Brittney Griner has 3 Dunks in Final Home Game
27 Mar, 2013
WACO, Texas (AP) — Brittney Griner caught the pass going toward the basket, took one more step without a dribble and finished with a one-handed slam dunk.
As impressive as that play was, it was only the first of three dunks for Griner in her final home game for Baylor.
In a farewell to remember for Griner and four other Lady Bears seniors, before a partisan crowd that included former President George W. Bush, the 6-foot-8 senior star also had 33 points and a career-high 22 rebounds. The defending national champions beat Florida State 85-47 Tuesday night to advance to the NCAA round of 16 for the fourth year in a row.
“Tonight felt like senior night. Tonight was better,” Griner said. “The three dunks. Just going out the way we did. Not everybody’s lucky, and we were. We gave the crowd a good game.”
After the first dunk, with about 4 minutes left in the first half for a 43-18 lead in a game that was quickly lopsided, Griner ran down the court with her mouth open while bobbing her head back and forth, and clearing enjoying the moment.
The former president may wish he had stayed in his seats behind the Baylor bench a little longer. Griner wasn’t finished after that highlight play, dunking twice in a 79-second span before coming out of the game for good after Bush had already left.
Freshman guard Niya Johnson had her second assist of a Griner dunk with 7:46 left. Then with 6:27 left, moments after an assist of her own, Griner grabbed the rebound of a missed 3-pointer between several defenders and went back up with a reverse slam.
Griner, the first woman ever with three dunks in a game, came out during a timeout less than a half-minute later.
Griner is the NCAA career blocks leader, the Big 12’s top scorer and her 18 dunks are three more than the combined total of the other six women who have dunked in college.
The Lady Bears (34-1) won their nation’s-best 57th home game in a row. They play Louisville (26-8) on Sunday night in Oklahoma City.
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