By Wendell Barnhouse
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
Officially, it’s the women’s NCAA Oklahoma City Regional. For No. 2 seed Baylor, it could be called the Redemption Regional.
In 2013, the Lady Bears traveled to OKC for a regional semifinal game with Louisville. Baylor, with All-Americans Brittney Griner and Odyssey Sims, were gunning for a second consecutive national championship. Alas, in the bitterest outcome in program history, the Cardinals posted an 82-81 upset.
Coach Kim Mulkey points out that none of the players on her current team had major roles on the team that had its 2013 season end in disappointment.
“I’m glad it’s in Oklahoma City and people can get there and see us,” she said.
Baylor takes on No. 3 seed Iowa Friday in Chesapeake Energy Arena. Top-seeded Notre Dame takes on No. 4 seed Stanford in the other semifinal. If the Lady Bears beat the Hawkeyes, facing the Fighting Irish would another chance at redemption. Last season, Baylor lost at Notre Dame and came up a victory short of reaching the Final Four.
“Of course we want another shot at Notre Dame, but if we don’t win against Iowa we’ll never get to see Notre Dame,” Baylor leading scorer Nina Davis said. “(Iowa) made it to the Sweet 16 just like we did.”
Iowa has three senior starters while Baylor has one senior – starting center Sune Agbuke. Seven underclassmen score 78.5 percent of the points and 67.5 percent of the minutes.
“There are significant players that play a lot of minutes in our locker room that have never played in the Sweet 16, so they're extremely excited,” Mulkey said. “They've done the unexpected. I didn't place expectations on them because I really didn't know what was fair. There were too many question marks.”
The answers have come from Davis, the Big 12 player of the year who averages 20.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Junior point guard Niya Johnson has been outstanding. She leads the nation with 8.7 assists per game and is second nationally in assist/turnover ratio.
“I think their transition offense is extremely good,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “I know they like to get out and push the ball. Their rebounding is very impressive on both ends of the floor. Davis, is an incredible player and so she's obviously something that we have to be wary of.”
Oklahoma City Regional
6:30 p.m. Friday, ESPN2.
No. 2 Baylor (32-3) vs. No. 3 Iowa (26-7)
How they got here: Baylor defeated No. 15 Northwestern State, 77-36, in the first round and No. 10 seed Arkansas, 73-44, in the second round. Iowa defeated No.14 seed American, 75-67, in the first round and No. 11 seed Miami (Fla.), 88-70, in the second round.
Lady Bears update: Baylor has outscored opponents in the pain 1,476 to 742 this season and has been outscored in the paint in just two games. Baylor is fifth nationally in field goal percentage and scoring margin (21.5 points per game) and is seventh in scoring (79.8 points per game). Nina Davis is just the second Baylor player, along with Sophia Young, to total at least 1,000 points and 600 rebounds in their first two seasons. Coach Kim Mulkey is one of eight finalists for women’s college basketball association coach of the year.
Hawkeyes update: Senior guard Melissa Dixon leads the nation in 3-pointers per game (3.70). Senior guard Samantha Logic, the NCAA’s active career assists leader (884), is the first player in NCAA history to record at least 1,500 career points, 800 rebounds, 800 assists, and 200 steals. Iowa has reached the Sweet 16 six times with three Elite Eight appearances and advanced to the 1993 Final Four. However, this is their first trip to the regional semifinals since 1996. Coach Lisa Bluder is one of nine active coaches with 600-plus wins, and she’s led Iowa to the postseason in 13 of her 14 years – 11 NCAA tournaments and two WNITs.
What’s next: The winner of this game will play Sunday against the winner of the game between No. 1 seed Notre Dame and No. 4 seed Stanford.