Danielle Gant scored 22 points, Sydney Colson
added a career-best 15 and No. 10 Texas A&M advanced to the Big 12 championship game by beating third-ranked Oklahoma 74-62 on Saturday in Oklahoma City.
The Aggies will play the winner of today's second semifinal, between Baylor and Iowa State.
The Sooners (28-4) were able to rally back once after Courtney Paris got into foul trouble, but the Aggies (25-6) delivered a knockout punch even with the All-America center on the court.
Smith sparked an 11-1 run with a jumper from the left wing, and Colson added a 3-pointer, a steal and a fast-break layup that pushed the lead to 42-31. Paris wasn't able to make a dent in the deficit before leaving with four fouls, and the Sooners were still down 10 when she fouled out with 3:23 to play.
Paris ended up with 15 points and 15 rebounds, matching an NCAA record by reaching double figures in scoring for the 130th time in her career.
— The Associated Press
COMMENT: It was a brutal display of basketball offense by the Sooners, who still have hopes the loss won't knock them out of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners sorely miss the shooting of freshman Whitney Hand, who has returned from surgery to fix a broken finger but hasn't shaken the rust. She was 0-for-5, 0-for-3 from 3-point range, four fouls, five rebounds. Texas A&M could have turned the game into a rout if not for its own first-half shooting woes. Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale, above, was not amused by some of the foul calls.
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