NaLyssa Smith had 21 points and 14 rebounds, Jordan Lewis scored 23 and the Baylor women won their 19th consecutive first-round game in the women's NCAA Tournament, overwhelming Hawaii 89-49 on Friday.
Smith and Lewis combined to score the first 27 Baylor points in the third quarter, when the No. 2 seed Bears outscored the Rainbow Wahine 34-8 after taking a modest nine-point lead into halftime.
Amy Atwell scored 29 points but was limited to nine after halftime as 15th-seeded Hawaii (20-10) faded and fell to 1-7 in the NCAA Tournament. The lone victory was in 1990.
Queen Egbo had 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Bears (28-6), who were coming off a loss to Texas in the Big 12 tournament championship game after winning their 12th consecutive regular-season title. Baylor will face South Dakota in the second round on Sunday. The 10th-seeded Coyotes beat Mississippi in the opener.
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Sarah Andrews scored the first 11 Baylor points of the fourth quarter and finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Smith's school-record 25th double-double of the season was wrapped up in the third quarter, when the 6-foot-4 senior had a 3-pointer among 17 points to go with nine rebounds. She finished 9 of 13 from the field.
Three of Lewis' five assists came in the third, all on Smith buckets, including an alley-oop pass for a layup not long after Smith pulled up from the left wing beyond the arc for just her ninth 3 of the season.
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Atwell had 20 of Hawaii's 29 points in the first half, when Hawaii was within two points late in the first quarter before Baylor's 8-0 run into the early part of the second for a 22-14 lead.
BIG PICTURE
Hawaii: Depth figured to be an issue, and it was. Only three players scored in the first half, and just five for the game. Kallin Spiller did manage to reach double figures with 10.
Baylor: Size was a huge factor, also as expected with Smith and 6-3 frontcourt partner Egbo controlling the lane. The Bears outscored the Rainbow Wahine 54-12 in the paint and had a 56-35 rebounding edge. Atwell, a 6-foot guard from Australian and the Big West Conference player of the year, frequently was trying to guard Smith down low.
