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Top-seed Baylor routs Iowa 85-53 to cruise to Final Four

Sports

April 1st, 2019 by Ric Hanson

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Lauren Cox had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Baylor earned its first Final Four berth since 2012 by beating Iowa 85-53 on Monday night in the Greensboro Regional final. Didi Richards added 16 points and 10 rebounds, Chloe Jackson had 14 points and the Bears (35-1) — the top overall seed — won their 27th straight game by shooting 53%, clamping down on All-American Megan Gustafson and her supporting cast and holding the nation’s best shooting team to a season-worst 32%.

Now it’s on to Tampa, Florida, for the school’s fourth Final Four and its first in seven years — when the Bears won their second national championship. The 6-foot-4 Cox — a third-team AP All-America pick — and fellow twin tower Kalani Brown, a 6-7 second-team All-American, teamed up to dominate both the glass and the heavily-hyped matchup with Gustafson, the nation’s leading scorer at 27.9 points per game.

Brown finished with 14 points, and Baylor held a 47-26 rebounding advantage with 20 second-chance points to six for Iowa. Gustafson finished with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting, but was held without a rebound in the second half for second-seeded Iowa (29-7). Kathleen Doyle and Tania Davis each had 10 points.

The Bears — who entered allowing their opponents to shoot a Division I-worst 31.4% — held Iowa way below its previous worst of 41.1% at Purdue on Jan. 10.