Lob & Kritik » stretch of three games versus SWAC opponents, and

WACO, Texas -- Baylor and Texas Southern dont have much in common in the win-loss column, but dig a little deeper and the Bears and Tigers show some striking resemblances.While fourth-ranked Baylor (11-0) is undefeated and Texas Southern (4-8) is fighting to get out of its current seven-game losing streak, they are similar in their ambitious schedules to this point.Those schedules intersect when the Bears and Tigers meet at 7:30 ET on Wednesday night in Waco.Baylor has won four games this season against top-25 opponents, including three versus top-10 foes. But the Bears 34th-ranked strength-of-schedule is seven notches behind Texas Southern at the moment.The Tigers have already played three games against top-25 competition, losing to No. 16 Arizona, No. 11 Louisville and No. 25 Cincinnati. Texas Southern lost those games by an average margin of more than 30 points, but at least the Tigers shouldnt be intimidated by Baylor.It definitely gets you ready to play a team like that with the style of play that Baylor plays, Texas Southern coach Mike Davis said. Its similar to what Cincinnati plays. In our conference, we have a lot of teams that play zone. Thats one of the reasons I like playing Baylor just because of the style of play.Texas Southern and Baylor have a common opponent in Louisville. The Cardinals defeated the Tigers 102-71 on Dec. 10. Baylor trailed Louisville by 22 points before coming back for a 66-63 victory on Nov. 25.Baylor and Texas Southern have one more similarity in that they each packed a bunch of games between final exams and Christmas break. The Bears are playing their fourth game in eight days while the Tigers are playing their fourth in nine days.Baylor is in a stretch of three games versus SWAC opponents, and it has another against an NAIA program in John Brown University. Conversely, Texas Southern battled with Cincinnati, LSU and TCU.Bears coach Scott Drew expects a postseason-like battle on the court.Mike Davis does a great job X-and-O wise, brings in a lot of good talent and theyve had a lot of great wins, especially this time of year, Drew said. The other night its a one-point game with about a minute to go at LSU. Then they played a back-to-back, which is really hard. This is a team that most people think will be in the NCAA Tournament.Texas Southerns two-day gauntlet of playing LSU and TCU was made more difficult by playing both games on the road.I thought we did a great job at LSU, but unfortunately we had to play the next day at TCU, Davis said. We had a bus ride for six hours, getting in a 3:30 in the morning. It was really unfair to TCU because we didnt give them anything from a basketball standpoint.This will also be both teams final tune-up before conference play begins.Baylor opens Big 12 action at Oklahoma on Dec. 30. Texas Southern starts SWAC play at Alcorn State on Jan. 2.Hopefully (the Baylor players) can enjoy family and friends, then on the 26th its on to the grind of the Big 12, Drew said. Its all business from there on out. Custom Muggsy Bogues Jersey . Jane Virtanen scored two, and Alex Roach and Elliott Peterson rounded out the offence for the Hitmen (40-15-6). Brady Brassart chipped in with three assists. Colton McCarthy scored twice, Brayden Point had a goal and two assists, and Jack Rodewald also scored for the Warriors (15-35-9), who were 2 for 5 on the power play. Custom Hornets T-shirts . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. http://www.customhornetsjersey.com/ . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. Custom Hornets Jersey China . -- Nathan Pancel scored twice as the Sudbury Wolves defeated the North Bay Battalion 4-2 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Custom Hornets Jerseys . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. "I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No. NEW YORK -- Venus Williams lost her fourth-round match in Arthur Ashe Stadium when, minutes later, younger sister?Serena?walked somber-faced into the same venue.On cue, the note from research appeared in an email: The Williams sisters have lost on the same day in a Grand Slam only four times.The last time it happened was two years ago at the French Open, but it didnt happen Monday at the US Open. Not even close.Serena came down hard on Kazakhstans Yaroslava Shvedova 6-2, 6-3 in a scant 68 minutes.The victory, in her 350th Grand Slam singles match, pushed Williams major match win total to 308, past Roger Federer for the all-time record.Oh, wow, Serena said in her on-court interview when given the news. Three-o-eight sounds pretty good.Who will wind up with more?I dont know, she said. Well see. Hopefully well both keep going.Serena has now won 30 of her past 31 matches at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.A few more takeaways from the match:Serenas serve was sizzling: Yes, shes already widely acknowledged as having the best serve in the history of womens tennis. But Williams, who turns 35 near the end of the month, can still hammer it. She won an incredible 93 percent of her first serves, 28 of 30. There were shoulder concerns coming into this event, but on the last point of the first game of the second set, Serena clocked an ace down the middle, at 126 mph. It was the fastest womans serve of the tournament, and her fastest by five mph. For the tournament, shes unbrokenn and has faced only one break point.ddddddddddddI cant really believe it, Serena said afterward. Ive never served this consistently.Better than Federer: Serenas Grand Slam match win record is intriguing, but it also underlines just how well shes played after turning 30. This was her 100th match win since she crossed the three-decade mark; the record is a sporty 100-10. Federer is 84-18. Serena leads in 30-something major titles, 9-1.Shvedova was under-served: Shvedova, who lost to Venus in this years Wimbledon quarterfinals, looked like the WTAs No. 52-ranked player against Serena. Shvedova was in constant difficulty on her serve, particularly her toss. Shvedova lost 14 of her 25 second-serve points and double-faulted five times.Next up in the quarters: Serena has beaten the No. 5 Simona Halep seven of eight times, the most recent coming at Indian Wells back in March. Serena won comfortably, 6-4, 6-3.The drama of whos No. 1: With No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber into the quarterfinals, Serena needs at least to reach the final to have a chance of hanging on to her No. 1 ranking. Technically, Agnieszka Radwanksa is still in the mix. too. Serena has been No. 1 for 186 consecutive weeks, equaling Steffi Grafs Open era record. Williams is seeking her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, which would break her tie with Graf and give her the all-time Open era record. ' ' '