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Box Score | Postgame Press Conference

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

As much as the Grambling Lady Tigers talked about playing against height, they hadn't played against this height.

Baylor's post duo of Lauren Cox and Kalani Brown both recorded double-doubles and combined for 52 points, 32 rebounds and seven blocks as the second-seeded Lady Bears opened the NCAA Championship with an easy 96-46 rout before a crowd of 4,933 Friday night at the Ferrell Center.

"Those two kids, Cox and Brown, they're just special," said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, whose team won its 29th in a row and improved to 32-1. "I don't know that there are many girls 6-7 in the country, really, that can play as well as Kalani. And then when you look at what Cox brings to the table. You have to guard her on the perimeter -- she can shoot the 3 -- that just helps Kalani one-on-one in the paint. They're just a special duo, and I get to be the lucky one to coach them."

With only one player taller than 6-foot, Grambling (19-14) simply had no answer for Baylor's combo of the 6-7 Brown and 6-4 Cox. The Lady Bears dominated the boards, 60-26, and outscored the Lady Tigers in the paint, 56-22.

"I think a big part of it was our size advantage," said Cox, who scored a career-high 30 points, hitting 11-of-18 from the floor, 1-of-2 from outside the arc and 7-of-8 from the line. "I was just able to catch it on the low block, turn and face and just shoot over them. Me and Kalani, we're going to be a matchup disaster for some teams. You have to focus on one of us. And when you focus on one of us, the other one's going to go off."

In perfect high-low post rhythm, Brown and Cox complemented each other. Three of Cox's five assists went to Brown for layups. But, it was her perimeter shooting and even 3-point range that makes it such a bad mismatch for any team.

Mulkey said the biggest difference for Cox, who averaged 7.6 points and 4.1 rebounds as a freshman in earning the Big 12 Sixth Man Award, comes down to opportunity.

On a much deeper team last year, when there was a rotation of five post players, Cox had a very small window.

"When you're a freshman and you're coming off the bench, you can't make mistakes, or you're probably going to come out," Mulkey said. "Now, they have to play through those mistakes because they can't come out. We don't have anybody to sub for them.

"I think conditioning, her knees feel as good as they've ever felt. We watch her closely and monitor her diabetes. She eats healthier now, and she has fun. I think Lauren Cox is just a happy kid right now."

Cox had a big smile on her face as the Lady Bears jumped out to a 17-1 lead in the first six-plus minutes of the first quarter. They held Grambling to just 2-of-15 shooting in the first quarter and were up 27-6.

Not that the road was completely smooth. Baylor missed 11 of its first 17 shots from the floor and was 10-of-25 overall in the first quarter.

"I didn't think we came out and shot the ball particularly well," Mulkey said. "Dekeiya (Cohen) doesn't miss that many wide-open shots. Juicy (Landrum) missed her first couple shots. I thought we were just a little rusty offensively on open looks. And I didn't think we took care of the basketball, had just unforced turnovers that we need to clean up."

Cohen, who finished a rebound shy of a double-double with 17 points and nine boards, said it was just a matter of the team "getting the dust off a little bit."

"We haven't played in a good bit, we haven't even played at home in a while," Cohen said. "So, it was just going out there, getting a feel for the game, getting back in rhythm."

That was the case the rest of the game as Baylor shot 59 percent (27-of-46) and coasted to the 50-point win.

"We'll take a 50-point win any day and rest kids as much as you can, particularly this late in the season," Mulkey said.

Freshman point guard Alexis Morris added 12 points and five assists with three turnovers in her first NCAA tournament game. Jazmin Boyd scored a team-high 20 points for the Lady Tigers, while standout guard Shakyla Hill made just 3-of-18 shots and scored 10 points with four of Grambling's 16 turnovers.

"It was very tough," Hill said. "If anybody has ever seen me play, they know I normally, typically, get to the cup with ease. I think I did that tonight, but I think because they were so much bigger and taller and longer, it wasn't as easy as it normally is."

It was a special game for Louisiana natives Brown (Reserve, La.) and freshman guard Moon Ursin (Destrehan, La.). Brown's teammate at Reserve, Darae Taylor, had a buzzer-beating layup at the end of the third quarter for her only points.

"My mom and my dad told me many stories about Grambling, about how great the school is and how much fun they had there," Brown said. "My teammate, Darae Taylor, she went there, and I haven't seen her because college split us up. So, it was great seeing her."

Baylor advances to the second round to face seventh-seeded Michigan (23-9) at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. The Wolverines got by 10th-seeded Northern Colorado, 75-61, behind the hot hands of 6-5 center Hallie Thome (24 points) and guard Katelynn Flaherty (20).