Griner's 29 points lead No. 1 Baylor to 20th win

Griner's 29 points lead No. 1 Baylor to 20th win

Published Feb. 12, 2011 9:08 p.m. ET

Brittney Griner scored 29 points, missed a dunk and outscored Texas by herself in the first half, leading the top-ranked Lady Bears to their 20th straight victory with a 96-68 rout on Saturday.

She added 12 rounds for her 23rd career double-double and had seven blocked shots. She didn't play the final 10 minutes of the lopsided game.

The Lady Bears (23-1, 10-0 Big 12) were in control by halftime with a 50-22 lead. Griner already had 23 points, making 8 of 9 shots and all seven free throws to go with seven rebounds and six blocks.

Texas (16-8, 5-5) had won five in a row.

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Griner, who had four dunks last season, had the ball on the baseline midway through the first half. The 6-foot-8 sophomore sensation went up from basically a standing position, but the ball didn't quite get over the rim. Griner still scored, grabbing the miss for a quick putback and a 20-12 lead.

That was one of Griner's three rebounds in a 46-second span, and part of a 38-10 run by Baylor to end the first half after the game was tied for the only time at 12.

Griner finished 9-of-11 shooting and made all 11 of her free throws before coming out of the game with 10:25 remaining to a raucous ovation from the sellout crowd of 10,295.

Melissa Jones, the only senior starter for Baylor, had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Odyssey Sims had 14 points and six assists.

Ashleigh Fontenette led Texas with 23 points and Chassidy Fussell had 11 on 4-of-17 shooting.

It is the first time the Lady Bears have won 20 consecutive games in the same season since their national championship season of 2004-05. That was part of their school-record 30-game winning streak that included the first 10 games in 2005-06.

Baylor will have a quick turnaround with a home game Monday night against sixth-ranked Texas A&M. When the teams played two weeks ago in College Station, the Lady Bears won 63-60 - their only victory by less than 11 points. Their only loss was by one point at then-No. 1 Connecticut, the two-time defending national champion, the first week of the season.

Texas tied the game at 12 with 13:50 left in the first half when Kristen Nash made a spin move around defenders in the lane for a short basket.

Sims then had a steal, driving for a layup and making a free throw after being fouled on the play. A short turnaround jumper by Griner soon after made it 18-12.

Then came Griner's spurt with three quick rebounds and the missed dunk. One of the rebounds led to a 3-pointer by Jones, and the two combined several more times.

Jones grabbed a rebound after Griner blocked a shot, then got the ball back to Griner for a basket and free throw.

Baylor pushed the lead to more than 20 points for the first time when Jones had an assist on Griner's short baseline turnaround jumper that made it 37-16 with just under 5 minutes left in the first half.

In the closing spurt of the half, Griner came out of a crowd with a defense rebound. She palmed the ball in her right hand and held it high over her head as Baylor called timeout with 11 seconds remaining to set up a final play.

Jones missed a 3-pointer from the right corner, but the ball ricocheted of the rim to Griner on the other side of the basket. Griner made the jumper as the buzzer sounded.

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