The first time Brittney Griner wrapped her hands around a rim, she was a precocious ninth grader at Houston Nimitz. It was during a volleyball practice that one of the team’s assistants glanced upward to the rim, back at a then-6-foot-1 Griner and then to a loose basketball.

The No. 23 Baylor baseball team dropped the final game of its series against No. 2 UCLA 5-4. Baylor finished the series 1-2 and is now 2-5 on the season.

“I thought we played hard and I thought we competed,” head coach Steve Smith said. “We’ve got some issues on the mound and behind the plate that got exposed. I thought we were fortunate at the end of it to be in the game with all of those things. We gave them a lot of free opportunities.”

The No. 25 Baylor softball team redeemed itself by winning the Texas Shootout after losing it last year at Getterman Stadium. Baylor defeated North Texas 9-3 on Sunday for the series sweep and tied the program’s best winning streak at 14 games.

“That’s awesome,” head coach Glenn Moore said in regards to the record. “I didn’t realize that, didn’t know that we were approaching that, but that’s nice.”

Tony Stewart was horrified as he looked in the mirror while taking the checkered flag in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Saturday. The scene that played out behind him was unlike anything he had seen in his decades-long career in motorsports.

At least 28 fans were injured by flying debris from rookie Kyle Larson’s Chevrolet, which went hurtling airborne into the wall and broke into pieces on the front stretch of Daytona International Speedway.

Sam Grooms scored a career-high 23 points, Steven Pledger had 17 of his 19 points in the first half as Oklahoma built a big lead and the Sooners held off Baylor’s comeback attempt for a 90-76 victory on Saturday.

With the win, Oklahoma (18-8, 9-5 Big 12) remained ahead of the Bears in the conference standings and swept the season series after getting swept a season ago.

The No. 23 Baylor Bears defeated the No. 2 UCLA Bruins 5-0 in the second game of their weekend series on Saturday at Baylor Ballpark.

Junior right-handed pitcher Dillon Newman pitched five scoreless innings for the Bears. Then senior right-handed pitcher Kolt Browder started the top of the sixth and got two outs before getting into a bases-loaded jam. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Ryan Smith came to the rescue and struck out UCLA’s second basemen Trent Chatterton to end the Bruins’ threat. Smith went the remaining three and one-third innings on the mound to lead the Bears to a 5-0 shutout victory over the Bears.

The No. 1 Baylor Lady Bears’ uniforms shined gold, as did Baylor as they routing Texas 67-47. Among the crowd were full of former Lady Bears back for alumni weekend. Baylor also celebrated its third consecutive Big 12 Regular Season Championship, becoming the first team in Big 12 history to do so.

“It’s enjoyable, it’s for me again,” head coach Kim Mulkey said. “I enjoy people who experience this for the first time, and there were many fans out there today that were here for the first time. They came and said this is my first to be here and watch a game. I enjoy it for all the players, but I especially enjoy it for the freshman when it’s their first time to be in that environment.”

The No. 25 Baylor softball team defeated North Texas 8-3 on Saturday after Baylor responded with runs after being down 1-3. After leaving 18 runners stranded in the double-headers on Friday, Baylor started slow again leaving four stranded before showing up with their power offense.

Senior infielder Kelsi Kettler had a big day with three doubles on her first three at-bats of the season. She also had some key defensive plays in critical moments, making the most of her start. Junior catcher Clare Hosack also hit a three-run, go-ahead homer to give Baylor the lead. Center fielder Kathy Shelton hit a triple in the fifth inning to put Baylor in position to win.