It's Texas, OU in Big 12 women finals

<br>DALLAS (AP) _ With Baylor's frontcourt depleted, Texas was certain to attack down low. <br><br>Once the Lady Bears' interior was softened, the Longhorns hit from the outside. In the end, though,

Friday, March 12th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ With Baylor's frontcourt depleted, Texas was certain to attack down low.

Once the Lady Bears' interior was softened, the Longhorns hit from the outside. In the end, though, Stacy Stephens' inside game saved Texas, as her fadeaway with 35 seconds left sealed a 63-59 win over Baylor and clinched a spot in the Big 12 conference tournament championship.

The No. 2 Longhorns (28-3) face No. 19 Oklahoma (22-8) in Saturday's championship game after the Sooners blew out eighth-ranked Kansas State 78-66 in Thursday night's other semifinal.

Stephens powered her way inside for 14 first-half points but sat out for most of the second with foul trouble. She took just two shots after the break, but the last one, a twisting shot in the paint, put Texas up 61-57.

``It's always difficult when you lose Stacy, because she's our only senior and she's our go-to player in those situations,'' Texas coach Jody Conradt said.

``Going out was really tough,'' said Stephens, who finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. ``I made sure I stayed focused. I knew we needed a big shot, and thankfully it went in.''

Nina Norman scored 19, going 8-of-12 from the field and making two free throws with five seconds left. She also hit an outside jumper to put Texas up 59-55.

``If she doesn't play the way she played, we probably don't win those two games,'' Conradt said.

Baylor (24-8) closed to 59-57 on Sophia Young's free throw with 57 seconds left. Young, picking up much of the scoring slack because Baylor was without injured center Steffanie Blackmon, had 30 points, nine rebounds and five steals.

Blackmon, who averages 15.6 points and 6.9 rebounds, twisted her left knee in a quarterfinals victory Wednesday over No. 10 Texas Tech.

Young scored 20 of Baylor's 24 points after halftime, and her two free throws with 8:38 left put Baylor ahead 53-48. But then the Lady Bears, who shot 33 percent after halftime, went without a score for the next seven minutes.

``I didn't think we took care of the ball like we should. I just think Texas turned up the pressure and we folded,'' she said.

Texas, the regular-season co-champion with Kansas State, was the top seed in the tournament for the second straight year. The Longhorns won the tournament last season and advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament, where they lost to eventual champion Connecticut.

Texas has won 14 of 15 games since January, and has won 45 of 49 overall.

That hot streak will be tested by OU, which has won nine of 11 and is making its third appearance in the final in the past four years. The Sooners beat Baylor in 2002 and lost to Iowa State in 2001.

Maria Villarroel and Leah Rush scored 23 points and Rush added 18, and Oklahoma used a barrage of 3-pointer in the other semifinal. In their earlier game against KSU this year, they combined for nine points and Villarroel was benched after two minutes.

``I used that game for motivation,'' Villarroel said. ``I wanted to go harder on the court, and I used my speed like Coach told me.''

Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale joked Thursday about her decision to bench Villarroel.

``That was an Einstein moment on my behalf to bench her in a game where she could have had 20 points in one half,'' Coale said.

Oklahoma roared to a 49-35 halftime lead after hitting 8-of-11 3-pointers, and Kansas State (24-5) never recovered. The Sooners made 53 percent (10-of-19) of their 3-point shots.

Villarroel hit her first three 3-pointers and was 7-of-10 from the field for 21 points in the first half. She finished 3-of-5 on 3-pointers. Rush made her first seven shots and had 16 points midway through the first half. She was 7-of-8 in the half, 2-of-3 on 3-pointers.

``Our motion was moving well,'' Rush said. ``I was getting looks. My teammates were getting me the ball. There's a time when you feel it. I feel like we were playing well together tonight.''

The Wildcats pulled within 10 points twice in the second half, but never really threatened.

Kansas State did have one consolation, with two-time Big 12 player of the year Nicole Ohlde setting the league record for career scoring. She had 18 points, giving her 2,193 for her career.

Ohlde passed the 2,187 points Phylesha Whaley scored for Oklahoma from 1997 -2000, hitting a short turnaround jumper that cut the deficit to 69-57 with 2:30 remaining.

``I didn't even know about it,'' Ohlde said of the record. ``I'm just very disappointed in this game and the way the whole thing turned out.''

Laurie Koehn also hit the record books, making four 3-pointers for a Big 12-record 288 in her career. She passed Megan Taylor of Iowa State, who had 287.

Koehn scored 18 points but was 6-of-20 from the field. Kendra Wecker added 13 points, but she was 6-of-17 as the Wildcats shot just 37 percent.

After Kansas State tied the score at 12, Oklahoma went on 24-8 surge. Villarroel had seven points, three assists and two steals in the run. Villarroel added 12 rebounds for Oklahoma, which won the battle of the boards 43-28.