There are a few things about the score of Thursday night’s women’s basketball game between No. 3 Baylor and Winthrop that jump out at you.
First you notice Baylor’s point total. You don’t usually see college basketball teams put up 140 points in a game. In fact, you just about never see that.
Then you realize that the margin here wasn’t eight points… it was 108. Baylor won the game by 108 points. This was the biggest rout in the history of Division I women’s basketball, topping a 102-point win by Grambling over Jarvis Christian College in 1986.
Maybe the craziest thing about this game is that it seems that (Twitter braggadocio aside) Baylor truly did all it could to avoid embarrassing Winthrop. No Bears player played more than 21 minutes, and many bench players got more minutes than the starters. According to ESPN, Baylor began rotating in bench players in the first quarter. And the team’s leading scorer was out for the game with a knee injury.
Still, Baylor began the game on a 21-0 run, put up another 21-0 run to start the second quarter, led 77-18 at halftime and outscored Winthrop 29-0 in the fourth quarter.
Via ESPN, here’s how coach Kim Mulkey explained it:
“I tried and played tons of people, in and out of the lineup, called timeouts, trying to get people off the floor,” Mulkey said.
It turned out the opposing coach wasn’t even mad:
When they shook hands at the end, Eagles coach Kevin Cook told Mulkey he appreciated her efforts.
“I am most grateful that coach Cook recognized that. Kevin said thank you,” she said. “I tried everything I knew to try, because I respect him. But more importantly, I respect the game.”
Women’s basketball isn’t exactly renowned for its widespread parity, and when the No. 3 team in the country plays a 1-8 team whose only win came over Division III North Carolina Wesleyan College, things are bound to get ugly.
At least it seems like there were no feelings hurt.
[ESPN]