NCAA First Round - Des Moines Region   1 2 FINAL UC Santa Barbara 16 24 40 Baylor 46 35 81 Video Highlights  |  Box Score  |  Buy Baylor Basketball Gear    Quick Stats UCSB Baylor Points 40 81 FG Made - Attempted 16-60 27-46 FG Percentage .267 .587 3PT Made - Attempted 2-14 4-8 3PT Percentage .143 .500 FT Made - Attempted 6-7 23-26 FT Percentage .857 .639 Rebounds 30 40 Turnovers 16 13    Statistical Leaders UC Santa Barbara Pts Rbs Asst St Blk  Emilie Johnson 10 2 0 0 0  Kirsten Tilleman 8 8 1 1 1 Baylor Pts Rbs Asst St Blk  Brittney Griner 14 3 2 0 3  Destiny Williams 12 5 0 0 0    Related Links  ♦ Big 12 Championship Central | Season Stats | Media Guide  ♦ Big 12 Mobile Apps | Big 12 Digital Network  ♦ Big 12 Report - presented by Dr Pepper

By Wendell Barnhouse | wendell@big12sports.com
Big12Sports.com Correspondent

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Games in March Madness typically involve drama. Even if one team gets off to a hot start, it doesn't guarantee its opponent can or will give up hope.

Baylor's top-seeded, top-ranked, undefeated women's team destroys theories as easily as it defeats opponents. In the first four minutes of the women's NCAA Tournament first-round game here Sunday, there was little doubt that the Lady Bears would win and advance.

At the first media timeout, No. 16 UC Santa Barbara trailed 10-0. The Gauchos had as many turnovers as shot attempts; two of those turnovers were shot-clock violations. It was soon obvious that the Big West Conference team was facing a challenge it couldn't overcome.

"We played against maybe the eventual national champion," Gauchos (17-16) coach Carlene Mitchell said. "We were outmanned at every position. That was pretty obvious."

Baylor (35-0) will face No. 9 Florida, a 70-65 winner over No. 8 Ohio State, at 6 p.m. Tuesday here at the Stroh Center. The winner advances to the Sweet 16 at the Des Moines Regional.

A victory that was never in doubt provided teachable moments for Baylor coach Kim Mulkey. Sophomore point guard Odyssey Sims didn't start and entered the game with 14:08 left in the first half.

"Coach's decision," Mulkey said. "She knows what she did. Other coaches might look the other way but I'm old school."

And there were times in the first 20 minutes when the Lady Bears lacked the laser-intense focus that will be needed over the next three weeks.

"We let them score at the end of the half," Mulkey said. "A close game down the road, that could be crucial ... you're always coaching 'em."

In addition to Baylor's stifling defense, the 30-second shot clock was not on the Gauchos' side. Most possessions, they were faced with single-digits on the clock and nowhere to go. Did it seem like the shot clock was running double time? Senior point guard Emilie Johnson, the only UCSB player in double figures with 10, smiled ruefully.

"That's my job to not get us in those situation," she said.

"We couldn't even get entry passes to the wings," Mitchell said. "That's a basic part of our offense and it made it extremely tough. We got the ball stuck with our point guard, who was giving up size so we couldn't try to drive."

At halftime, UCSB was 6-of-27 from the floor (22.2 percent) with 10 turnovers. Half of those were shot-clock violations. It was apparent this game would not involve any end-game drama or historic upset.

"We had been waiting for this game for the longest time," Baylor's Destiny Williams said. "We wanted to release it on the other team. We put a lot of emphasis on our defense. We like to intimidate with our defense and I thought we did that."

UCSB scored on consecutive possessions just three times and finished shooting 26.7 percent. The Gauchos finished with as many turnovers (16) as field goals.

"Championships are won on defensive end of the floor," Mulkey said. "You're always proud when you get shot clock violations. They run an offense that keeps teams on defense for 30 seconds. We played defense for the full shot clock."

Notes
* Baylor played 11 with 12 being the fewest minutes for any player. All but one scored. The Lady Bears reserves took the floor with 16:12 remaining and played the rest of the game.

* The highlight of the second half for Baylor was Lindsay Palmer's 30-foot 3-pointer to beat the shot clock with just under a minute to play. "Lindsey's 3 was amazing," said Brittney Griner who scored 14 points in 22 minutes. "We were very excited to see that."

* Griner was stumped when asked the last time she spent the last 16 minutes of a game watching from the bench. "I couldn't tell you," she said after a long pause. "But I definitely enjoyed it."

* Brooklyn Pope had 13 points and a game-high seven rebounds in 22 minutes, the most for any Baylor player.

* Baylor freshman Sune Agbuke had a career-high 11 points. She made 7-of-9 free throws. But Mulkey was most happy that Agbuke didn't commit a foul in her 12 minutes on the floor.

* The four No. 1 seeds in the women's tournament won by 41 (Baylor 81, UC Santa Barbara 40), 36 (Connecticut 83, Prairie View 47), 31  (Notre Dame 74, Liberty 43) and 22 (Stanford 73, Hampton 51).

* Baylor's 81 points are the most that UCSB allowed this season.

* Baylor's 58.7 percent field goal percentage fell just short of the school record for an NCAA Tournament game. Last year against Green Bay the Lady Bears shot 58.9 percent from the field.