Saturday, November 15, 2008
By Brice Cherry
Tribune-Herald staff writer
On back-to-work night for the Baylor Lady Bears, job No. 1 was wiping the glass clean.
Energized by senior Rachel Allison’s double-double effort, the 19th-ranked Baylor women’s basketball team collected a school-record 70 rebounds in wiping away Florida Atlantic, 90-45, before a season-opening crowd of 5,422 Friday night at the Ferrell Center.
With the No. 2-ranked Stanford Cardinal and its imposing front line venturing to Waco on Sunday, snatching down caroms off the backboard was a frequent focus of Baylor’s practices this week.
It paid off against the visiting Owls, who were more than doubled up on the boards by the Lady Bears, 70-33.
“We’ve been stressing offensive rebounds, and I thought we made a concerted effort to go to the glass early,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said.
Allison in particular followed the bouncing ball with harmonious results. During one 90-second stretch early in the first half, she stepped in front of a driving Owl guard to take a charge, rebounded a Melissa Jones miss and banked in the follow shot while being fouled, and buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
Allison tallied a double-double by halftime, and finished with 18 points and 13 boards in 27 minutes.
“The best compliment I can give her is when (FAU coach Chancellor Dugan) shook my hand, she said, ‘Wow, Rachel Allison!’ ” Mulkey said. “I said, ‘Yes, she never stops moving, her motor is always going.’ ”
“I just came out ready to play,” Allison said. “It’s our first game, my senior year, and I’m excited. And like Coach said, we were wide open, and we’re not going to turn down shots.”
Allison had help from her frontcourt friends in turning back the Owls (0-1). Danielle Wilson (12 points, seven rebounds) got off to a hot start before cooling off due to foul trouble, while newcomers Morghan Medlock (14 points, 16 rebounds) and Ashley Field (11 points, five boards) provided a spark off the bench.
Medlock rebounded with an angry ferocity, with Mulkey’s practice-session challenges ringing in her ears.
“I can honestly say nothing is harder than a Kim Mulkey practice,” Medlock said, “so games where we’re rebounding, it’s not that hard. I really noticed that tonight.”
Baylor (1-0) held a comfortable 45-21 lead at halftime, then continued to extend its edge in the final 20 minutes. The Lady Bears pushed the lead to 30 with 13 minutes to play when guard Jhasmin Player saved a loose ball from going out of bounds to Kelli Griffin, then raced downcourt and scored off a sweet over-the-head return pass from Griffin.
Playing in her first regular-season game since last February after ACL surgery, Player started at the point and notched seven points and four assists in 23 minutes.
The only glaring problem area for the Lady Bears in the season opener came from its lack of long-range marksmanship, as the team made just 3 of 20 attempts from 3-point range.
Backup guard Breana Turner was the only FAU player to crack double figures, scoring 14 points.
Next up for Baylor is Stanford, which defeated the Lady Bears, 87-63, last season in Palo Alto, Calif.
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