by Kelly Kline / @FullCourtWBBall
The questions about whether Baylor’s Brittney Griner was nervous or feeling the pressure of dunking have been answered with authority. For the second NCAA tournament game in a row, the 6-8 junior dunked the basketball.
With 6:39 remaining in the game, Griner got open on the break and threw down the monstrous two-handed dunk, hanging on the rim for a moment while the fans erupted. The crowd-pleaser put the explanation point on Baylor’s 83-68 rout of Georgia Tech in which Griner put up 35 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and swatted down 6 blocks.
“That was probably my favorite dunk since being at Baylor,” said Griner in a post-game interview.
This time the feat ties Griner with Candace Parker who set the record for two dunks in NCAA tournament play. The dunk is the seventh of Griner’s career, which also ties her with Parker for the most dunks in college.
Brittney’s teammate Odyssey Sims had this to say about the big jam: “I was real excited. I had a towel in my hand on the sideline, and I kept jumping and swirling the towel around. It’s different when you see it in warm ups, but it’s more exciting when you see it in the game. It’s not something that you see all the time. In a game, it’s something that automatically gets us fired up. I think we are more excited for her than she is for herself.”
Even opposing coach MaChelle Joseph had an appreciation of the moment.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Joseph said. “I think she’s great for the game. I think it’s awesome. Nobody wants to get dunked on, but how many people can actually say I coached in a game where a female basketball player dunked?”
Meanwhile, Baylor Head Coach Kim Mulkey seemed to be sending a message to future opponents. “You expose yourself when you press like that, especially when you’re pressing a team that has good guards,” she said. “I thought you saw our kids handled the press really well.”
Baylor is now 37-0 and will face Tennessee in the Elite Eight Monday night.
Content courtesy of Fullcourt.com
