Griner breaks NCAA record at national tournament

Former Nimitz star Brittney Griner blocks a shot against Georgetown last week. She set a new NCAA record with 14 blocked shots in the game as the Baylor Bears advanced to the Sweet 16.


On Nov. 11, 2008 Nimitz High’s Brittney Griner blocked 25 shots against Alief Hasting, setting a national high school record.

Last week she added another notch to her six-shooter, blocking an NCAA-record 14 shots to help the Number 4 seed Baylor Bears defeat the Number 5 seed Georgetown Hoyas 49-33 in the second round of the national tournament.

She also holds the NCAA single-season record with 199 blocked shots.

Griner shattered the previous single-game record of 11 set in 1989 by UNLV’s Pauline Jordan.

What is remarkable is how the 6’8” freshman broke the record.

Finding herself in foul trouble early, Griner had limited playing time in the first half with just seven minutes on the court and recording just one block.

Then in the second half, she exploded for 13 more blocks.

At one point Griner held the Hoyas to more than 10 minutes of play without making a point, forcing 15 missed shots.

The Hoyas were shutdown by Griner who possesses an 88” wingspan (that’s 7’4”). Most people have a wingspan (or length of arm and fingertip to fingertip of the other side) equal to their height. In the victory, Griner blocked more shots than Georgetown had baskets for the game.

Griner also scored seven points and had seven rebounds in 27 minutes of play.

The win over Georgetown positioned Baylor for a Sweet 16 match-up with Tennessee, who is ranked the Number 1 seed in the tournament. While the two schools have not played very often, their meetings have been memorable. Tennessee was one of the universities that heavily recruited Griner. However, it was Baylor who Griner made a verbal commitment to back when she was a junior and when signing time came her senior year she made good on that commitment.

Tennessee got some revenge on losing the player selected by “USA Today” as the National High School Player of the Year by beating Baylor in their season opener 74-65.

If Baylor can hold off the Volunteers to advance to the Elite 8 the school can avenge a Sweet 16 loss to Tennessee in 2004.

Griner has also become an Internet superstar with viral videos showing her ability to dunk the ball. She is only the second woman in NCAA history to dunk the ball twice in one game.