Swish Appeal - College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon: Baylor Lady Bears vs. Kentucky Wildcats on ESPN2Basketball is basketball.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/49391/swish-fave.png2012-11-13T21:17:28-05:00http://www.swishappeal.com/rss/stream/34055332012-11-13T21:17:28-05:002012-11-13T21:17:28-05:00A'dia Mathies, Kentucky fall flat against Baylor
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<p>Even if a team were to come into Waco, Texas knowing exactly how to stop the Baylor Lady Bears, the challenge is actually executing that game plan.</p>
<p>And the bottom line is that the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/kentucky-wildcats">Kentucky Wildcats</a> simply did not execute and ultimately got <a target="_blank" href="http://espn.go.com/ncw/boxscore?gameId=323180239">routed 85-51 </a>in a game that actually managed to look worse than the final score suggests because Brittney Griner was able to take a rest well before the game was over.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.aseaofblue.com/2012/11/13/3642728/uk-hoops-postmortem-baylor-vs-i-dont-know-who-they-were">Greg Alan Edwards of SB Nation's A Sea of Blue</a> had harsh words for both the Wildcats team and their star A'dia Mathies in his post-mortem.</p>
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<p>Unfortunately for UK, A'dia disappeared early in the game and was never a factor before fouling out with 5:20 left in the second half. None of her 12 points ever came at an opportune time, and defensively she looked more like the freshman A'dia Mathies than the Senior leader of the UK Hoops squad...A'dia simply does not have the luxury of taking a night off. And tonight, she really never showed up. Her assist came in the second half when the game was already over and her night was almost done.You have to credit Baylor's Sims. She played Mathies like a harp.</p>
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<p>Ouch.</p>
<p>Although Baylor might really just be <i>that </i>good, it was not at all a good showing for Kentucky or their star player who some consider to be a top WNBA draft prospect.</p>
https://www.swishappeal.com/2012/11/13/3642954/baylor-lady-bears-vs-kentucky-wildcats-adia-mathies-college-hoops-tip-off-marathonNate P2012-11-13T18:29:58-05:002012-11-13T18:29:58-05:00College Hoops game threads: Baylor vs. Kentucky
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<p>If you want a place to discuss the Baylor - Kentucky game as it progresses, SB Nation's sites for each school have you covered:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.aseaofblue.com/2012/11/13/3641308/6-kentucky-wildcats-at-1-baylor-bears-womens-basketball-open-game" target="_blank">#6 Kentucky Wildcats at #1 Baylor Bears: Women's Basketball Open Game Thread - A Sea Of Blue</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.ourdailybears.com/2012/11/13/3641912/baylor-lady-bears-vs-kentucky-lady-wildcats-griner-wbb" target="_blank">Baylor Lady Bears vs. Kentucky Lady Wildcats - Our Daily Bears</a></p>
<p>Pick your side, check out the thread, and jump in if you wish.</p>
https://www.swishappeal.com/2012/11/13/3642348/game-thread-baylor-lady-bears-vs-kentucky-wildcatsNate P2012-11-13T15:05:58-05:002012-11-13T15:05:58-05:00How can Kentucky upset Brittney Griner & Baylor?
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<figcaption>Matt Ryerson-US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
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<p>The Baylor Lady Bears will host the Kentucky Wildcats at 6 p.m. EDT on ESPN2 as the lone women's basketball game included in the College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon today. <em><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2012/11/12/3636744/college-basketball-tip-off-marathon-schedule-television-lineup-2012" target="new">Click here</a> for the full schedule of games for the day. </em></p> <p>As described by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.aseaofblue.com/2012/11/13/3639896/uk-hoops-uk-vs-baylor-pregame-analysis-taking-on-1">Greg Alan Edwards of SB Nation's Kentucky site A Sea of Blue</a>, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/kentucky-wildcats">Kentucky Wildcats</a> will get their first major test today when they face the Baylor Lady Bears as part of the College Basketball Tip-Off Marathon today.</p>
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<p>If UK hopes to beat Baylor tonight, they had better bring all 40 minutes of dread with them, and a lot of points will be needed as well...Make no mistake folks, this is the toughest team we will see all season, and it's not even close. If the Hoops squad can somehow corral the Baylor guards, and force Griner outside the paint when she has her hands on the ball, they can overcome Baylor and all of their weapons. But it is going to take leaving it all on the floor tonight. No mistakes, and no letting up for all 40 minutes.</p>
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<p>In short, Kentucky has their work cut out for them if they hope to hand Baylor its first loss since falling in the Elite Eight of the 2011 NCAA Tournament to eventual national champion Texas A&M. But in a way, the way that <a target="_blank" href="http://www.swishappeal.com/2011/3/31/2081795/ncaa-womens-tournament-2011-final-four-texas-am-aggies-baylor-lady-bears">teams like Texas A&M and Texas Tech beat Baylor a couple of seasons ago</a> is probably the blueprint for a team like Kentucky: pressure the guards, force turnovers, and prevent Griner from getting touches.</p>
<p>The challenge in a team replicating a similar feat now should be somewhat obvious: Baylor point guard Odyssey Sims is a much better ball handler (and defender) now than she was back in the 2011 tournament as a freshman, not to mention that Griner has improved in multiple ways as well.</p>
<p>But another thing to watch to Edwards' point elsewhere in his preview is the rebounding battle: Kentucky has its share of 6'3" juniors who are capable of competing on the boards in the form of Azia Bishop, Samantha Drake, and transfer DeNesha Stallworth as well as 6'1" forward Samarie Walker and even star guard A'dia Mathies who rebounds awfully well for a 5'9" guard.</p>
<p>Of course, while all of them have to be accounted for, none of them are 6'8", which brings us back to the central problem: how exactly do you stop a team with Brittney Griner roaming the paint? Kentucky, as I <a target="_blank" href="http://www.swishappeal.com/2012/11/8/3619348/brittney-griner-baylor-lady-bears-sbn-dallas-womens-basketball">described previously in a Q&A with SB Nation Dallas</a>, has as good a chance as anyone Baylor will face this season.</p>
<p><i>For more information and score updates on the College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon, check out <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2012/11/12/3638646/college-hoops-tip-off-marathon-live-blog-24-straight-hours-of-coverage">SBNation.com's storystream tracking the day as it unfolds</a>. </i></p>
https://www.swishappeal.com/2012/11/13/3641116/baylor-lady-bears-vs-kentucky-wildcats-college-hoops-tip-off-marathon-womens-basketballNate P2012-11-13T14:00:40-05:002012-11-13T14:00:40-05:00Guess the Game Outcome for Baylor vs. Kentucky
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<figcaption>Mark Zerof-US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
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<p>Got predictions for today's game between the Baylor Lady Bears and Kentucky Wildcats (at 6 p.m. EDT on ESPN2) as part of the 2012 College Basketball Tip-Off Marathon? SB Nation's Kentucky site wants to hear them. </p> <p>Over at SB Nation's Kentucky site A Sea of Blue, the latest <a target="_blank" href="http://www.aseaofblue.com/2012/11/5/3606170/guess-the-outcome-game-gog-2012-2013-preseason-predictions">Guess the Game Outcome</a> is asking for predictions for today's game between the Wildcats and the defending champion Baylor Lady Bears.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.aseaofblue.com/2012/11/12/3637458/gog-2012-13-02-heavyweight-battles">Here they are:</a></p>
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<p><b>Women vs Baylor<br></b></p>
<ol>
<li>Who wins the game? [+/-1 point]</li>
<li>How many points does UK score? [4/3/2/1 points]</li>
<li>How many points does Baylor score? [4/3/2/1 points]</li>
<li>Predict Brittney Griner's Blocks/Rebounds/Missed FG's. [3 points each; 1 point within two]</li>
<li>Predict A'dia Mathies Points/Made 3's/Steals. [3 points each; 1 point within two]\</li>
<li>How many turnovers does UK force in the game? [4 points; 2 points within three; 1 point within five]</li>
<li>How many points off turnovers does UK score? [4/3/2/1 points]</li>
<li>Which is the higher total: UK points off turnovers + points from made 3's or Baylor points in the paint? (note that if a 3 is made off of a turnover those points will get double counted). [+/- 1 point]</li>
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<p>There's a chance that I might post my predictions over there later. For now, in addition to the questions above, another question: How many offensive rebounds will Griner have?</p>
<p>While you're at it, also check out <a target="_blank" href="http://www.aseaofblue.com/2012/11/5/3606170/guess-the-outcome-game-gog-2012-2013-preseason-predictions">the season predictions for Kentucky from the A Sea of Blue community</a> - there seem to be high hopes that the women's team can make the 2013 Final Four.</p>
https://www.swishappeal.com/2012/11/13/3639498/baylor-lady-bears-vs-kentucky-wildcats-predictions-guess-the-gameNate P2012-11-08T17:00:52-05:002012-11-08T17:00:52-05:00Who might be able to beat the Baylor Lady Bears?
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<p>As part of <a target="_blank" href="http://dallas.sbnation.com/authors/jonathan-tjarks">a preview for the Baylor Lady Bears' 2012-13 season</a>, Jonathan Tjarks of SB Nation Dallas and I had an e-conversation about whether this year's team could be better than last year's undefeated team, how great an accomplishment it would be to go undefeated in consecutive seasons, and who might beat them.</p>
<p>And without saying they'll definitely go undefeated, it's hard to figure out who might stop their run as I told Jonathan.</p>
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<p>I would imagine the game that most people have circled in that regard is their December 5 meeting with Notre Dame in South Bend - Skylar Diggins is something of a superstar in the women's basketball world and winning in South Bend is no easy task. But having lost Natalie Novosel and Devereaux Peters to the WNBA as well as gritty point guard Brittany Mallory it's not clear if they'll have enough to take down Baylor.</p>
<p>Other teams to watch for: Kentucky has the athletes to pressure Baylor, though Odyssey Sims is like a one-woman press break. They play Connecticut in Storrs, which is a test for any team though that would depend a lot on the play of UConn center Stefanie Dolson and - again - UConn's ability to stop Sims. The sleeper team - and maybe not for those that watched closely - is Iowa State. They played Baylor extremely well early in conference play last season simply by spreading the floor with the range that their posts have and hitting a ton of threes. While one would suspect that Baylor is ready for that this season - and given that they won the game, they really found a counter for it in the second half of that very game - the familiarity of Big 12 opponents like Iowa State is probably the most likely formula for an upset.</p>
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<p>As <a target="_blank" href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/basketball/ncaa/wires/11/05/2060.ap.bkw.women.s.season.overview.1st.ld.writethru.1103/">Geno Auriemma has said</a>, Baylor is not only a team with all the tools to win but also a team that doesn't have any really obvious vulnerabilities - when you have a 6-foot-8 center in the middle and a dynamic point guard at the top, it can be hard to either stop them or score against them. So I'm not saying Iowa State will definitely be the team to beat them - it would take them putting together two halves of hot 3-point shooting and an off day from Baylor to make that happen.</p>
<p>But the larger point is that as we've seen in the past couple of seasons - with both Baylor and UConn - a conference opponent's familiarity with their tendencies might have the best chance at beating them.</p>
<p><i>For the full Q&A, visit <a target="_blank" href="http://dallas.sbnation.com/baylor-bears/2012/11/8/3616814/womens-basketball-preview-can-anyone-beat-baylor">SBN Dallas</a>. </i></p>
https://www.swishappeal.com/2012/11/8/3619348/brittney-griner-baylor-lady-bears-sbn-dallas-womens-basketballNate P