Melissa Jones sets the tone for Baylor’s rout of Kansas

#1 Baylor 86, #8 Kansas 51

• Baylor Statistical Leaders: Destiny Williams (21 points, 9 rebounds), Brittney Griner (19 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks)
• Kansas Statistical Leaders: Monica Engelman (16 points), Tania Jackson (12 points, 5 rebounds)
• Officials: Laura Morris, Felicia Grinter, Michael Price
• Technical fouls: Kansas-None. Baylor-None.
• Box Score

Kansas City, MO – Kansas was no match for the number one seed in the Big 12 tournament Wednesday morning. Baylor tied the tournament record for the largest margin of victory in a second round game in their 86-51 rout of the Jayhawks. The margin is also tied for second in Big 12 championship history.

During the regular season, Baylor had another decisive victory over Kansas (76-37 on January 19 in Lawrence) but the Jayhawks indicated yesterday that they were ready for the Lady Bears. However, reality was a different story.

Led by the career-high performance of Destiny Williams who gave her team 21 points, Baylor came out strong spurred by a three-point shot from senior guard Melissa Jones who wore protective shades during the game. Within 20 seconds, Jones who suffered an eye injury two weeks ago, nailed the trey. Jones indicated that she still has trouble with her vision but finished the game with eight points and nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey expressed amazement post-game at Jones’ performance in light of her eye injury.

“She hit the first three of the game,” said Mulkey, “she gets the first rebound, that’s the story of the game. She can’t see. She’s gone from completely black seven days later to fuzzy black. And today she’s a little Catholic girl. It’s Ash Wednesday, she’ll be at mass at 5:15. She said Coach, ‘I can see light. If I’m headed toward a light, I can see something bright.’ I don’t even know if I described what I witnessed that kid doing today. So that’s what I want to say about Melissa Jones. That’s unbelievable.”

Baylor players Brittney Griner and Jones remarked on whether they thought Kansas might be a challenge in trying to get revenge for the lopsided victory in January.

“We really, you know, didn’t think about that first game,” said Griner. “We just came out like it was the first game we played against them. We just knew we had to come out and jump out ahead and keep strong. You know, when the team jumps on you hard in the beginning, and that’s what we were trying to do is get out and have intensity and just not give up.”

The teams went into the break with Baylor leading 43-19. The second half was more of the same. At 7:01, Baylor had a 39-point lead. Kansas managed to only trim four points off of the deficit before falling to the Lady Bears. The Jayhawks will most likely compete in the WNIT tournament.

With the win, Baylor improves to 29-2 and 7-5 in Big 12 Championship quarterfinal contests. They are now 18-12 all-time in Big 12 Championship games. Baylor will face Kansas State in the semifinals on Friday, March 11 at noon. The game will be televised on FSN.

Kansas dropped to 20-12 this season. The Jayhawks fell to 3-7 in Big 12 quarterfinal contests, including an 0-4 mark under head coach Bonnie Henrickson. Kansas is 10-15 in all-time Big 12 Championship contests.

Notes

• Baylor broke its single-season school record for 3-pointers. With five treys today, Baylor has recorded 165 this season, eclipsing the 2004-05 squad’s mark of 163.
• Baylor’s eight blocks today are tied for fourth on the Big 12 Championship quarterfinal record list.
• Odyssey Sims tied her career high with six assists.