# 2018–19 Baylor Lady Bears basketball team

The 2018–19 Baylor Lady Bears basketball team represented Baylor University in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. Returning as head coach was Hall of Famer Kim Mulkey for her 19th season. The team played its home games at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas and were members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season ranked #1 in the nation, with a record of 37–1, 18–0 in Big 12 to win the Big 12 regular season title. They also won the Big 12 women's tournament and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA women's tournament, where they advanced to defeat Notre Dame in the championship game for the third title in team history.

## Previous season

The Lady Bears finished the season 33–2, 18–0 in Big 12 to win the Big 12 regular season title. They also won the Big 12 women's tournament and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA women's tournament where they defeated Grambling State and Michigan in the first and second rounds before getting upset by Oregon State in the sweet sixteen.

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 4 (5) | 2-T (6) | 2 (7) | 1 (24) | 1 (25) | 1 (26) | 1 (28) | 1 (28) | 1 (28) | 1 (28) | Not released |
| Coaches | 5 | 5^ | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 4 (2) | 3 (2) | 3 (2) | 1 (19) | 1 (27) | 1 (32) | 1 (31) | 1 (31) | 1 (31) | 1 (32) | 1 (32) |
^Coaches' Poll did not release a second poll at the same time as the AP.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Oct 26, 2018* 7:00 pm | No. 4 | Langston | W 110–45 | | Ferrell Center Waco, TX |
| Nov 1, 2018* 7:00 pm | No. 4 | Texas A&M–Commerce | W 127–61 | | Ferrell Center Waco, TX |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 6, 2018* 6:00 pm | No. 4 | Nicholls | W 100–39 | 1–0 | Ferrell Center (4,866) Waco, TX |
| Nov 8, 2018* 7:00 pm, FSSW+ | No. 4 | Saint Francis | W 116–58 | 2–0 | Ferrell Center (4,578) Waco, TX |
| Nov 11, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 4 | vs. No. 23 Arizona State Showdown on the Rez | W 65–59 | 3–0 | Bee Hółdzil Fighting Scouts Events Center (5,609) Fort Defiance, AZ |
| Nov 15, 2018* 6:00 pm, FSSW | No. 4 | Southern | W 94–49 | 4–0 | Ferrell Center (4,747) Waco, TX |
| Nov 23, 2018* 6:30 pm | No. 4 | vs. South Dakota State South Point Thanksgiving Shootout | W 72–66 | 5–0 | South Point Events Center Enterprise, NV |
| Nov 24, 2018* 9:30 pm | No. 4 | vs. Georgetown South Point Thanksgiving Shootout | W 67–46 | 6–0 | South Point Events Center (477) Enterprise, NV |
| Dec 2, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 4 | at No. 18 South Carolina Big 12/SEC Women's Challenge | W 94–69 | 7–0 | Colonial Life Arena (10,531) Columbia, SC |
| Dec 12, 2018* 12:00 pm, FSSW | No. 3 | Morehead State | W 96–58 | 8–0 | Ferrell Center (9,627) Waco, TX |
| Dec 15, 2018* 2:00 pm, P12N | No. 3 | at No. 11 Stanford | L 63–68 | 8–1 | Maples Pavilion (3,440) Stanford, CA |
| Dec 31, 2018* 12:00 pm | No. 8 | Texas–Rio Grande Valley | W 98–37 | 9–1 | Ferrell Center (5,047) Waco, TX |
| Jan 3, 2019* 8:00 pm, ESPN | No. 8 | No. 1 UConn | W 68–57 | 10–1 | Ferrell Center (10,284) Waco, TX |
| Big 12 regular season ||||||
| Jan 6, 2019 12:00 pm, FSN | No. 8 | at Texas Tech | W 73–56 | 11–1 (1–0) | United Supermarkets Arena (4,355) Lubbock, TX |
| Jan 9, 2019 7:00 pm, FSGO | No. 4 | Kansas State | W 65–50 | 12–1 (2–0) | Ferrell Center (5,025) Waco, TX |
| Jan 12, 2019 3:00 pm, FSSW | No. 4 | at TCU | W 79–55 | 13–1 (3–0) | Schollmaier Arena (3,844) Fort Worth, TX |
| Jan 16, 2019 7:00 pm | No. 2 | at Kansas | W 94–68 | 14–1 (4–0) | Allen Fieldhouse (2,229) Lawrence, KS |
| Jan 20, 2019 4:00 pm, FS1 | No. 2 | West Virginia | W 79–47 | 15–1 (5–0) | Ferrell Center (5,750) Waco, TX |
| Jan 23, 2019 7:00 pm, FSSW | No. 2 | No. 20 Iowa State | W 84–69 | 16–1 (6–0) | Ferrell Center (5,285) Waco, TX |
| Jan 27, 2019 2:00 pm, FSN | No. 2 | at Oklahoma | W 74–53 | 17–1 (7–0) | Lloyd Noble Center (3,478) Norman, OK |
| Jan 30, 2019 7:00 pm, FSSW Alt. | No. 1 | at Oklahoma State | W 66–58 | 18–1 (8–0) | Gallagher-Iba Arena (1,958) Stillwater, OK |
| Feb 2, 2019 1:00 pm, FSSW | No. 1 | Texas Tech | W 96–37 | 19–1 (9–0) | Ferrell Center (6,432) Waco, TX |
| Feb 4, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 1 | at No. 12 Texas | W 74–68 | 20–1 (10–0) | Frank Erwin Center (5,393) Austin, TX |
| Feb 9, 2019 12:00 pm, FSSW | No. 1 | TCU | W 89–71 | 21–1 (11–0) | Ferrell Center (6,327) Waco, TX |
| Feb 13, 2019 6:00 pm | No. 1 | at Kansas State | W 71–48 | 22–1 (12–0) | Bramlage Coliseum (3,481) Manhattan, KS |
| Feb 16, 2019 7:00 pm, FSSW+ | No. 1 | Oklahoma | W 87–53 | 23–1 (13–0) | Ferrell Center (6,168) Waco, TX |
| Feb 20, 2019 6:00 pm, FSSW | No. 1 | Kansas | W 80–40 | 24–1 (14–0) | Ferrell Center (5,230) Waco, TX |
| Feb 23, 2019 3:00 pm, FSN | No. 1 | at No. 20 Iowa State | W 73–60 | 25–1 (15–0) | Hilton Coliseum (11,143) Ames, IA |
| Feb 25, 2019 6:00 pm, FS1 | No. 1 | No. 18 Texas | W 64–35 | 26–1 (16–0) | Ferrell Center (6,875) Waco, TX |
| Mar 2, 2019 1:00 pm, FSSW | No. 1 | Oklahoma State | W 76–44 | 27–1 (17–0) | Ferrell Center (5,955) Waco, TX |
| Mar 4, 2019 6:00 pm, FS1 | No. 1 | at West Virginia | W 63–57 | 28–1 (18–0) | WVU Coliseum (3,087) Morgantown, WV |
| Big 12 women's tournament ||||||
| Mar 9, 2019 1:30 pm, FSN | (1) No. 1 | vs. (9) Texas Tech Quarterfinals | W 100–61 | 29–1 | Chesapeake Energy Arena Oklahoma City, OK |
| Mar 10, 2019 2:00 pm, FS1 | (1) No. 1 | vs. (5) Kansas State Semifinals | W 88–60 | 30–1 | Chesapeake Energy Arena Oklahoma City, OK |
| Mar 11, 2019 8:00 pm, FS1 | (1) No. 1 | vs. (2) No. 13 Iowa State Championship Game | W 67–49 | 31–1 | Chesapeake Energy Arena (3,272) Oklahoma City, OK |
| NCAA women's tournament ||||||
| Mar 23, 2019* 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1 G) No. 1 | (16 G) Abilene Christian First round | W 95–38 | 32–1 | Ferrell Center (6,669) Waco, TX |
| Mar 25, 2019* 8:00 pm, ESPN | (1 G) No. 1 | (8 G) California Second round | W 102–63 | 33–1 | Ferrell Center (5,367) Waco, TX |
| Mar 30, 2019* 1:00 pm, ESPN | (1 G) No. 1 | vs. (4 G) No. 15 South Carolina Sweet Sixteen | W 93–68 | 34–1 | Greensboro Coliseum (6,544) Greensboro, NC |
| Apr 1, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1 G) No. 1 | vs. (2 G) No. 8 Iowa Elite Eight | W 85–53 | 35–1 | Greensboro Coliseum (4,164) Greensboro, NC |
| Apr 5, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1 G) No. 1 | vs. (2 P) No. 7 Oregon Final Four | W 72–67 | 36–1 | Amalie Arena (20,062) Tampa, FL |
| Apr 7, 2019* 5:00 pm, ESPN | (1 G) No. 1 | vs. (1 C) No. 2 Notre Dame National Championship | W 82–81 | 37–1 | Amalie Arena (20,127) Tampa, FL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. G=Greensboro Region. All times are in Central Time. ||||||