Saturday, November 08, 2008
By Brice Cherry
Tribune-Herald staff writer
Like a fleet of big rigs, the Dallas Diesel found a way to successfully slow the pace for a while.
Then Baylor’s premium-fuel engines found their rhythm.
The 19th-ranked Lady Bears overcame a sluggish shooting start before hitting a higher gear in a 94-63 win over the visiting Dallas Diesel in their final exhibition game before a crowd of 5,548 at the Ferrell Center Friday night.
After scoring 123 points in their exhibition opener earlier in the week, the Lady Bears couldn’t find the net in the early going Friday. The Diesel opened up in a matchup zone defense, and the Lady Bears’ perimeter players seemed content to pull up from outside rather than penetrate, and the shots weren’t falling. Through the first five minutes, Baylor shot a shade under 27 percent and led just 6-4.
“That team did some things defensively that we need to work on, and that’s attacking a zone,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. “That’s good. ... Tomorrow we’ll work on that, and ironically tomorrow’s plan was to attack zones, not even knowing what those guys were going to do out there.”
Ignited by its reserves, Baylor eventually began to percolate. Midway through the first half, freshman guard Lindsay Palmer buried a 3-pointer and USC transfer Morghan Medlock rattled in a turnaround as the Lady Bears began to separate themselves.
“It was just one of those games where we got off to a slow start,” said sophomore guard Melissa Jones. “Once we got going, things started to fall.”
Jones made sure of it. She seemed to instinctively be in the right spot at the right time all night long, including catching a Palmer air-balled trey and quickly laying it in for two.
She finished with a team-high 16 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes.
“Melissa needs to understand she’s not a freshman anymore,” Mulkey said. “It’s OK to take over. It’s OK to just play ball. I said when we signed her, this kid’s going to be all-Big 12 before she leaves Baylor. I don’t want her to wait her turn. It’s time to do it now.”
Playing for the Diesel, ex-Baylor guard Ebony Jackson tossed in a 30-footer at the halftime buzzer, and Dallas seemed to carry that momentum into the early stages of the second half. The Diesel outscored Baylor 9-4 in the first three minutes of the second half before the Lady Bears got things clicking again.
Jones tossed in a lefty layup, Danielle Wilson followed with a towering rejection on the defensive end and then Jones sank a 3-pointer as Baylor pushed the lead to 30-plus points.
Besides Jones, five other players scored in double figures for Baylor, with Wilson and Medlock contributing 14 apiece. Jhasmin Player and Ashley Field picked up 12 each, while Rachel Allison had 10.
Freshman guard Cherrish Wallace, a blur with the ball in her hand, scored nine points, including the highlight shot of the game on a driving scoop while being fouled with around 11 minutes to play.
Mulkey said she’s seeing plenty of ups and downs with her newcomers.
“They get better every day,” the coach said. “You keep teaching, keep correcting, keep demanding them to get better, and they will. The games that don’t count are over now, aren’t they? They start for real next Friday.”
Baylor senior guard Jessica Morrow tweaked her ankle in practice earlier this week and didn’t play against the Diesel, though Mulkey said she should be ready for the opener.
Following the Florida Atlantic game, Baylor gets no breather, hosting second-ranked Stanford on Nov. 16.
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