Chuck Carlton

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WACO – As Kim Mulkey described what her team had endured this season, the Baylor women's basketball coach seemed on the verge of shedding a tear or two.

Those simply would have joined all the others.

"The situations we've had to deal with, the crying and the tears. I've shed more tears this year about things non-basketball related," Mulkey said this week. "We have a way to know when to grieve, know when to laugh, know when to be sad and know when to compete."

En route to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament and a meeting today with Louisville in the Raleigh Region, Baylor has faced a devastating family tragedy, two major injuries and a health scare to Mulkey on the eve of the tournament.

The most jarring incident was the December death of Shannan Barron, the mother of junior forward Morghan Medlock. Police in Little Rock, Ark., believe Barron was the victim of a murder-suicide involving her boyfriend.

Medlock received the news during Baylor's road trip to Oregon just before Christmas.

Mulkey immediately turned her attention from all her players to one. She comforted Medlock, allowed her to vent.

They hugged. They cried. They arranged care for Medlock's 12-year-old half-brother in Arkansas. The coach asked if Medlock wanted Baylor to cancel its game, or if Medlock wanted Mulkey to accompany her on a flight to Arkansas.

Mulkey's message: "This is about you today. This isn't about Baylor."

Medlock decided to stay for the moment. At practice, Mulkey saw a galvanized team.

"The main thing is I have my teammates," Medlock said after Baylor won the Big 12 tournament. "And they have – I don't even know how to say it – kept me up this entire way."

For Baylor, more was to come. Center Danielle Wilson, the team's leading scorer and rebounder, suffered a significant knee injury Feb. 28 in a win over Texas. Wilson hasn't played since. The injury was eerily reminiscent of a late-season torn ACL suffered by senior guard Jhasmin Player last season.

Forward Rachel Allison, a senior starter, will play against Louisville despite a strained left knee ligament.

"Somehow, through all the things we've gone through, it pulls us all closer together," Player said. "We huddle together and get things done."

Then there was Mulkey. Before the team left Waco for Lubbock and its first-round NCAA game, Mulkey, 46, underwent surgery for a painful kidney stone. In Lubbock, she was hospitalized before that first-round game, not feeling right.

Her blood work was troubling, resulting in several tests. The medical staff ran through options with Mulkey, including the possibility of sepsis and ovarian cancer.

Eventually, the diagnosis focused on a previously undiagnosed injury to the liver coupled with a reaction to the post-surgical medication. Mulkey returned to coaching in the second round, and her blood tests are improving.

"That might have been the most scared I've ever been," Mulkey said.

Improbably, Baylor kept winning.

"Regardless of what happens these next few days, this group has attached itself around my heart," Mulkey said, "because not many people could continue to win with this going on – and these kids have."

Raleigh Region (Raleigh, N.C.), 11 a.m. today

Notable: Balance has been a key for Baylor. Since the injury to center Danielle Wilson seven full games ago, five players have led the team in scoring. The Bears are making their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2006. Louisville may be better than a No. 3 seed indicates. Two losses have come to powerhouse Connecticut. Baylor coach Kim Mulkey compared 6-1 Louisville senior Angel McCoughtry (23.3 ppg) to former Texas Tech and WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes.

Up next: Winner of No. 1 Maryland and No. 4 Vanderbilt.

Chuck Carlton