No.1 Ranked Baylor Lady Bears Blows Past Howard Lady Bison

Howard Lady Bison 28, Baylor Lady Bears 82

Box Score | Quotes | Notes Photo Gallery  | Highlights

Waco, Texas -- Howard trailed No. 1 Baylor even before tipoff because of a technical foul. Things only got worse in the season opener once Brittney Griner and the Lady Bears really got their hands on the ball.

Baylor scored the game's first 28 points, including the technical free throw because Howard didn't turn in its starting lineup in time, and went on to an 82-28 victory in a preseason WNIT game Friday night.

"When you're playing the No. 1 team in the country, and there's not another team in the country that has a 6-8 in the middle who can do what (Griner) does," Howard coach Niki Reid-Geckeler said. "They came out and controlled the game from the beginning."



Griner began her junior season with 22 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocked shots and Baylor easily won its first season opener as a No. 1 team. Griner, the 6-foot-8 phenon who was a unanimous preseason AP All-America selection, had nine points in Baylor's opening 11-minute surge that matched Howard's scoring total for the entire game.

"It feels good to be back on the court," Griner said. "Definitely, I remember that last game, I wish we could start in March."

During pregame, the Lady Bears unveiled three more banners in the rafters -- one each for their Big 12 regular season championship, Big 12 tournament title and making it to another NCAA regional final.

READ MORE

Baylor sets NCAA record in blowout basketball win over PVAMU

WACO, TX — Brittney Griner and top-seeded Baylor took Prairie View to a record-breaking NCAA tournament low. Griner and Brooklyn Pope each had 17 points as the Lady Bears opened the NCAA tournament at home with the expected lopsided victory, 66-30 Sunday night when Prairie View's miserable shooting translated into the lowest-scoring half ever in the tournament.

Things couldn't have gone any worse for SWAC champion Prairie View (21-12), which missed its first 12 shots before Waco native Robin Jones finally made a layup more than 9 minutes into the game. Baylor (32-2), which plays West Virginia (24-9) on Tuesday night, already had a 16-0 lead by then.

The Lady Bears, who went to the Final Four last season when the 6-foot-8-inch Griner was a freshman, led 34-8 at halftime.

Top-seeded Baylor women pound Prairie View 66-30

WACO - The Prairie View A&M Panthers knew they faced a tall task - literally and figuratively - in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Not only were the SWAC champions the No. 16 seed taking on a No. 1 seed (Baylor), led by 6-8 Nimitz product Brittney Griner, but they’d have to do so on the Bears’ home floor. What the Panthers didn’t expect was to struggle hitting shots - and that ultimately squashed any hopes of an upset.

The Bears eliminated the Panthers with a dominating 66-30 win before 8,368 on Sunday at the Ferrell Center. Baylor (32-2) will meet West Virginia in the second round of the Dallas Region at 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday at the Ferrell Center.

Prairie View's 8 first-half points fewest in NCAAs

WACO, Texas - Prairie View has scored the fewest points ever in a half of an NCAA women's tournament game. The SWAC champion Lady Panthers trailed top-seeded Baylor 34-8 at halftime in the first-round game Sunday night. Prairie View was 3-of-27 shooting in the first half and missed its first 12 shots before Waco native Robin Jones scored on a layup for the Lady Panthers to make it 18-2.

READ MORE, CLICK EACH TITLE.

Bracing for Brittney, Prairie View A&M takes the challenge

PVAMU Coach Toyelle Wilson

WACO, TX — Prairie View A&M had some fun at practice this week trying to simulate what it will take to get off a shot against the Big 12 champion Baylor Lady Bears and 6-8 center Brittney Griner. Assistant coach Rob Amboree, who is 6-5, held up a hitting pad to make the Lady Panthers shoot over it.

PVAMU vs. #1 Baylor
Time: 7:30 p.m. E.T.
TV: ESPN2
Internet: ESPN2 - Click Here

“She alters the game,” first-year Prairie View coach Toyelle Wilson said. “You’ve got to prepare for that.”

Ready or not, 16th-seeded Prairie View will take on No. 1 Baylor on Sunday at 6:40 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. Going into the unveiling of the bracket earlier this week, Wilson said she was hoping to see her Southwestern Athletic Conference champions matched against a team other than Baylor because of Griner’s potential to make it so difficult to score.

Top-seeded Baylor very good _ and still very young; Griner among 9 Lady Bears’ underclassmen

WACO, Texas — Baylor went to the Final Four last season when Brittney Griner was a freshman. This time, the Lady Bears are a No. 1 seed for the first time with freshman starting point guard Odyssey Sims.  The Big 12 champions are very good — and still very young.

The 6-foot-8 Griner is among seven sophomores for the Lady Bears (31-2), who open the NCAA tournament against SWAC champion Prairie View (21-11) on Sunday night at home, where they are 19-0 this season.

Gifted Griner Wants to Do Even More for Baylor

Brittney Griner has already had an impact on women's basketball like few players before her. The 6-foot-8 Griner can dunk, rebound, block shots and alter games with her imposing presence in the lane. Yet as dominating as she has been in her two seasons for the Baylor Lady Bears, she isn't so sure she has lived up to the billing.

"I don't think I'm as good as what everybody says I am," Griner said. "I think I'm alright."

Baylor has already been to a Final Four with Griner, making it last year when she was a freshman on a team that had lost its top four scorers from the previous season. This year, the Lady Bears were Big 12 regular season and tournament champions and are a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament for the first time.

READ MORE, CLICK EACH TITLE.

16th-seeded Prairie View women to face No. 1 Baylor in tourney

The Prairie View A&M Panthers’ anxiety over learning their destination in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament disappeared mere minutes into Monday evening’s selection show on ESPN.
Their name appeared underneath first-round opponent and No. 1 seed Baylor on the flat screens at Buffalo Wild Wings in Cypress, and the attendants at the Panthers’ selection show watch party roared in jubilation.

The 16th-seeded Panthers (21-11) will start their NCAA Tournament run against the Bears (31-2) in the Dallas Region at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Ferrell Center in Waco. The winner advances to face the victor of Sunday’s earlier matchup between No. 8 seed Houston (26-5) and No. 9 seed West Virginia (23-9).



Baylor No. 1 NCAA seed at home vs. Prairie View

Baylor is a No. 1 seed for the first time and playing at home to start this year's NCAA women's tournament.

The Big 12 champion Lady Bears (31-2) open this year's tournament Sunday against SWAC champion Prairie View (21-11). If they want to make it to the Final Four for the second year in a row, there is the real possibility that they will have to beat Big 12 runner-up Texas A&M for...

READ MORE, CLICK EACH TITLE.