Dec. 5, 2009

Box Score

WACO - Brittney Griner scored 22 pionts, grabbed eight rebounds and recorded six blocks to lead 8th ranked Baylor to a 77-67 win over Louisiana Tech before 6,582 fans at the Ferrell Center Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Bears improved to 7-1 on the season although the win wasn't easy as LA Tech fought for 40 minutes before dropping its second game to a Top 10 team in five days.

And Griner's points didn't come easy. Tech All-American candidate Shanavia Dowdell battled the 6-foot-8-inch freshman center most of the night. In fact it wasn't until Dowdell was whistled for her third foul at the 8:25 mark of the first half that Baylor started to separate itself from LA Tech.

With Baylor leading 15-11 after a three-pointer by sophomore Jasmine Bendolph at the 9:21 mark of the opening half, Griner pulled down an offensive rebound and scored on the putback as the officials called the third personal foul of the game on Dowdell.

The call drew loud protest from Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon, who was assessed a technical foul. Dowdell had to sit, Baylor hit all three free throws and the five-point possession started a 17-1 run over the next two minutes as the Bears eventually led 43-24 at the half.

"I thought we were really battling with them up to that point," Weatherspoon said. "Shanavia was giving up six inches to (Griner) and had to be physical. It changed the complexion of the game for us when she picked up her third foul.

"Baylor is a very big, physical basketball team and when we had to go small, it made it tough. I thought Shanavia was doing a tremendous job against Griner up to that point. It was tough for us to match up the rest of the half."

Prior to Dowdell exiting the game, Griner and post teammate Morghan Medlock had only combined for eight points but the duo scored 15 the remainder of the half against the smaller LA Tech lineup.

Tech hit only 29 percent (10-34) of its field goals in the first half, including only 1-of-10 from beyond the arc, while Baylor hit 46 percent (16-35) of its shots.

The second half didn't start much better for LA Tech as Dowdell was called for her fourth personal foul at the 18:35 mark on a call away from the basketball once again trying to battle with Griner.

Weatherspoon chose to keep her senior in the game and the decision paid off as Dowdell scored 13 of her game-high 17 points the rest of the way while adding nine rebounds and two blocked shots.

"What people need to see Shanavia Dowdell for who she is . one of the best post players in the country," Weatherspoon said. "To have two post players like her and Adrienne Johnson doing what they are doing, that's special. They are undersized but they are still two of the best."

Baylor upped its advantage to as many as 24 at 53-29 with 15:44 to play before LA Tech started chipping away at the Bears lead. A 15-6 run by the Lady Techsters sparked by six points from Dowdell during a four-minute stretch trimmed the Baylor lead to 59-44 with 11:58 to play in the game.

The Bears would push the advantage out to 22 at 68-46 with 9:39 to play on a Shanay Washington layup before Tech closed the game on a 21-9 run - it all coming against Baylor's starters.

Tech shot 49 percent (16-33) from the field in the second half and scored 43 points over the final 20 minutes against a Baylor defense that ranked No. 1 in the country in field goal percentage defense. For the game, Tech hit 39 percent (26-67) of its field goals.

"We aren't about moral victories," Weatherspoon said. "However, our kids came in here and did exactly what we asked of them. The effort was there. We just have to learn that we have to do all the little things for 40 minutes in order to be successful.

"I saw some good things. We just have to continue to build on the little things and to get better as a team. These young ladies will continue working hard to do just that, and we will get better."

In addition to Dowdell's 17 points, Tarkeisha Wysinger came off the LA Tech bench to score 13 points and grab seven rebounds while battling against the bigger Baylor lineup. Whitney Jones and Johnson each added 11 points while Bendolph scored nine.

Medlock added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Bears.

Baylor only outrebounded LA Tech 41-40 in the game.

The Lady Techsters return to action Wednesday when they travel to Bowling Green to face Western Kentucky at 7 p.m.