(10) Oregon vs. (2) Baylor

After cruising through the first round with stout defense and one of their best offensive games of the season, Baylor hopes to continue its momentum when it meets upstart Oregon in the second round of the Tempe Regional.

Baylor held 15th-seeded Illinois State scoreless the first 5:35 and had its third-highest point total of the season en route to its 15th straight win, 91-70 in the first round Saturday.

“These players have been playing together for a while now and on the defensive end of the floor it’s almost magical. It’s fun for them, if you can believe that,” said Mulkey-Robertson, who has led the Lady Bears to the only four NCAA tournament trips in their history. “It’s really set the tone for us the last two weeks of the season.”

The Lady Bears held their previous three opponents to 54.6 points per game, but had subpar games on offense in that span, averaging 65.3 points—9.4 below their season average.

With Baylor’s strong inside duo of Sophia Young and Steffanie Blackmon leading the way, Baylor shot 51 percent from the field against Illinois State to end its offensive drought.

Young and Blackmon combined for 25 points in the first half and scored 12 of Baylor’s first 17 points against Illinois State’s zone defense.

Young finished with 21 points and made 11-of-13 free throws. It was her 41st consecutive game scoring in double figures. Blackmon had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

All 14 Baylor players saw action and 10 scored. No Baylor starter played more than 26 minutes, and most sat out the majority of the second half. Abiola Wabara had 15 points and Blackmon added 13 points and seven rebounds. Latoya Wyatt had 13 points and Chameka Scott made four 3-pointers to finish with 12.

This is the second time that Baylor is a No. 2 seed. The Lady Bears were a No. 2 seed in 2002, but lost at home to Drake in the second round.

Oregon got strong performances from two of its seniors in its first-round upset, a 58-55 win over seventh-seeded TCU on Saturday.

Cathrine Kraayeveld scored 23 points and Brandi Davis made two critical 3-point baskets to give the Ducks their first NCAA tournament win since 1999. Davis made a free throw with 10.1 seconds left, and TCU’s Ashley Davis missed a 3-point attempt as the buzzer sounded.

Andrea Bills had 10 points and eight rebounds, while Oregon point guard Corrie Mizusawa had eight assists, one more than the TCU team had.

Coach Bev Smith believes Oregon has the personnel to pull off another upset.

“That’s a great matchup for us, we both have strong inside games,” Smith said. “We are going to go to our strengths and we are going to have to defend their strengths in order to win that game.”

This is the first meeting between the teams.

The winner advances to face either sixth-seeded Virginia or No. 3 Minnesota in the regional semifinals in Tempe, Ariz. on Saturday.

PROBABLE STARTERS: Oregon - F Kristen Forristall (5.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg), F Kraayeveld (14.7 ppg, 8.3 rpg), C Bills (11.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg), G Mizusawa (4.8 ppg, 6.9 apg), G Davis (7.7 ppg, 1.8 rpg). Baylor - F Young (17.5 ppg and 9.3 rpg), F Wabara (5.3 ppg and 3.4 rpg), C Steffanie Blackmon (15.6 ppg and 8.3 rpg), G Chelsea Whitaker (4.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg and 5.5 apg), G Scott (7.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg and 2.0 apg).

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Oregon - At-large berth, Pac-10; beat No. 7 Texas Christian 58-55, first round. Baylor - At-large berth, Big 12; beat No. 15 Illinois State 91-70, first round.

ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: Oregon - 5-11, 12 years. Baylor - 4-3, 4 years.