Lady Bears Basketball vs. Mississippi Valley State, Today, 2:00 p.m.CT, Ferrell Center, Preview and Game Thread

(From Baylor Bears dot com)

HOME AGAIN...

The No. 2/4 Baylor Lady Bears return to the Ferrell Center for a pair of home games before heading to the Gulf Coast Showcase over Thanksgiving break. On Sunday, Nov. 20, at 2 p.m. (CT), Baylor (2-1) tips off against Mississippi Valley State (1-1) inside the Ferrell Center.

PROMOTIONS...

The Lady Bears will sign autographs following the Sunday afternoon game. It is the lone post game autograph session of the season. Sunday is also Girl Scout Day.

FOLLOW ALONG...

Fans can stream the game online at www.BaylorBears.com or tune in to the game on the Baylor Sports Network, IMG College and ESPN 1660 AM. Rick May (play-by-play) and Lori Fogelmann (analyst) will call the action.

THE BASICS...

• Baylor leads Mississippi Valley State, 1-0, in the all-time series.

• The teams' lone meeting took place on Dec. 30, 2011, in Waco, Texas. The Lady Bears played to a 93-55 victory.

SIZING UP THE DELTA DEVILS...

• Mississippi Valley State is 1-1 on the season entering Sunday's game.

• First-year head coach Jessica Kern leads a roster comprised of three seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and six freshmen.

• Three players, Christina Reed (20.0), Ashley Beals (17.0) and Lauren Elliot (10.5), average double figures in scoring.

• Reed was a Preseason All-SWAC first team selection, while Beals was a Preseason All-SWAC second team pick.

• The Delta Devils were picked to finish ninth out of 10 SWAC teams in the preseason poll. Two-time defending SWAC tournament champion Alabama State was picked to win.

IN THE POLLS...

• Baylor remains No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 4 in the USA Today Coaches Poll in week two.

• The Lady Bears opened the season with a pair of wins over Houston Baptist, 118-43, and No. 9/9 UCLA, 84-70, before falling on the road in a Top 5 showdown at No. 3/2 Connecticut, 72-61.

• Baylor has been included in the USA Today's Top 5 for 13-consecutive releases and in the AP's Top 5 for 11-straight polls. The Lady Bears have been ranked in the Top 5 in the final release of the AP poll in each of the last six seasons.

HOME SWEET HOME WIN STREAKS...

• Baylor has won 169 consecutive home games vs. non-ranked opponents, dating back to an April 4, 2003, homecourt loss to Auburn in the WNIT finals. BU is 157-4 (.975) in non-league home games under Kim Mulkey.

• Baylor owns a 43-game home win streak dating back to March 2, 2014, when it lost to 11th-ranked West Virginia, 71-70.

APPROACHING MILESTONES...

• Senior Nina Davis is 14 points away from the 2,000-point mark. Entering Sunday's game, she has netted 1,986 career points. Only five players in program history have scored 2,000 points or more for the Lady Bears.

• Davis is sixth on Baylor's all-time scoring list with 1,986 in her career. She is 41 points from moving up to fifth all-time (Maggie Davis-Stinnett - 2,027).

• Davis is also 117 rebounds from recording 1,000 in her career with 883. Only five other Baylor women's basketball players have compiled 1,000 or more career rebounds.

• If Davis reaches both milestones, she will become the sixth Lady Bear to compile 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

• With 883 career rebounds, Davis is eighth on Baylor's all-time list. She is 53 boards from moving in to seventh (Steffanie Blackmon - 936).

• Seventeenth-year head coach Kim Mulkey is 25 wins from tallying her 500th victory. She has guided the Lady Bears to 475 wins.

• Senior Khadijiah Cave is 212 points from reaching the 1,000-point club. She has scored 788 career points, averaging 261 points per season.

• Redshirt senior Alexis Jones is 376 points from netting 1,000 points at Baylor. After scoring 586 career points in 2015-16, she has the potential to become the seventh player in Baylor women's basketball history to reach the 1,000 career points mark in just two seasons played.

• Including her numbers from Duke, Jones has compiled 1,332 points and 445 rebounds in her career.

DOUBLE DOWN...

• Through three games, sophomore Kalani Brown is averaging a double-double with 19.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per contest.

• The 6-7 post also paces the Lady Bears with six blocks on the season (2.0 blocks per game).

• Brown is third in the conference in scoring (19.3) and rebounding (11.0) and fourth in field goal percentage (.793) and blocks (2.0).

• Brown, a Preseason All-Big 12 honorable mention and 2016 Big 12 All-Freshman Team selection, averaged 9.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game as a freshman in 2015-16.

• Brown led the Lady Bears to their wins over Houston Baptist and No. 9/9 UCLA to begin the season.

• Against Houston Baptist, she paced the offense and matched her career-high with 24 points. Brown collected the first Co-Big 12 Player of the Week honor of her career for her performance in the season opener.

• Against No. 9/9 UCLA, Brown set a new career-highs with 25 points, 19 rebounds (10th highest single-game total recorded in program history), field goals made (12), field goals attempted (15) and steals (6). She also matched her career-high with five assists. It marked the second double-double of her career.

• At No. 3/2 UConn, Brown fought through early foul trouble to compile nine points and five rebounds in 19 minutes. She made 3-of-4 field goal attempts in the contest.

• Through three games, the Slidell, La., native, owns a .793 field goals percentage and an .857 free throw percentage.

PRODUCTION IN THE PAINT...

• Through three games, Baylor has recorded 57.0 percent (150-263) of its offense in the paint.

• The Lady Bears are outrebounding their opponents by an average of 24 boards per game (153-81). BU outperformed Houston Baptist, 62-27, No. 9/9 UCLA, 52-25, and No. 3/2 Connecticut, 39-29, on the glass.

BIG 12 PRESEASON HONOR ROLL...

• For the second consecutive year and the seventh time in conference history (2006, `10, `11, `12, `13, `15, `16), Baylor is favored to win the Big 12 women's basketball regular season title according to a vote of league head coaches previewing the 2016-17 regular season.

• The squad has won or tied for seven regular season championships, including the last six in a row. Baylor has also hoisted the last six Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship trophies.

• The Lady Bears received nine of 10 first place votes in the poll (coaches are not allowed to vote for their own teams). Texas received one first place vote and was listed second followed by Oklahoma in third place.

• For the second-straight season, senior Nina Davis was selected as the conference's Preseason Player of the Year. It marks the seventh time a Baylor player has been named Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year (Nina Davis -- 2015-16, 2016-17; Odyssey Sims - 2013-14; Brittney Griner - 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13; Sophia Young - 2005-06).

• Freshman Lauren Cox, who is rated No. 1 in her class by ESPN Hoopgurlz and All Star Girls Report (ASGR), was tabbed Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year.

• Senior Nina Davis and redshirt senior Alexis Jones, the 2016 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, received Preseason All-Big 12 Team distinction.

• Sophomore Kalani Brown, a Big 12 All-Freshman Team selection in 2016, was an Honorable Mention Big 12 selection.

JONES MAKES 2017 NANCY LIEBERMAN AWARD WATCH LIST...

• Redshirt senior Alexis Jones is one of 20 watch list candidates for the 2017 Nancy Lieberman Award. The award, now in its 17th year, recognizes the top point guard in women's NCAA Division I college basketball.

• Candidates exhibit the floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills of Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman.

• Jones is a Preseason All-Big 12 selection after collecting 2015-16 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year recognition as a junior.

• Jones started 34-of-38 games in her first season with the Lady Bears after transferring from Duke. She averaged 15 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and recorded 30 double-digit scoring performances en route to 2016 All-Big 12 First Team and Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player honors.

• A WBCA Honorable Mention All-American in 2016, Jones also earned All-Tournament Team recognition at the NCAA Dallas Regional, was named a Junkanoo Jam All-Star and collected WBCA All-Region honors.

• Prior to her arrival at Baylor, Jones earned All-ACC Second Team accolades in 2013 and 2014 and was named ACC Freshman of the Year in 2013.

• By mid-February, the watch list of 20 players for the 2017 Lieberman Award will be narrowed to just 10. Guards can play their way on or off the watch list throughout the year.

DAVIS EARNS SECOND PRESEASON AP ALL-AMERICAN RECOGNITION...

• Nina Davis earned Associated Press Preseason All-American recognition for the second consecutive season on Nov. 3.

• The 5-11 senior forward is one of four Lady Bears named to the AP's elite preseason squad, including Sophia Young (2005-06), three-time honoree Brittney Griner (2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13) and two-time honoree Odyssey Sims (2012-13, 2013-14).

• Davis, a two-time consensus All-American, led the program in scoring as a junior, averaging 16.3 points per game, and shared the rebounding award with post Beatrice Mompremier, averaging 6.1 boards per contest.

• The Memphis, Tenn., native was picked 2017 Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year and was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 first team. In her career, Davis is a three-time All-Big 12 First Team selection.

THE MULKEY FILE...

• In her 17th season, Kim Mulkey has posted an impressive 475-93 (.836) record which ranks her No. 2 nationally in winning percentage among active coaches behind Connecticut's Geno Auriemma (.877).

• Kim Mulkey's 34 seasons as a player and coach have resulted in 34 postseason trips, including 33 to NCAA/AIAW Tournaments.

• In 556 of 568 games under Kim Mulkey, the Lady Bears have held their opponent at or below 50 percent field goal shooting with only five of those efforts coming in the last 14 years.

SUSTAINED SUCCESS...

• The Lady Bears have made 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and 15 overall. Those appearances have resulted in two national championships (2005, 2012), three Final Fours (2005, 2010, 2012), seven Elite Eights and 11 Sweet Sixteens.

• Baylor has won six consecutive Big 12 regular season and tournament titles. Overall the program has won seven regular season and eight tournament conference championships, most among all Big 12 programs.

• Baylor is 211-17 (.925) over the past six seasons, 34-3 in 2010-11, 40-0 in 2011-12, 34-2 in 2012-13, 32-5 in 2013-14, 33-4 in 2014-15, 36-2 in 2015-16, and 2-1 in 2016-17. In that same span, BU is 118-6 (.952) in Big 12 play -- 100-6 in the regular season and 18-0 in Big 12 Tournament play.

• All told, Baylor has been ranked in 284 AP polls which ranks No. 21 on the all-time list.

• Baylor has been ranked in a school-record 243 straight AP polls dating back to week nine of the 2003-04 listing when it broke in at No. 24.

• 180 of Baylor's 210 wins since 2010-11 have been by 10 or more points, and only 13 times in that span has its winning margin been five or fewer points (most recently five, 69-64, vs. West Virginia, Jan. 12, 2016).

• In Baylor's last 368 games, only two opponents (Stanford, .509 & West Virginia, .500) have shot 50 percent or above. In the 2012-13 season, the Cardinal broke BU's 217-game streak of holding an opponent to 50 percent or less shooting from the floor. BU's current string is 83 straight games holding its foe to .500 or below from the field.

UP NEXT...

Baylor continues its nonconference home stand on Tuesday, Nov. 22, against Southeastern Louisiana. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. (CT). Following the contest, the Lady Bears hit the road for their first tournament of the 2016-17 season, competing in the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla. Baylor opens action on Friday, Nov. 25, against Kent State at 10 a.m. and will play two more yet to be determined opponents on Saturday, Nov. 26, and Sunday, Nov. 27.