Stanford topples Griner, No. 1 Baylor

Brittney Griner caught the ball, pivoted baseline, and shot over the outstretched arms of two defenders, like she’d successfully done so many times in her remarkable women’s college basketball career.

But not this time. Not for the 8-foot shot and not for another record 40-0 season. Baylor’s dominant star came up short in the final seconds, and No. 4 Stanford hung on to stun the top-ranked Lady Bears 71-69 in the opener of the Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic on Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"I thought I did (get a good look). But it just didn’t fall," Griner said quietly afterward.

Baylor’s 42-game winning streak — the fifth-best all-time in NCAA Division I women’s hoops — looked in jeopardy early, especially once preseason All-America guard Odyssey Sims went out with a hamstring injury five minutes in, changing the complexion of the game. The Bears fell behind by 14 and needed a series of runs to stay in it, finally pulling even in the final five minutes.

In the anticipated rematch of last year’s final four semifinal — albeit one without national TV or a large crowd — Stanford hit the 6-foot-8 senior Griner, the returning consensus national player of the year, consistently with double and triple teams. The coverage negated any possibility of one of Griner’s infamous dunks and succeeded in slowing her early, as she scored only four points by halftime. But she drove past defenders effectively in the second period as she finished with 22 on 9-for-17 shooting.

Stanford lost its game-long lead, but showed remarkable poise in getting back in front in the final minutes on jumpers by guard Amber Orrange.

"You know, it’s really tough when you win a national championship (and) you go 40-0," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "I think we came in with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder. We needed to play better than we did last time (in the final four).

"Everyone was ready to do their job, and everyone’s excited in the locker room that we won the game."

BU struggled from the perimeter all game, but the Bears’ Destiny Williams hit a top-arc 3 to make it 70-69 with 9.7 seconds left. Baylor fouled Cardinal guard Toni Kokenis, who made one of two, giving the Bears a chance to extend their streak.

Pretty much everybody on the Stanford bench and among the crowd of 1,414 knew where the ball was going on the deciding play out of a timeout with 4.2 seconds left. The Cardinal covered Griner well, and she hit the front of the rim with no time for a putback. The perennial Pac-12 champions mobbed each other on the center court "H."

"We haven’t faced adversity. We did now. I think we’ll learn from it," Griner said.

Said BU coach Kim Mulkey: "It’s been a long time since that bunch has lost. But I hope they feel like anybody, any competitor feels after a game that you lose. I hope they don’t forget it and I hope it bothers them."

Stanford got 18 points and eight rebounds from preseason All-American Chiney Ogwumike, including a huge reverse layup against the defending Griner with 22 seconds to play. Several other players chipped in with huge rebound buckets late as the Cardinal became the first Baylor opponent in 217 games to shoot better than 50 percent from the field. They shot 7-for-14 on 3-pointers.

"My sister (former Stanford star Nneka) told me (before the game), do not be afraid to attack her," the 6-4 Ogwumike said of Griner. "I had her initials right here (on her hand) to remember."

Stanford (3-0) takes on host Hawaii today at 7 p.m. The Rainbow Wahine play Baylor on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.