NCAA Second Round - Des Moines Region   1 2 FINAL Florida 26 35 57 Baylor 31 41 76 Video Highlights  |  Box Score  |  Buy Baylor Basketball Gear    Quick Stats Florida Baylor Points 57 76 FG Made - Attempted 23-70 24-55 FG Percentage .329 .436 3PT Made - Attempted 4-19 4-10 3PT Percentage .211 .400 FT Made - Attempted 7-12 24-33 FT Percentage .583 .727 Rebounds 43 43 Turnovers 18 15    Statistical Leaders Florida Pts Rbs Asst St Blk  Azania Stewart 14 4 3 1 1  Lanita Bartley 10 7 3 3 0 Baylor Pts Rbs Asst St Blk  Brittney Griner 25 9 4 1 6  Destiny Williams 11 13 2 1 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 - Before each of Baylor's games here in the Stroh Center, Brittney Griner through down some dunks in warm ups. The locals who had yet to witness a woman throwing down "ooooed and "aaaahed" as though they were witnessing a Fourth of July fireworks display.

The 4,097 in the building and those watching on ESPNU witnessed slam dunk history. On the Lady Bears' third possession of the second half, Griner took a pass from Kimetria Hayden, drop stepped and made the second dunk in women's NCAA Tournament history.

"I could tell the fans enjoyed it when I dunked in warm ups," said Griner, who has dunked six times in her career. "I think the team got fired up from that but I got fired up on one of my blocks."

Griner is the NCAA Tournament career leader with 71 rejections. Her stat line against the Gators: 25 points, nine rebounds, six blocks, four assists and a steal. Tennessee's Candace Parker dunked twice against Army in a 2006 NCAA Tournament game.

That top-seeded Baylor advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 76-57 victory over ninth-seeded Florida (20-13) Tuesday night. The Lady Bears will face No. 4 seed Georgia Tech Saturday in the semifinals of the Des Moines Regional. The Yellow Jackets (26-8) advanced with a 76-64 victory over No. 5 seed Georgetown Tuesday night.

"We played a great team that played great," Florida coach Amanda Butler said.

The Lady Bears' 36^th victory did not come without some angst. The Gators' game plan was to stay within striking distance. Ten of Florida's 16 SEC games were decided by six or fewer points. Baylor has had just five victories that were decided by less than double digits. NCAA game pressure can do strange things.

Florida kept Griner shot-less for the first 10 minutes. The Gators pressured in the back court. They played man to man after a scoreless possession and played zone after they scored.

Hayden hit two 3-pointers to give Baylor a 26-11 lead with 7:49 to play in the first half. But the Lady Bears went empty on their next seven possessions and a 9-0 Gators run made it 26-20 with 4:30 to play.

Baylor's lead never dropped below double digits after the first 1:04 of the second half and the biggest lead was 23 with two minutes to play.

"I don't know what you all want me to say," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "Did they hang around awhile? Is nine points (Florida's halftime deficit) hanging around? Is 15? I don't know. We won. I don't know what you want us to win by. We were in control the entire time. Florida had five seniors on the flour and they played their hearts, played as hard as they could. They made us work."

There were no magical adjustments at halftime. Baylor has faced every type of defensive strategy (short of sneaking six players on the court). The issues that led to 37.1 percent shooting in the first half could be traced to impatience.

"When the other team is pressuring you, you tend to try to play faster than you need to," Mulkey said. "We had to understand when they were in zone, when they were in man. And we had to make sure Griner got touches."

That didn't take long. After Florida opened the second half with a miss, Griner scored down low with a turnaround jumper then answered a Gators basket with a low post score set up by a Destiny Williams pass.

On Baylor's next possession, Odyssey Sims a 3-pointer but Hayden grabbed the long rebound. She dribbled along the baseline, drawing Florida center Azania Stewart away from Griner. Hayden's pass found Griner, who elevated and threw down. Hayden responded with a full body shake.

"It gave us a lot of energy," said Baylor's Destiny Williams, who had her 13^th double double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. "It's always to see a girl throw it down. I think it intimidated Florida for a few possessions."

With all five starters scoring in double figures, Baylor displayed the type of balance that leads to victory. Griner's dunk was one of just 24 field goals for the Lady Bears but it will be on heavy rotation in the highlight clips.

"That wasn't a barely over the rim dunk, it was a monster dunk and it fired me up," Mulkey said. "We see it in practice all the time. I think Brittney is so conscious of people writing - good or bad - about the dunk that she's scared to get excited and celebrate a dunk because she's been written about in a negative way.

"I told her about two weeks ago that to try and dunk and even if you miss, it sends a message: I'm here to play."