Also, Baylor is very big. They replace Size with More Size. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mulkey does a big lineup with Tea at the 1, Didi 2, Lauren 3, Smith 4, Queen 5.
Kim got 10 points from her bench from 2 players against Oklahoma Saturday. The starters should play the bulk of the minutes in this game, although she got 41 minutes from her bench Saturday. Te’a Cooper had a career high 32 points. I don’t expect that to happen again this year, let alone against UConn.
Baylor is an elite team and is worthy of our respect, but they still have to show up and play. They are more vulnerable on the road than at home. “I think Thursday’s game will certainly be the toughest test that we’ve had, no question about that,” Auriemma said. “They present a different challenge than any other team that we’ve played. I mean we’ve played some pretty good teams, but we haven’t played a team with their size and their depth and their style of play. So it’ll be a real challenge for us.” Auriemma sees regular season games, even big-time matchups like this one, as yet another opportunity to learn the good, the bad, and the ugly about his team.
There won’t be a lot of folks cheering and rooting for them at the XL Center. This game is sold out. Except for the few Baylor supporters sitting behind Baylor's bench, the crowd will be pro UConn. Hopefully the team will be able to feed off their spirit and energy.
Baylor is just as concerned about us as we are about them. I like our chances. UConn has proven to be very hard to beat at home. We had lots of questions during the summer about this team. THIS will be the last question to be answered: how does THIS team compare to the other elite teams that will be top seeds in the tournament. There are several "elephants" in the room. Baylor is one of them..........as are we!!!