GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Maybe someone at the Final Four will actually give Baylor a game.
Four rounds into the NCAA Tournament, and the Bears have barely faced any resistance.
Baylor cruised to its first Final Four since 2012 with its latest bracket blowout, this one an 85-53 rout of Iowa on Monday night in the Greensboro Regional final.
“We’re getting up,” forward Lauren Cox said, “and we’re not letting people get back in the game.”
Cox had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Didi Richards added 16 points and 10 rebounds and Chloe Jackson had 14 points.
The No. 1 overall-seeded Bears (35-1) won their 27th straight game by shooting 53 percent, clamping down on All-American Megan Gustafson and her supporting cast and holding the nation’s best shooting team to a season-worst 32 percent.
Their four tournament victories have come by an average of more than 38 points with none closer than 25.
Now, it’s on to Tampa, Florida, for the school’s fourth Final Four and its first in seven years, when the Bears won their second national championship.
“Baylor was obviously too much for us today,” coach Lisa Bluder said.
Gustafson, who scored 1,000 points this season, finished with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting for second-seeded Iowa (29-7).
Kathleen Doyle and Tania Davis each had 10 points.
The Bears held Iowa way below its previous worst of 41.1 percent at Purdue on Jan. 10.