The bell rang sharply and for several seconds, announcing to those gathered that the baggage carousel would soon be set in motion.
Baylor senior Brittney Griner, commanding instant attention upon her team’s landing in Hawaii, waited patiently for the cacophony to cease so she could respond to a question about the goals of her fellow Lady Bears, the defending NCAA women’s basketball champions.
“Just do what we did last year,” she said.
Oh, OK then. Hard to argue with one of the greatest players in the history of the women’s game. Like the airport carousel, the 6-8 Griner and the Lady Bears are gearing up for another go-around.
Top-ranked Baylor plays No. 4 Stanford in a rematch of last year’s final four semifinal in Denver, a rare feature to open the Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic at 2:30 p.m. today. Host Hawaii meets Tennessee-Martin at 5 p.m. in the other first-day matchup of the round-robin tourney.
With Griner, Baylor guard Odyssey Sims and Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike, half of the preseason All-America team will be represented in the opening game.
Baylor returns all five starters from the Big 12 squad that went a record 40-0 to the national title. Its seeking to become the fourth team to win back-to-back NCAA women’s hoops titles. Behind Griner, the returning player of the year who’s dunked seven times in her college career and untold times outside of it, the Bears are a heavy favorite to do so.
BU coach Kim Mulkey was asked how it’s possible to improve on such a season.
“What you ask them to do is,” Mulkey paused, “put that away. That was last year. If what you did yesterday still looks good to you today, then you haven’t done much today. That’s something that no one will ever take away from us, but this is a new season and there are new challenges to beat.”
The Lady Bears (2-0) are coming off an 85-51 demolition of No. 6 Kentucky on Tuesday right before they flew from Dallas to the islands. That was considered to be their first real test of their title defense.
In that one, Griner had 27 points on 11-for-14 shooting to go with eight rebounds and five blocks. It was a typical outing for her.
“We look good on the court right now, but you know, there’s always room for improvement,” Griner said. “It’s the beginning of the year, it’s a long season. We’ve got a lot to improve on.”
Stanford (2-0), a juggernaut in its own right, could pose a challenge to Baylor both today and in March. The Cardinal of the Pac-12 hung with the Lady Bears for most of their final four meeting, doubling and tripling Griner to keep it close before falling 59-47. Baylor went on to beat Notre Dame 80-61 in the championship.
Both teams realize it will be more of a muted atmosphere in an early-season tournament on a neutral court far from their fan bases.
“It won’t be a big crowd. But it will be a high-intensity game,” Griner said.
Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, no stranger to playing here, urged local hoops fans to attend the tourney opener. UH plays Stanford on Saturday and Baylor on Sunday.
“What a great opportunity to play the defending champions,” VanDerveer said. “It’s November, so I see this game as a win-win. … I feel like Brittney Griner is a once-in-a-lifetime talent, so come out and watch. It will be a great game.”
Griner recalled the teams’ previous matchup with a smile, describing trying to guard Cardinal sisters Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike at once. Only Chiney remains this season.
“They got one now. They’re a well-coached team, and it’s going to be a good game,” Griner said. “It’s always good to see teams that you’ll probably end up seeing in the final four.”
Besides the basketball, Griner said she looked forward to visiting Pearl Harbor and the Wounded Warrior unit up at Schofield Barracks in her first visit to Hawaii.
Griner only needs 21 more boards to reach 1,000 for her career.and 67 more blocks to match the NCAA women’s record of 663.
