3, and for the first time in school history (previously 0-14) the Baylor Lady Bears knocked off a No. 1-ranked team with UConn falling 68-57 at a sold-out Ferrell Center on ESPN. Not only did Baylor win the game, the Lady Bears put an end to a long line of streaks set by the Huskies, who are the standard for women's basketball with 11 NCAA Championships. Baylor's victory ended a streak of 126 consecutive regular season games for the Huskies and a streak of 55 consecutive regular season road wins. UConn had won 209 straight games in regulation; it's last loss in regulation also came to No. 1 Baylor Dec. 18, 2011.
   The Lady Bears' 11-point win was the largest margin of victory for a team vs. UConn since Feb. 27, 2012 when UConn fell to Notre Dame 72-59. In addition, Baylor's defense held UConn to just a 29.4 shooting percentage, its lowest in any game the past 20 seasons.
   Baylor became the third Big 12 school to ever defeat a No. 1 team joining Texas Tech who accomplished the feat twice and Texas, and just the second time that a Big 12 team has beaten a No. 1 in a non-conference matchup.
   BU's big win kept an overall home win streak at the Ferrell Center alive at 28 games while extending its non-conference home win streak to 47 games.
 
BROWN PICKS UP ESPNW NATIONAL HONOR AFTER LEADING BAYLOR TO WIN OVER NO. 1 UCONN
   Kalani Brown [baylorbears.com] didn't shy away from the spotlight when the lights came on Jan. 3 vs. No. 1 UConn. In front of a sold-out crowd at the Ferrell Center and nationally televised on ESPN, the senior post put up 22 points and a season-high 17 rebounds. She was 11-for-17 from the floor in 36 minutes of play. Her games that week also included performances vs. UTRGV and at Texas Tech, but ESPNW.com singled out her performance against the No. 1 Huskies and tabbed her National Player of the Week on Jan. 7.
 
BAYLOR SIGNS TOP-10 PROSPECT OLIVER AS LONE ADDITION TO 2019 SIGNING CLASS
   A year after signing five players and accepting a graduate transfer, Jordyn Oliver gets all the Lady Bears' attention this season as the No. 10-ranked national prospect (Collegiate Girls Basketball Report) signed with Baylor. Oliver, a Prosper, Texas native is a 3-time TABC All-State selection, and was also ranked No. 11 by ESPN Hoopgurlz.
   Jan. 24, Oliver was named a McDonald's All-American and will participate in the McDonald's All-American Games in March.
 
MULKEY'S MIDAS TOUCH: 1,100 WINS
   Everything head coach Kim Mulkey [baylorbears.com] touches doesn't necessarily turn to gold, but if it has to do with college basketball, nearly everything she touches results in a win. Baylor's win vs. Nicholls (Nov. 6) gave Mulkey 1,100 wins combined as a collegiate player (130, La. Tech), assistant coach (430, La. Tech) & head coach (540, Baylor). In those capacities, Mulkey's teams are a combined 1,100-192 for an astounding .851 winning percentage.
 
FIERCE FIVE: FISH EAGER TO MAKE MARK AFTER SELECTION AS NO. 1 RECRUITING CLASS
   For the second time in program history, the Baylor women's basketball team signed the nation's top recruiting class and the "Fierce Five" freshmen are three games deep into 2018-19. Caitlin Bickle [baylorbears.com], Aquira DeCosta [baylorbears.com], Queen Egbo [baylorbears.com], Honesty Scott-Grayson [baylorbears.com] and NaLyssa Smith [baylorbears.com] all signed with the Lady Bears and all were ranked in the Top 30 overall by ESPN Hoopgurlz and boasted a five-star rating. Smith is shining brightest through the first 18 games averaging 10.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest, which ranks fourth and second, respectively on the team in both categories while picking up the Big 12 Co-Freshman of the Week award Nov 12.
 
CAPPING ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
   The Lady Bears completed another successful, tough, non-conference schedule. Baylor went 10-1 with a 3-1 record vs. Top 25 teams, including the program's first-ever win over a No. 1 team when the Lady Bears beat UConn Jan. 3. Baylor is 147-3 all-time vs.non-conference opponents at the Ferrell Center, including 47-straight wins at home.