Lady Bears advance to Final Four in San Antonio

Two days after upsetting top-seeded Tennessee in the Elite Eight, the No. 4 seed Baylor Lady Bears defeated second-seeded Duke on Monday night in a thrilling finish, 51-48, to advance to the Final Four for the second time in program history!

You might remember that previous trip; in 2005, junior Sophia Young led the Lady Bears to a national championship, as Baylor proceeded to knock off LSU in the Final Four and Michigan State (whose head coach, Joanne McCallie, now leads Duke) to win it all. This year’s squad, headlined by another all-America candidate in Brittney Griner, leaned hard on its defense to defeat the Blue Devils, avenging the men’s loss to Duke a day earlier.

Monday night, head coach Kim Mulkey’s Lady Bears held Duke to just 23% shooting for the game — the Blue Devils’ lowest percentage of the season. Griner finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocks, one shy of notching her fourth triple-double of the year, and was named the Memphis Regional’s Most Outstanding Player. (BaylorBears.com has photos from the game here, and ESPN.com has video highlights here.)

Baylor will face the winner of Tuesday’s game between No. 1-ranked UConn and Florida State when the Final Four begins this Sunday at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Just as the men received a boost from a pseudo-home crowd at the Houston regional, the Lady Bears hope to see a sea of green and gold in the stands this weekend in San Antonio. Click here for Final Four ticket information, here for your Baylor Final Four gear, and check back at BaylorBears.com to find out who Baylor will face and what time they will play on Sunday.

Sic ’em, Lady Bears!