As Top-Ranked Men's Teams Fall, Baylor Women Keep Winning Krista Pirtle of The Lariat at Baylor University will file reports about the top-ranked Baylor Lady Bears throughout the season for The Quad. As top seeds fell all over the country in men's basketball on Saturday, No. 1 Baylor Lady Bears" coach Kim Mulkey watched it all. She was front-row on her couch as first No. 3 Baylor, then No. 4 Duke, then-No. 1 Syracuse toppled as the afternoon progressed. Once Mulkey got in the locker room later that day, she said, she was more than ready to address her players before they played Kansas State, a game Baylor won, 76-41. Junior Brittney Griner grinned and nodded in response to her coach's pregame speech. "At home I watched the men, Duke and Syracuse all lose," Mulkey said. I got in that locker room, and I think I exploded on them before the game started. I said that you better defend and you better rebound. This season, the Lady Bears have done just that. Baylor leads the Big 12 conference in the rebounding margin, averaging 14.1 more than its opponent. This is helped by the offense crashing the boards and the defense watching its man instead of the ball, as the shot is fired toward the hoop. Defensively, the Lady Bears are the best in the nation at shutting down opponents, holding them to under 50 percent from the floor, since March 25, 2006. This leads to transition scoring, where Baylor leads the conference in scoring defense with 51.6 points per game. On offense, Baylor averages a scoring margin of 30.1 points per game. It is No. 3 in the country in scoring offense with an average of 82 points a game. And the Lady Bears have the top R.P.I. for having the strongest schedule in the nation. How does Baylor keep playing hard when its opponent is so far behind? "You have to have a "you can't stop me" mentality," Griner said. Griner is not the only one with that attitude. The offense does not cling to post entry for Griner. Every player on the court for Baylor is capable of creating offense and scoring. "They seemed more composed and they make up for mistakes athletically at least today," Kansas State Coach Deb Patterson said after the game. They made up for mistakes at a higher level than they did a year ago as a team. Honestly, I didn't feel as though they relied on Griner as much. They were much more comfortable distributing the ball, having some balance, and then just killing you for five possessions in a row. With depth and confidence, Baylor does not look to peak now, but to improve for the Final Four in Denver. "Just keep winning," Mulkey said. Just keep piling up wins and see how much better we can get.