Mulkey not with No. 3 Baylor after daughter lost unborn baby

WACO, Texas (AP) - Baylor coach Kim Mulkey didn't travel Friday with the No. 3 Lady Bears for their game at No. 8 UCLA after her daughter lost her unborn girl.

Makenzie Fuller, a former Lady Bears player in her third season on her mother's staff, had shared on social media last weekend that the baby was dealing with two life-threatening birth defects.

When Fuller went to a doctor's appointment Thursday, the baby had no heartbeat, said Jil Price, the athletics communications associate director for the team. Fuller, who was about 18 weeks pregnant, delivered the baby early Friday after labor was induced.

Associate head coach Bill Brock, who will coach the team Saturday, said Mulkey stayed home to be with her daughter and son-in-law, former Baylor football player Clay Fuller.

"Makenzie and Clay have had a difficult pregnancy," Brock said. "As any mother should be, (Mulkey) is with her right now by her side."

Mulkey and Makenzie Fuller had both previously posted on social media that the baby's heart didn't develop properly, a condition known as Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome. The baby, who the Fullers named Scout Marie, was also believed to have Turner syndrome, a chromosomal condition that alters development in females.

"This is our life and regardless of what the future holds, Scout will always be my first grandchild," Mulkey said in her post earlier this week.

Before the team boarded a plane for California on Friday, Brock said, "Clay and Makenzie covet your prayers, and I promise you this basketball team is going to go on the road and do their best to take care of business."

Brock said Mulkey informed the players before practice Thursday about what had happened. Fuller is associate director of basketball operations for the Lady Bears.

"Makenzie and Clay had talked to the team about the possibility that they might lose their child," Brock said. "So when it happened it was not a total shock, but obviously when she made the announcement, our girls took it really hard. We're a family."