DENVER — There probably has never been a duo more eager to face Baylor superstar Brittney Griner than Notre Dame post players Devereaux Peters and Natalie Achonwa.
The Fighting Irish (35-3) and Lady Bears (39-0) meet tonight in the national championship, a rematch Peters and Achonwa have been dreaming of for months after their first meeting in November was such a mismatch.
The teams squared off in the preseason WNIT final, with the Lady Bears winning in Waco 94-81 behind Griner’s 32 points on 14-of-18 shooting, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Peters, plagued by foul trouble, and Achonwa, hobbled by a balky right knee in her first game back from a torn meniscus, combined to make just 3 of 15 shots for 6 points.
Griner, the AP’s Player of the Year, has Baylor on the cusp of history: No school in the NCAA ever has gone 40-0. The 6-foot-8 junior center who plays above the rim has changed the women’s game much like Lew Alcindor altered men’s college hoops a half-century ago.
Peters, a 6-2 fifth-year senior, and Achonwa, a 6-3 sophomore, will count on their superior quickness to counter Griner’s gargantuan game. Still, they know Griner’s going to get her share of blocks and baskets.
“She has a 7-foot-4 wingspan,” Peters said. “It’s inevitable.”