Lady Vols fall short in Des Moines

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) —Brittney Griner had 23 points, 15 rebounds and nine blocks before being ejected with less than a minute left and top-seeded Baylor rolled over Tennessee 77-58 Monday night to advance to the Final Four.

Shekinna Stricklen had 22 points for Tennessee (27-9), whose seniors became its first four-year class not to reach a Final Four.

The Lady Vols now face an uncertain future, as Pat Summitt has yet to say if she’ll return for a 39th season as Tennessee coach. She announced in August she’d been diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.

The Bears (38-0) will face either Stanford or Duke on Saturday night in Denver.

Baylor’s Odyssey Sims, who led the Bears with 27 points, tumbled to the floor with 46.8 seconds left, and she and Stricklen had to be separated.

No punches were thrown, but Griner and teammates Terran Condrey and Jordan Madden were ejected for leaving the bench.

The NCAA says none of the players will be suspended for the Final Four.