HBU Huskies (0-0) at #2/4 Baylor Lady Bears (0-0)
Friday, Nov. 11 – 3:30 p.m.
Ferrell Center – Waco, Texas
 
Audio (Bill Cousins)
TV: FOX Sports Southwest
Live Stats
Game Notes
 
WACO, Texas - With one of the youngest rosters in the country, HBU begins its 2016-17 season by facing No. 2/4 Baylor in non-conference women's basketball Friday at 3:30 p.m. inside the Ferrell Center. The game will be carried live on FOX Sports Southwest, while the Legacy Sports Network audio broadcast will be available on HBUHuskies.com.

The Huskies (0-0) finished last season 14-15 overall and fifth in the Southland Conference with a 9-9 record. HBU's leading returning scorer is sophomore guard Lisa Zderadicka, who averaged 7.7 points per game and was second on the team with 73 assists (2.5 per game). Senior guard Heidi Byrd averaged 5.8 points per game, is the team's leading returning rebounder with 58 (2.0 per game) and was third on the team with 55 assists (1.9 per game).

Anna Strickland led HBU in every category last season: points (399/13.8 per game), rebounds (411), assists (95), blocked shots (50) and steals (59), leading the nation with 14.2 rebounds per game and tied for third nationally with 23 double-doubles. She and the other departures, including Monet Neal (367 points/212 rebounds) and Rachel Arthur (313 points/69 rebounds), accounted for 67.4 percent of the scoring, 68.9 percent of the rebounding, 77.5 percent of the blocked shots and 63.9 percent of steals during the 2015-16 campaign.

HBU head coach Donna Finnie is beginning her fourth season at the helm of the program, posting a 41-50 record. She and her staff are the third-youngest in Division I with an average age of 30.0

Baylor (0-0) went 36-2 overall and won its sixth-consecutive Big 12 regular-season title with a 17-1 record, before falling in the NCAA Regional championship (Elite Eight) to Oregon State. The Lady Bears return leading scorers, Wooden All-American Nina Davis (16.3 points per game/6.1 rebounds per game) and Alexis Jones (15.0 points per game/4.2 rebounds per game). Beatrice Mompremier was the team's leading rebounder with 233 (6.1 per game) and shot blocker with 60 (1.6 per game). Baylor has also added 2016 WBCA National Player of the Year and Texas Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year Lauren Cox from Flower Mound.

Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey is in her 17th season with the Lady Bears, with 473 victories, second among active head coaches and an .837 winning percentage, which ranks fourth all-time.

Baylor leads the all-time series against HBU, 1-0. The ninth-ranked Lady Bears defeated the Huskies, 100-57, on Dec. 15, 2013, in Waco and is the Huskies' only game against a ranked opponent to date.

The Huskies return to action and will quickly face its second ranked opponent and Big 12 foe when it takes on #8/6 Texas Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Erwin Center in Austin. HBU hosts Rice in its home opener Saturday, Nov. 19, at 2 p.m. at Sharp Gym.