AMES, Iowa (AP) — Brittney Griner scored 26 points and her teammates contributed just enough to carry No. 1 Baylor past Iowa State 57-45 on Saturday night. Baylor (15-0, 2-0 Big 12) continued the best start in school history but had to work to do it against a feisty Iowa State team that played deliberately and milked the shot clock. The Cyclones (9-4, 0-2) led briefly in the first half, trailed by three at the half and were down just 26-24 when Nikki Moody hit a 3-pointer early in the second half. Baylor responded with a 10-0 run that included five points from Griner to open a 36-24 lead, and though the Cyclones kept threatening, that was enough of a cushion for the Lady Bears to hold on and protect their No. 1 ranking. Anna Prins, a 6-foot-7 junior who gave the Cyclones their best chance against the 6-8 Griner, led Iowa State with 17 points.

Jordan Madden added 11 points for Baylor, 10 in the second half, to help the Lady Bears pull away. Odyssey Sims, averaging 17.8 points, scored only two but came up with four steals and pressured Moody throughout. Moody scored only three points on 1-for-7 shooting. It was Iowa State’s first game against a No. 1 team at home and was much closer than the Cyclones’ three previous games against a team at the top of the Associated Press poll. The Cyclones lost those games by an average of 26 points.