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Lady Bears look for Revenge against Wildcats

Baylor and Kentucky played in the highest regulation Women's Division I basketball game back on December 6th. Baylor lost in 4OT's 133-130.

Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

We all remember the last time that the Baylor Lady Bears and the Kentucky Wildcats took place. It was arguably the greatest women's basketball game ever. Kentucky topped the Lady Bears in four overtimes.

However, Baylor head coach, Kim Mulkey doesn't expect a four overtime game when both teams take the floor at 11 a.m. CST.

"They were a great team, still are," Mulkey said. "We're looking forward to the rematch, but I think we will come out with a little more sense of urgency and get on them a little more than we did."

It's a different Baylor team since they last played as well. The inexperienced freshman that played in that contest, are no seasoned veterans. There is no doubt, they're ready for this rematch.

"With this team being so young, no one expected us being where we are," Odyssey Sims said. "We handled it very well, got back to where we were and it's in our hands to go a little bit further than we did last year."

Kentucky comes into today's game ranked 10th in the country and a 3-seed in the region. They're currently 26-8 overall and they have beaten 6th-seeded Syracuse on Monday night 64-59. They beat Wright State 106-60 in their opening game of the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

They're led by DeNesha Stallworth and Jennifer O'Neill. O'Neill is the team's leading scorer at 12.7 points per game. She had 43 in the win over Baylor on December 6th. Stallworth is second in scoring at 12.2 PPG, and leads the team in field goal shooting. Don't forget about senior Samarie Walker. She is averaging nearly a double-double on the season with 8.9 PPG and 8.8 rebounds per game.

It's the third consecutive Sweet 16 for the Wildcats. Three out of the last four years, they've reached the Elite 8, but never able to advance to the Final Four.

Baylor hopes to keep that lack of Final Four appearances for Kentucky alive today.

Sims, nation's second leading scorer is a big key for the Lady Bears. She'll have to be very aggressive to attack the Wildcat guards. She scored 47 in the previous match up against Kentucky.

While she's attacking the Wildcats, Sims is nearing an NCAA record. She's just 66 points shy of Jackie Stiles' NCAA single season scoring record. Stiles scored 1,062 points during her senior season at Missouri State in 2000-01. She led the Lady Bears to the Final Four that season.

If the Lady Bears are going to win this game, they cannot come out struggling out of the game as they have in their first two NCAA Tournament games. They'll have to come out as Mulkey said, and hit the Wildcats in the mouth. If they can jump on the Wildcats early, could mean hello, Elite 8.

You can follow @OKCChuck on Twitter, who is live from South Bend, IN covering the Notre Dame Regional