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March 22, 2004

NCAA Tournament Second Round Baylor 91, Florida 76

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By PETE HERRERA
AP Sports Writer

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Sophia Young scored 17 of her 23 points in the first half and Baylor beat Florida 91-76 in the NCAA tournament Monday night to advance to the round of 16 for the first time in school history.

Fourth-seeded Baylor (26-8) will meet top-seeded Tennessee in the Midwest Regional in Norman, Okla., next week. The Lady Vols beat DePaul 79-59 to advance to the round of 16 for the 23rd consecutive year.

With Florida's leading scorer and rebounder, Vanessa Hayden, on the bench for the last 14½ minutes of the first half with two fouls, Baylor used a 16-2 run to take a 46-32 lead at halftime.

Hayden, the SEC's defensive player of the year, could only watch as Young, who also had 11 rebounds, dominated inside. Several times in the opening half Young hit layups against Hayden's replacement, sophomore Dalila Eshe.

Young scored eight points in the 16-2 spurt. Florida's Tashia Morehead ended the run with a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left in the half, her first field goal against Baylor this season. She went 0-for-15 against the Bears in a 71-54 loss at Gainesville in December and missed her first six shots Monday.

Sophia Young goes under Florida's Vanessa Hayden on her way to the basket. Young scored 23 points.

Fifth-seeded Florida (19-11) rallied once Hayden returned in the second half. The Gators got within five points twice, the last at 67-62 with 10:46 left on two free throws by Hayden.

The 6-foot-4 Hayden scored 10 of her 15 points in the first nine minutes of the second half and had four blocks. Bernice Mosby led the Gators with 16 points, and Danielle Santos had 13.

But even with Hayden back, Baylor's offense produced points and a fatigued Florida bunch ran out of time. With Hayden and Morehead on the bench for a quick breather and Baylor up 69-62, freshman Emily Niemann and Dionne Brown hit back-to-back layups.

Another block by Hayden set up her layup at the other end to get Florida to 73-65 with 6:53 left, but moments later Hayden fouled out, picking up two fouls in a seven-second span.

Baylor got a huge game from freshmen reserves Monique Jones and Niemann. Jones hit five of six shots for 13 points. Niemann scored 16, including four 3-pointers. Two of them came back-to-back after Florida cut the Bears' lead to nine points early in the second half.

Brown, playing in place of an injured Steffanie Blackmon, had 14 points and seven rebounds. Blackmon, the Bears' second-leading scorer, injured her left knee in the Big 12 tournament.