By Wendell Barnhouse | wendell@big12sports.com
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – How do you beat perfect? Play perfect.
Baylor has played 34 games and won them all. The Lady Bears miss shots, commit turnovers, fail to block out on the boards. They just make those errors with regularity. And their opponents haven't been able to make fewer mistakes.
After scoring a Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Championship record 45 points in Friday's semifinal, Brittney Griner scored "just" 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting. That would seem to be part of a formula for an upset or at least a competitive game.
No. 3 seed Texas A&M couldn't take advantage because the Lady Bears are more than just Griner, who was named the most outstanding player. Sophomore Odyssey Sims scored a season-high 26 and Destiny "Double Double" Williams added 12 points and 11 rebounds as top-seeded Baylor defeated the Aggies, 73-50.
"Baylor's a great team," said Texas A&M's Kelsey Bone, who had 10 points and six rebounds. "After Brittney got 45, we made up our minds she wasn't going to do that. But great teams have other players who can step up. Today it was about the supporting cast."
Baylor won three games here by an average of 23 points. The Lady Bears' combination of balanced offense, stifling defense and relentless rebounding force their opponents to take advantage of every opportunity.
The Lady Bears (34-0) committed 20 turnovers but the Aggies turned them into only 15 points. Texas A&M launched six more shots but shot just 27.9 percent from the field. Two sequences illustrated why the Aggies struggled to make a strong run.
Trailing 39-24 early in the second half, Sims missed a 3-pointer and Skylar Collins had a run-out layup. She missed. Sydney Carter had a follow shot. She missed. And Griner scored on Baylor's next possession. After the Lady Bears had pushed their edge to 59-30, Bone had a steal and a breakaway but Sims picked her clean, then went the other way for a spinning layup.
"I knew I turned it over, I had to get back on defense," Sims said. "I saw an opportunity to go steal it. The rest of it happened too fast for me to remember."
Griner, who had six blocked shots and broke her own Big 12 Championship record with 18 blocks in three games, made her first shot of the game but missed six of eight attempts the rest of the way.
"I've said it all season, it's not 'Brittney Griner' and Baylor, it's 'Baylor,'" Griner said. "We're a team. Everybody contributes. I love games like this, watching my teammates score. This is a special team."
Baylor broke fast, taking a 17-2 lead in the first six minutes. As Texas A&M (11-10) coach Gary Blair pointed out, the Aggies played the rest of the half even.
"I thought we had a chance," said Blair, whose team pulled within 17-11 in the first half and trailed 35-20 at halftime. "If we would have got it down to a nine- or 10-point game … but the first five minutes of the second half was all Baylor. And you just give them credit."
The 23-point margin was the most lopsided result in Big 12 Championship history. The Lady Bears have won two titles in a row and four overall, equaling Oklahoma for the most in conference history. In 21 victories over Big 12 foes this season, Baylor has won by an average margin of 23.8 points.
"We played the best basketball team in the country and we hope they win the national championship," said Blair, whose team made its fifth consecutive – and final – appearance in the Big 12 Championship game. "We will defend our national championship. But playing Baylor makes us better, shows us our weaknesses. I'm not sure we make them better."
That pretty much sums up the feeling of the other teams in the Big 12.
All-Tournament
team
Brittney Griner, Baylor*
Destiny Williams, Baylor
Odyssey Sims, Baylor
Kelsey Bone, Texas A&M
Whitney Hand, Oklahoma
* - Most outstanding player