Brittney Griner becomes second woman to dunk in NCAA tournament
Most women's basketball players who have dunked in a game needed a running start in transition to barely propel the ball over the front rim.
Baylor's Brittney Griner, however, can flat-out dunk.
The 6-foot-8 junior showed off her unique skill set in Tuesday's 76-57 NCAA tournament victory over Florida, taking a feed from Kimetria Hayden flat-footed under the basket, stretching out her right arm and throwing down a one-handed jam. It was the sort of jaw-droppingly athletic play that no other women's basketball player in the world can pull off.
Griner becomes only the second women's college player to dunk in an NCAA tournament game. Ex-Tennessee star Candace Parker dunked twice in a 2006 first-round victory against Army, the first a one-handed transition slam and the second a baseline dunk that barely slipped over the rim.
What Griner did Tuesday night was no surprise to anyone who has followed her career because she has been dunking for years. Although it was Griner's first dunk of the season, she has dunked six times in a game during her college career and several more before that in high school. She also has a habit of dunking during pregame warmups, awing the crowd with an array of one-handed, two-handed and even reverse slams.
Griner scored 25 points against Florida on Tuesday night, helping national title favorite Baylor remain undefeated this season and advance to the Sweet 16. The Gators played a zone designed to collapse on Griner in the paint and make her teammates beat them from the perimeter, but the Baylor star adjusted after a slow start and put her stamp on the game.
There's no question which of her baskets will get the most attention, though. That's the one nobody but her could have pulled off.
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