It's hard to stop Baylor's Griner

DES MOINES - Brooms?

Kayak paddles?

Hulking male students?

Baylor superstar Brittney Griner's keenly aware of the offbeat techniques - including all of the above - opposing coaches have employed in hopes of curtailing her off-the-charts production.

None have come close to working ... so far.

“I definitely laugh when I hear about the broomstick and the kayak paddle,” said Griner, who hopes to lead her top-seeded and top-ranked Bears past Georgia Tech in Saturday's 1 p.m. NCAA women's basketball tournament Sweet 16 game at Wells Fargo Arena. “Kayak paddles really don't move. They're kind of stiff.”

Griner moves all right - and generally in a flight pattern.

The 6-8 junior skied for her sixth career dunk in Tuesday's 76-57 win over Florida.

She soared for the first stuff ever in an NCAA women's tournament game against the Gators.

Only former Tennessee standout Candace Parker has dunked more in women's college games, seven times to Griner's six.

“You'd probably think I would know the best way to defend Brittney,” said Baylor Coach Kim Mulkey, whose team stands 36-0. “And if I did know it, I wouldn't tell you. But I really don't think you can defend Brittney Griner. I think you can eliminate some touches for her, but it just makes your team uncomfortable when you do things like that and it exposes the rest of your team because the other players on our team can play.”

And the Baylor big woman who averages 23.1 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.1 blocked shots will be back next season, Mulkey stressed.

“I know people wish she would leave,” she said. “But she's not going anywhere.”

Except to the top, if Griner and her teammates perform to self-set expectations.

She said last season's disappointment - the Bears lost to eventual champion Texas A&M 58-46 in the Elite Eight - doesn't necessarily eat at her.

Even though she wears a forest green bracelet emblazoned with the words, “Unfinished business.”

We've kind of put it behind us,” she said. “We all remember it, but we put it behind us and just stay focused on the next game we have coming up.”