WBCA tabs Mulkey as National Coach of the Year

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Baylor women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey has done a masterful job of blending a veteran cast with an outstanding freshman class and grooming a graduate-transfer point guard this season.

Those efforts resulted in the Lady Bears ascending the national polls to the top spot by early January. On Tuesday, Mulkey’s coaching peers showed they recognized the effort as well.

The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association chose Mulkey as its National Coach of the Year for the 2018-2019 season.

That brings Mulkey’s career total to six such national honors. It’s also the second time Mulkey has garnered the National Coach of the Year Award from the WBCA. She also won it in 2012 when guiding Baylor to a 40-0 record and the national championship.

The Lady Bears (33-1) currently own the nation’s longest winning streak at 24 games as they head to Greensboro, N.C., for the Sweet 16. Baylor, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, plays No. 4 seed South Carolina at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday at Greensboro Coliseum.

Mulkey has guided her team to the No. 1 ranking and a No. 1 seed while playing one of the toughest schedules in women’s college basketball. The Lady Bears went on the road to defeat No. 18 South Carolina and beat No. 23 Arizona State on a neutral court in Arizona in the first month of the campaign. Baylor notched its signature win by defeating then-No. 1 Connecticut, 68-57, on Jan. 3 at the Ferrell Center.

The Lady Bears followed up that ambitious nonconference slate by going 18-0 in Big 12 play, winning their ninth straight and 10th overall conference championship and their 10th Big 12 Tournament title.

— WACOTRIB