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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Let Texas Tech worry about Edwina Brown.
That just opened things up for JoRuth Woods and Brown's other Texas
teammates.
|  | | Everyone got in on Texas' celebration, including Asha Hill, left, and Alisha Sare. |
Woods scored 17 points Thursday night and three other players
reached double figures as sixth-seeded Texas continued its run of
upsets in the Big 12 tournament with a 68-50 semifinal victory over
Texas Tech (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP).
"I think it all comes down to the word 'team,"' said Texas
coach Jody Condradt, whose team earned its second victory over a
ranked opponent in as many days. "This is what you dream about as
a coach.
"I think the thing that I am happiest about is that this team
finally believes in themselves," Condradt said. "I have to
probably say that there are a lot of other people that believe in
them now, too."
Texas (21-11), which beat No. 18 Oklahoma 71-68 in Wednesday's
quarterfinals, plays Iowa State (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP) in Saturday's championship game. Prior to this year, no sixth seed had even made the
semifinals.
The Longhorns are trying to become the first team to win four
tournament games since Colorado in 1997, the Big 12's first season.
They're also trying for their first conference tournament
championship since 1994, when they beat Texas Tech 71-69 for the
Southwest Conference title.
"Coming into this game, I thought we might be a little winded
or get a little tired, but I think our adrenalin was going too fast
to even think about being tired," forward Tracy Cook said. "That
really carried us, and I think it will Saturday."
Brown, who came into the game averaging 21.6 points per game,
wasn't shut out Thursday night. She offset eight turnovers with 14
points and nine assists.
"I wouldn't say that I mapped it out this way, but I knew my
time had to come and it showed up at a good time," Brown said.
"This caps my career."
Tai Dillard added a career-high 13 points and freshman Alisha
Sare had 10 for Texas. Dillard also had eight rebounds, another
career high, as Texas outboarded the second-seeded Red Raiders
41-25.
"It's (rebounding) something we've always relied on," said
Keitha Dickerson, who led Texas Tech with 19 points -- 13 in the
first half -- and eight rebounds. "We usually do a better job of
boxing out and grabbing rebounds, but they had the edge and it
showed."
Texas Tech (25-4), the two-time defending tournament champion,
shot just 34 percent (17-for-50) from the floor and managed only
one field goal in the final 12½ minutes.
The Longhorns shot 30-for-60, 50 percent.
Woods' 18-footer at the buzzer gave Texas a 40-29 halftime lead,
and she added five points in the first 5½ minutes of the second
half as the Longhorns padded that advantage to 51-33.
"We were trying to salvage something positive at the end of the
first half, but we didn't get the rebound and they got that last
shot off," Texas Tech coach Marsha Sharp said. "That was a big
momentum builder for them."
Aleah Johnson's basket with 9:05 left cut the margin to 59-47,
but the Red Raiders didn't score again for more than five minutes.
Texas also struggled to score down the stretch but was able to
widen the margin to 66-47 before Dickerson hit two free throws to
break Texas Tech's drought with 3:36 remaining.
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ALSO SEE
Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
Texas Clubhouse
Texas Tech Clubhouse
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