Editorial: Baylor Lady Bears make Texas proud

04-06-2005 Editorial: Baylor Lady Bears make Texas proud
There´s much joy at Washington-on-the-Brazos today.

The Baylor Lady Bears are champions of the women´s basketball world after a resounding 84-62 victory over Michigan State on Tuesday night in Indianapolis.

The 22-point victory is the second-highest winning margin in an NCAA championship game after Tennessee´s 23-point win over Louisiana Tech in 1987. Baylor is only the fourth team (the third women´s team) to ever beat three No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament en route to the title.

Baylor had expected to meet perennial powerhouse Tennessee in the finals - well, actually, most folks thought No. 1 LSU would play the Lady Vols for the title - but Michigan State rallied from 16 down to stun the Rocky Toppers after Baylor came from 15 back to upset LSU.

There would be no rallying Tuesday night as Baylor got the big Michiganders down early and never let them up.

The Lady Bears finished the season with a sparkling 33-3 record including three wins over Texas Tech, the last one on a last-second shot in the Big 12 Tournament finals.

It was an extra sweet victory for the fiery and fiesty Baylor coach, Kim Mulkey-Robertson (oddly enough, smartly outfitted in a blue pant suit of a color befitting North Carolina State - but we won´t nitpick).

The former Louisiana Tech star became the first woman to ever play for a national champion and coach one was well, joining former North Carolina coach Dean Smith (he played at UNC as well) and Texas Tech´s Bobby Knight (he played for the 1960 champs at Ohio State and coached Indiana to three titles) in an elite group.

It was sweeter, still, in that Louisiana Tech somewhat insultingly offered her only a one-year contract to succeed Hall of Famer Leon Barmore as head coach five years ago. Coincidentally, former Louisiana Tech head coach Sonja Hogg once coached at Baylor.

After leading Hammond, La. to four state titles, Mrs. Mulkey-Robertson played for Louisiana Tech and was a 5-4 sophomore on the 1981 team that beat Kansas, 70-39 for the championship of the Plainview Queens Classic.

During her 19 years at Louisiana Tech, the team went to the Final Four 11 times and won three national titles, two while she was playing. She also was a summa cum laude graduate and two time Academic All-American who, not surprisingly, demands the very best from her players.
She has coached Baylor to a sparkling 131-38 record in five years.

The mother of two is married to a former Louisiana Tech quarterback.

After the men´s basketball scandal (including one player killing another) at Baylor and its football team falling on hard times, the achievement Tuesday night brings a much-neeed morale boost to the Waco institution.

We salute the Baylor Lady Bears for putting another jewel in the crown of the Lone Star State. Posted to MyPlainview: APRIL 06, 2005 14:59 CST

There´s much joy at Washington-on-the-Brazos today. The Baylor Lady Bears are champions of the women´s basketball world after a resounding 84-62 . . . From The Plainview Daily Herald

Ed's Note.. last time I will post on this.. sorry, but this coach amazes me!!