WACO, Texas — Brittney Griner had 10 points and 11 rebounds for her 54th career double-double and the top-ranked Baylor Lady Bears moved closer to another Big 12 title with their 52nd consecutive home game, 89-47 over Texas Tech on Tuesday night.
Griner, the two-time All-American senior, also had seven blocked shots and five assists while leading four players scoring in double figures for Baylor.
Along with their nation’s best home winning streak have several other impressive winning streaks, the Lady Bears have won 21 games in a row overall and 35 consecutive Big 12 regular-season games.
Odyssey Sims had 18 points, six steals and five assists for Baylor. Brooklyn Pope had 17 points while Kimetria Hayden had 10 points and seven assists.
Chynna Brown had 15 points to lead Texas Tech (18-7, 8-5), and Casey Morris had 10.
The Lady Raiders, who lost by 30 at home to Baylor only two weeks earlier, scored the first four points in the rematch. The Lady Bears went nearly 21⁄2 minutes before Jordan Madden’s 3-pointer, and went ahead to stay when Griner had a rebound that led to her jumper that made it 5-4.
When Madden made her second 3-pointer, only 2 minutes after the first, it was already 11-6.
The Lady Bears, going for their third consecutive regular-season conference title, have a four-game lead over 22nd-ranked Oklahoma with five league games left. Their only remaining non-conference game in the regular season is Monday night’s showdown at third-ranked Connecticut.
Texas Tech also scored first after halftime, but Kelsi Baker’s two free throws in the first minute only cut the gap to 46-28.
Sims responded with a 3-pointer to start a 17-0 run that she capped with a jumper 31⁄2 minutes later for a 65-28 lead. Pope’s eight points in the spurt included consecutive layups, the second on an assist by Sims.
Monique Smalls hit a jumper nearly 5 minutes after halftime for Tech’s first field goal of the second half.
Unlike last season, the Lady Raiders haven’t been close this year against Baylor. Then again, nobody has with the Lady Bears winning by an average margin of 28 points (26 in Big 12 games) before the latest lopsided victory.
When Baylor had the NCAA’s first 40-win season with an undefeated national championship a year ago, the Lady Raiders twice lost by eight points or less.
The only other teams that finished within 10 points were Connecticut and Texas A&M.
The 6-foot-8 Griner played her 136th career game, and has scored in double figures in all but three of them. Already the Big 12 career scoring leader, she is 47 shy of 3,000 points.
She extended her NCAA record for blocks — for men or women — to 693.
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