Kim Mulkey, Lady Bears Kalani Brown & Lauren Cox react to No. 1 seed

Baylor University Women’s Basketball Post-NCAA Selection Show Quotes

Baylor Senior Center Kalani Brown

On being excited to start the tournament ...

I’m very excited, very pumped up and ready to play. I’ve checked off everything I could think of in my career. The Final Four is the last thing.

On getting the chance to start at home ...

I think we have some of the best fans in the country, if not we do have the best fans. Playing two big games in front of them gives us a sense of energy.

On if bracket link affect the excitement of the selection show ...

Just as exciting. More awkward when it came out the first time. It went around on our group message first. It was kind of awkward. We were like, ‘Nah, it’s fake.’ No it’s going on right now. Awkward reaction. We did it the right way and got excited.

Baylor Junior Forward Lauren Cox

On being the No. 1 seed ...

It’s just a number. We could be No. 1 or No. 2. It doesn’t really matter. We’ll be playing some good teams, be playing our best basketball. We’ll be prepared for whoever we play.

On Baylor adjusting when Brown & Cox are in foul trouble ...

Been awhile since we’ve been in foul trouble. At least both of us. Both of us at the same time. I don’t think both of us have been in foul trouble at the same time in a long time. If one of us gets in foul trouble, we have NaLyssa and Queen. There’s no drop off. They get in with one of upperclassmen, lean on us and look to us. That kind of thing. We’ll see. Do everything we can to not be in foul trouble.

On going to the NCAA Tournament ...

It’s an exciting time. Get to play new people. Great experience getting to travel to new places. Really fun. They’ll learn a lot. They’re going to help us out.

Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey

On the bracket ...

I feel like for the first time in a long time that every region got as close to an s curve. That does my heart good for women’s basketball. Not just our region but if you look at the top 6-8 teams that could win this whole thing, I think that below them they tried as best they could to cover geographically but also cover the s curve. I was trying to, usually when you look at a bracket, you go who got the toughest region. I don’t know if any got one tougher than any other. There’s a mixture in ours of ACC, SEC, Big 12, about every major Power 5 conference covered in our region. It’s that way in other regions with mix of mid majors as well. It’s an exciting time of the year. We’ve had a remarkable year. This team deserves the No. 1 seed and we’ll take that. It guarantees us nothing. Focus on ACU. Should we be fortunate enough to win that, we’ll watch and scout Cal and North Carolina. You know with those teams who you get as coaches. Lady at ACU was at Oklahoma State for several years. You know Cal’s been here several years. Then Sylvia Hatchell Naismith Hall of Famer.

On reaching the Final Four for Chloe Jackson and Kalani Brown

You want all your seniors to do that. Wanted Nina Davis to do it, Niya Johnson. There’s a list of seniors that didn’t get a chance to do that. That’s not for their legacy. These kids here, their legacy is cemented. For the enjoyment of a memory. The memory of experiences of the Final Four, dinner, all the excitement that goes with the Final Four as a participant, not as person that’s just there watching. It’s what you want for them. What I’ve always wanted for Baylor.

On the bracket leak ...

I can’t quit laughing to be honest with you. Feel sorry because somebody might get fired over this. The good part was that we got an extra hour before we want on when they went ahead and revealed it. I don’t know in all my years that we’ve got that much air time on the day of the bracket reveal. That’s the positive. Somebody, I guarantee you, is nervous right now. Doesn’t take away the joy from me. Most exciting time of the year. Basketball playoffs, everybody gets excited because there’s so many teams.

We were in practice. Got off the floor after 3 sometime. I was driving home and got a text from Kyle [Robarts]. Said somebody accidentally revealed the bracket. He asked if I wanted to see it. I said, ‘Nah I don’t really care.’ No, I’m teasing. What he sent, by the time I pulled into the driveway somebody sent me the entire bracket. That’s how I found out.

More on the bracket ...

There have been many years when I thought it wasn’t a fair bracket. I’m telling you the committee got it right. They didn’t just get it right for Baylor, they got it right everywhere. They had geography covered. They got NC State, North Carolina, South Carolina – it’s a home region for them. They got it right. Got the s-curve right in every region. Just seems like whoever wins this thing this year, this entire bracket was done fairly. I believe that. Haven’t said that in many ears.

On if Lauren Cox & Kalani Brown get in early foul trouble ...

If they get in foul trouble, if that should happen, we have two fresh athletes who have enough experience to run something a little bit different when they’re on the floor. They talked about the Stanford loss. It wasn’t Kalani I didn’t play in the second half. It was Cox. I’m going to remind her of it every time we step on the floor in the playoffs. We lost by five, and those two freshmen took us from down 13 to down five and we ran out of time. They’ve been in situations where we’ve had the lead way ahead and when we’ve been behind and have worked to help us cut into a lead.

On having fresh teams in the Greensboro regional ...

Yes, always exciting to get to the playoffs because in conference you beat each other up. You know everything, every move, every play. You spend more time between games changing calls because people steal how you normally call it. In playoffs, you scout, scout, scout but you don’t know each other as well as you do in conference. It’s a breath of fresh air.

On leadership of this team ...

I think a lot of it starts with off the floor. Go in the locker room, don’t remember walking in a locker room before, during or after a game the kids are pouting or wanting to play more. You get a feel for kids. They’re happy for each other. I can’t tell you how much that means to a team because the greatest compliment they can give each other is it doesn’t matter who received all the credit. We’re a team. Kalani may be good one night, Cox the next, Chloe the next, DiDi’s defense next. You spread the wealth. It’s too long a year, too long a season.

On Abilene Christian ...

I don’t know about their team. We’ve played them in the past. I know her kids play extremely hard. I know that she is everything that’s good about college women’s basketball and women’s sports. She’s a pleasant lady and a family person. I just like [ACU head coach] Julie [Goodenough}, always have. Even when she was let go at Oklahoma State, I said something to her that, ‘In this business, we all get fired at some point.’ I’m looking forward to seeing her.