NCAA suspends Baylor coach Kim Mulkey one postseason game for ripping refs

Baylor's Kim Mulkey was suspended one postseason game by the NCAA for ripping refs. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

The next time the Baylor women's basketball team makes the NCAA Tournament, they will be without their head coach for the first game.

The NCAA suspended Bears coach Kim Mulkey for one tournament game and reprimanded her for ripping the officials after Baylor lost in the Sweet 16 to Louisville last season.

Baylor entered the game 34-1 and was the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. Mulkey was upset after an offensive foul call with 40 seconds left in game and proceeded to rip off her blazer and go toward an official. Baylor eventually lost the game 82-81. Louisville went on to the national title game, where they lost to Connecticut.

"I'll be glad to answer any referee question you want to ask me, because I don't mind getting fined, so ask me. Now is the time to ask me, okay?" Mulkey said.

Then, when asked to comment on the officiating, Mulkey  said: "I thought the game started out way too physical, way too physical. I thought that all three of them, if they go past this round of officiating, it will be sad for the game.

The NCAA said that type of treatment of the officials won't be tolerated.

"The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee noted this is the latest misconduct act by Mulkey during the past several championships and believes a more stringent penalty is appropriate to prevent these actions from continuing," the NCAA said in a press release. "She also received a public reprimand for comments to the media following the 2011 championship. Mulkey's misconduct led the committee to issue her a one-game NCAA postseason championship suspension as well as the withholding of Baylor's team championship per diem during the regional round of play."