Brittney Griner had 31 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks to lift No. 3 Baylor to a 61-58 victory Saturday over No. 8 Texas A&M for the Big 12 tournament title.
Griner’s points and blocks were Big 12 championship game records. The Lady Bears (31-2) defeated the Aggies (27-5) for the third time this season.
The Aggies’ Danielle Adams, the conference leading scorer at 23 points per game, was held to 12 points on 4-of-19 shooting. Adams missed a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left that would have tied the game.
Baylor last won the Big 12 championship in 2009.
Texas A&M stunned Baylor by taking a 12-0 lead that featured excellent defense by the Aggies’ guards. Sydney Colson and Sydney Carter combined for six steals in the first half and were quick to collapse in the post when Griner put the ball on the floor.
The Lady Bears didn’t score a point in the opening 4:50, but began to chip away at the deficit after a short jumper by Destiny Williams ended the scoring drought. The Lady Bears used a 23-6 run to move ahead 23-18 with 5:22 left in the half.
The 6-foot-8 Griner started slowly, but came on later in the half as Texas A&M tried different defenders. Griner finished the half with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting after a 1-for-5 start.
Texas A&M closed within 30-28 at the break.
Adams took just three shots in the first half with Griner lurking in the lane. The Lady Bears got back in the game with a big lift from reserve Kimetria Hayden, who had eight points in 15 first-half minutes. She finished with 10.
Tyra White added 12 points for the Aggies.
Up next, A&M will learn its postseason fate as the 2011 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship field of 64 is announced on Monday, March 14 on ESPN at 6 p.m. (CT).
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the 22nd time this season, Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Sydney Colson, Sydney Carter, Tyra White, Adaora Elonu and Danielle Adams. The Aggies are 17-5 with this starting lineup.
• Texas A&M is now 35-47 in the all-time series with Baylor. Ten of the last 11 contests in the series have been decided by nine points or less. The Aggies are 0-4 against the Lady Bears all-time in the Big 12 Championship.
• The Aggies move to 2-2 all-time when playing in the finals. They are 2-1 all-time against the No. 1 seed and still boast the best tournament record of any league school (12-4) over the last five years. and 13-13 in all-time Big 12 Championship games.
• A&M is the first school in Big 12 history with four straight Big 12 Championship final appearances (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011).
• The three-point Baylor victory represents the smallest winning margin in a Big 12 Championship title game since Iowa State defeated Oklahoma, 68-65, in 2001.
• Texas A&M recorded 21 offensive rebounds, which ranks second in Big 12 Championship game history.
• A&M has forced 20 or more turnovers in its last three games, including 31 against Texas, 20 versus Oklahoma and 22 against Baylor. The last time Baylor had 20+ turnovers was against the Aggies on Jan. 23.
• Sydney Carter matched her career-best with four steals in the first half alone. She finished with a career-high six steals which are tied for the Big 12 Championship game record and rank tied for fifth on the all-time Big 12 Championship single-game record chart. She recorded 13 steals for the tournament, which is an individual Big 12 Championship series record.
• Danielle Adams has now scored in double figures in 40 of the last 41 games, including eight straight.
• Danielle Adams and Tyra White were named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team. Adams led the team with 17 points and nine rebounds per game, while White was second with 14.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Both players all made the all-tournament team for the second consecutive year.