UCSB drew top-seeded and undefeated Baylor in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament on Monday.
The Gauchos (17-15) and Bears (34-0) will play on Sunday in Bowling Green, Ohio in the Des Moines Region. Tip-off is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
Baylor is led by national player of the year candidate, 6-8 Brittney Griner. She averages 23.3 points per game and has twice scored 40 or more in the last 10 games.
Asked how her Gauchos will defend against the most dominant player in women’s college basketball, UCSB coach Carlene Mitchell quipped, “We’ll play a triangle and two, with three players on her and two on the other four.
“I don’t even know one, two or three players who can stop Brittney Griner,” she added. “We’ll come up with a game plan and let Tilleman have some fun with it.”
Said Kirsten Tilleman, UCSB’s 6-1 post player, “I may be a foot shorter, but that doesn’t mean my heart’s not big. I’m going to give it my all. I just plan to go out there and not see a uniform and not see height, and do what we’ve done all season and be the best we can be on that given day.”
Baylor was the unanimous No. 1 choice in the final Associated Press poll. The Lady Bears received all the first-place votes Monday for the 15th straight week after easily winning the Big 12 tournament.
Griner and Baylor, who lost in the regional final last season, can become the first team ever to win 40 games in a year. But coach Kim Mulkey said the goal is to win a second national title for the school.
“We started hearing about that, and it’s never been a goal of ours,” Mulkey said of winning 40 games. “Our simple goal is to win a national championship.”
It will be huge challenge for UCSB, but senior Emilie Johnson said the Gauchos will show up on Sunday.
“We will compete and play hard and give them a good game,” she said.
