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.
