Women's Tournament 2012 Bracket: Brittney Griner Has Baylor Bound for Glory
They just don't make 'em like Brittney Griner in women's college basketball anymore.
Or ever, really.
The star center for the top-seeded Baylor Lady Bears stands at a full 6'8 and 208 pounds in the post, and is anything but a big lug who takes up space.
The two-time All-American and two-time Big 12 Player of the Year has averaged 23.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 5.2 blocks—including a 23-point, 15-rebound, nine-block party against Tennessee on Monday—while leading Kim Mulkey's club to a 38-0 record and a second Final Four appearance in three years.
Griner's as skilled and athletic a forward on the offensive end as you'll find in the women's game, already highlighting with two dunks through the 2012 NCAA Tournament so far.
But Griner's biggest impact undoubtedly comes on the defensive, where she roams the paint as an intimidator and enforcer, swatting back shots with reckless abandon.
She set the single-season record for blocked shots...as a freshman, and is already second on the all-time blocks list.
And it's not as though Baylor is a one-trick pony, either.
Should Griner ever falter, the Lady Bears can rely on Odyssey Sims, a second-team All-American in her own right, to pick up the slack, especially after leading all scorers with 27 points against the Lady Vols in the Elite Eight.
That being said, Baylor's march to the national championship will be anything but a cake walk from here on out.
The Lady Bears will have to contend with 35-1 Stanford, which sports two All-Americans of its own in Nnemkadi and Chiney Ogwumike, before (likely) facing either Connecticut or Notre Dame.
Granted, Baylor has already beaten the latter two this season, though doing so again in Denver will be a different story entirely.
All told, don't be surprised if Baylor claims its second national championship next week, with Brittney Griner lifting the trophy high over everyone else's heads.
