Griner has career high in Baylor rout of Liberty

Baylor’s Brittney Griner shoots over a Liberty player.  Photo: © Cheryl Vorhis

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WACO, Texas – After breaking her school’s career shot-blocking record earlier in the week, Baylor center Brittney Griner continued her swatting ways with seven blocks in the Lady Bears’ 81-42 rout of the visiting Liberty Lady Flames. She also had a career high 35 points plus nine blocks on her stat line. The Baylor faithful braved a Central Texas cold snap and 6,492 fans showed up at the Ferrell Center on Friday night to support their team.

The chilly weather did not affect the shooting prowess of Baylor as the Lady Bears began the game on a 9-2 run. And within the first minute of the game, Griner’s block tally was already at three.

The Liberty players kept trying to shoot over the 6-8 sophomore.

“I just keep sending it back,” she said when asked whether or not she is surprised when much shorter players continue to try to shoot over her after getting their shots blocked.

At 12:24 Baylor led Liberty 26-7. The Lady Flames managed to get into double digits by the break with 21 on the scoreboard to Baylor’s 47. Baylor shot 66.7% from the floor in the first half and Griner had 23 points and six blocks.

Baylor reserves played for much of the second half but before they came in, Griner got the audience excited when she attempted a dunk at 14:32. It appeared to be a one-handed dunk but at the next media timeout, Baylor officials looked at a replay and changed it to a layup.

“Personally, I wasn’t going to count it as a dunk,” said Griner about the change. Baylor coach Kim Mulkey added: “I thought she did a good job finishing it up.”

For Liberty, Emily Frazier led the Lady Flames with eight points. The game in Waco was the second in a Texas road trip for the team. They lost to Texas A&M, 81-49, on Monday night in College Station.

For Baylor, the game was the second of three in the week. They defeated Texas Southern Tuesday night.

Baylor hosts Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday, November 28 at 2 p.m. CT.

Notes

• Brittney Griner has scored in double-figures in 40-of-42 career games, including all seven this season. It marked her third game in a row with 20+ points.
• Griner’s seven blocks gave her the fourth 5+ block game of the year and 26th of her career.
• Terran Condrey recorded season highs in assists (four) and rebounds (five) and tied a career high with two steals.
• Brooklyn Pope set new career highs in steals (three) and assists (three).
• Odyssey Sims (12 pts) recorded her fourth straight double-digit point performance.