The NCAA basketball season continues because “almighty dollar” trumps health

Baylor women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey, who returned to the sidelines for the first time since December 19 on Saturday, said she feels physically well after experiencing COVID-19. But when asked if she’s worried about the end of the season during a pandemic, she didn’t mince words.

“The answer is this: the season continues. It’s called the almighty dollar,” Mulkey said after the Lady Bears lost 75-71 to Iowa State in Waco, Texas, ending the longest current winning streak in Women’s Division I. basketball at 61 games. “The NCAA must have the all-powerful dollar of the men’s tournament. The all-powerful dollar is more important than the health and well-being of me, the players, or anyone else.

One conference does this, one conference does that. The CDC says this. Everyone’s confused. I’m confused. I feel uncomfortable with coaching. I get it, COVID is real. I’ve had it – come on “Talk to me. But I don’t know … all the calls and procedures, that goes on and makes it unusual, uncomfortable for any program. We’re no different at Baylor.”

Mulkey contracted COVID-19 on Christmas Day after contacting a family member who tested positive. She missed No. 6 Baylor’s most recent game, January 2 at TCU, and then rejoined the team for practice on January 4 after multiple negative tests.

But after a positive test of that day’s tests, the entire Baylor schedule continued on January 5, canceling the Lady Bears vs. UConn showdown on January 7 and the Big 12 games against Kansas State (January 10) and Kansas (January 13). Baylor, 8-2, was without guard DiJonai Carrington and attacker Caitlin Bickle on Saturday, as those players are still in quarantine.

The rest of the Baylor players came out of hiatus on Friday and had their first practice in two weeks with Mulkey on game day. She gave the Cyclones all the credit for ending Lady Bears’ streak, saying Baylor could probably beat some opponents in that little preparation, but not Iowa State.

“That team has three tips that expose us – that team has great coaching,” she said. “It was the perfect timing for what you saw happen.”

Saturday was only the second time that the Cyclones won in Waco; the first was in 1997, in the first season of the Big 12. Mulkey praised Cyclones star Ashley Joens (27 points, 12 rebounds) and coach Bill Fennelly, who also beat Baylor 57-56 last March in Ames, Iowa. In that game, Joens hit the winning free throw to end the winning streak of the Lady Bears ’58 game Big 12 regular-season.

Baylor’s loss on Saturday meant the two longest active home games in women’s basketball came to an end in the same week. The women of Iowa, who were second behind Baylor with 42 wins in a row, lost to Ohio on Wednesday in extension.

It was a huge win for Iowa State (9-4) against the team that has won or shared the past 10 Big 12 regular season titles and has three NCAA championships. Joens, a junior guard / forward, is the Big 12’s top scorer with 24.6 points per game. That 1997 cyclone victory in Waco came before she was born.

“It feels really good to be able to win this way,” said Joens. “Everyone did their job, everyone did their best. Knowing that we can compete with teams like this at the highest level, it gives us a bit of that confidence for the rest of the season.”