WACO (AP) Brittney Griner got a little international experience this summer, which could make her and No. 1 Baylor even better this season.

Griner, the 6-foot-8 standout going into her junior season, played this summer with the pros as the only college player on the U.S. national team that toured Europe.

Griner was a unanimous pick on the AP women’s basketball preseason All-America team, and the Lady Bears are the nation’s preseason No. 1 team for the first time. Griner averaged 23 points and 7.8 rebounds last season, when Baylor won a school-record 34 games before losing to eventual NCAA champ Texas A&M in a regional final.

The Lady Bears lost Melissa Jones to graduation, but return four starters and 12 letter winners, along with 89 percent of their scoring.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)