Box Score By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
So much for Auburn's full-court press and stifling defense.
Motivated by all the talk about Auburn's defense, the top-seeded and fourth-ranked Baylor Lady Bears proved they can play a little defense, too.
The Lady Bears held ninth-seeded Auburn (20-13) to 29 percent shooting from the field, forced 15 turnovers and blocked 11 shots in rolling into the Sweet 16 with an 84-52 victory over the Tigers Sunday night before a crowd of 4,665 at the Ferrell Center.
"We do what we do," said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, whose team improved to 35-1 in advancing to the Sweet 16 for the eighth time in a row and 11th in the last 13 years. "If you're going to make a shot, you're going to have a hand in your face. And if you blow by somebody, you're going to have another player there waiting for you. That wasn't the first time we've done that.
"I just thought we did today what we've been doing since I've been here: just guard people."
Baylor also did it on the offensive end, getting a 30-point performance from junior All-American forward Nina Davis and 16 points apiece from junior guard Alexis Jones and 6-7 freshman post Kalani Brown. Jones continued an impressive postseason run, adding six assists, four rebounds and a Baylor NCAA Tournament-record seven steals.
"We were still a selfless team today," said Davis, who was 10-of-17 from the field and 10-of-11 from the line. "A lot of credit goes to my teammates because of their pass assists, because of Niya's assists, because of Alexis Jones getting me the ball. We had a lot of fast breaks, and we were just sharing the ball and everyone was scoring, and that's what makes us so hard to guard."
Davis' showing didn't surprise Auburn coach Terri Williams-Flournoy, who watched her in high school in Memphis and playing for the Tennessee Flight AAU team.
"She's got a motor that's unbelievable," the Auburn coach said. "It's easy for her to score 30 points, because she plays so hard. She's getting to the boards, she's running in transition. I want me one of those. Nina's just great. . . . I didn't want to give her 30, but I'm not surprised at all."
Baylor set the tone early, reeling off 14 unanswered points to take a commanding 19-2 lead with 2:53 left in the first quarter when Jones stole it on one end and fed Davis for a fast-break layup on the other. The Tigers actually had more turnovers than points in the first period, falling behind 23-8.
"It wasn't that frustrating," said Auburn guard Brandy Montgomery, who scored eight of her team-high 14 points in the second quarter. "We were just trying to calm down. There was a lto of hype going into the game, so we just wanted to calm down and play Auburn ball and do what we do."
The Lady Bears looked more like the Showtime Lakers during a 12-0 second-quarter run that included a pair of three-point plays by Davis. The 5-foot-11 forward also finished off another fast break when she took a pass from Kristy Wallace and tipped it over to Jones on the back side for an easy layup.
That same trio capped the run with another fast-break layup when Jones passed to Wallace, who tapped it over to Davis for the bucket and a 37-10 lead at the 4:51 mark of the second quarter.
"I've been taking some notes at practice and taking some of their passes and taking Alexis Jones' no-look (passes)," Davis said. "I wanted to get me one on the highlights. We're just such a team that we don't really care who is scoring. That's what makes us so great."
Brown even got into the assist act, hitting Davis on the back side for a bucket that pushed the lead to 80-48 with 3:49 left.
"I want to be versatile," said Brown, who added five rebounds, two blocks and a pair of steals. "I don't just want to be a back-to-the-basket post. I want to show people I can run, that I can get out and I can do other things. It was fun, because I don't get many assists. Sometimes, they say I pass too much, but I don't think that."
Baylor also dominated the boards (48-36), with 6-2 junior guard Alexis Prince grabbing a career-high 13.
"I guess this game it was easier to get more rebounds," Prince said, "but I was just trying to be more active."
Like Mulkey, Prince seemed motivated by all the talk about Auburn's defense, saying, "we wanted to come out and show that we play defense as well."
"Our defense is gelling as the season goes on. We're all helping each other," she said. "We don't want to stop playing. We just want to keep playing and get to the Sweet 16."
Tra'Cee Tanner had 13 points and eight rebounds and Katie Frerking chipped in with 11 points for the Tigers, while Baylor senior point guard Niya Johnson had three points and 10 assists.
Baylor, which has won 22 games in a row and 41 straight at home, will face either Texas A&M or Florida State in Saturday's region semifinals at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The other semifinal is already set, with second-seeded Oregon State taking on sixth-seeded DePaul, a 73-72 upset winner over third-seeded Louisville.
