BY THE NUMBERS
The reigning WBCA Defensive Player of the Year began the season with a frightening injury that left her temporarily paralyzed, but Richards recovered to play in 29 of 30 games for Baylor, bringing her trademark defensive intensity to the floor. She and her Lady Bears teammates held opponents to just 55.3 points per game, and Richards earned All-Big 12 Defensive Team honors for the third time. She also dished out a career-high 6.4 assists per game.
| CAREER COLLEGIATE STATISTICS | |||||||||||||||||||
| G | Min-MPG | FG-FGA | FG% | 3G-3GA | 3G% | FT-FTA | FT% | OR | DR | REB | RPG | PF | A | TO | B | S | Pts | PPG | |
| 2017-18 (Baylor) | 33-1 | 595 | 72-153 | .471 | 0-1 | .000 | 25-49 | .510 | 58 | 83 | 141 | 4.3 | 52-0 | 53 | 41 | 20 | 28 | 169 | 5.1 |
| 2018-19 (Baylor) | 38-38 | 1023 | 118-226 | .522 | 0-0 | —- | 38-67 | .567 | 66 | 76 | 142 | 3.7 | 88-1 | 155 | 61 | 17 | 55 | 274 | 7.2 |
| 2019-20 (Baylor) | 30-30 | 896 | 92-185 | .497 | 0-0 | —- | 62-80 | .775 | 49 | 97 | 146 | 4.9 | 61-1 | 170 | 58 | 25 | 52 | 246 | 8.2 |
| 2020-21 (Baylor) | 29-28 | 861 | 72-171 | .421 | 0-0 | —- | 40-61 | .656 | 22 | 75 | 97 | 3.3 | 49-1 | 187 | 72 | 20 | 34 | 186 | 6.4 |
| Totals | 130-97 | 3375 | 354-735 | .482 | 0-1 | .000 | 165-257 | .642 | 195 | 331 | 526 | 4.0 | 250-3 | 565 | 232 | 82 | 169 | 875 | 6.7 |
| HONORS |
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| Naismith Defensive Player of the Year | 2020 | |
| Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalist |
2021 |
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| Honorable Mention All-American |
2021 (USBWA) |
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| WBCA Defensive Player of the Year | 2020 | |
| Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year | 2020 |
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| Big 12 All-Defensive Team | 2019, 2020, 2021 |
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| All-Big 12 Second Team | 2020 | |
| Big 12 All-Rookie Team |
2018 |
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| Academic All-Big 12 First Team | 2019 | |
| Academic All-Big 12 Second Team | 2020 | |
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
“It’s her quickness. It’s her passion and energy on that end. When you watch her, she takes it personally on that end. In her mind, she can defend anyone in the country and stop them, And she wants that on her shoulders, She wants to defend the best player on the other team. So, it is just her mentality, her grit, She just works.”
~ The Athletic
“She works at it. To be a great defensive player, it has to be inside your soul. It has to be a personal thing. A lot of it is just will to do it … She’s a joy to coach. She has fire in her belly. She’s a fierce competitor. The kid takes charges in practice, the kid gets into it with teammates on trying to be competitive and get it going in practice. DiDi Richards, you never have to prod her to bring energy to the floor. It’s just who she is.”
~ Baylor Coach Kim Mulkey