OKLAHOMA STATE 92, TEXAS A&M 76

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Oklahoma State head coach Dick Halterman will be around for a little while longer. His team reeled off a Big 12 tournament record 55 first-half points in a 92-76 rout of Texas A&M on the first day of the Big 12 Conference Tournament.

“All in all I thought it was a pretty good effort,” Halterman said. “I thought that in the first half our bench kids really gave us a lift and opened up a pretty big lead.”

Six Cowgirls reached double digits in scoring in the game, led by Tari Cummings who finished with 17. Trisha Skibbe and Thia Willis each added 16 while Terrisha Osborn and Shelby Hutchens had 12 apiece. Nikki Lawrence rounded out the attack with 11 points.

“This might be the first time all year we had six kids in double figures,” Halterman said. “You’re going to win some ball games when you do that.”

Earlier this season it was announced that Halterman wouldn’t return to coach the team next year. The Cowgirls responded with back-to-back wins over Texas Tech and Iowa State.

The eighth-seeded Cowgirls (16-14) will now face No. 1 seed Oklahoma Wednesday at noon.

The Aggies (13-16) were led by Kim Moore who scored a season-high 26 points and added seven rebounds. Toccara Williams added 19 points and nine assists.

But Texas A&M was out-rebounded 53-25.

“That was one of the things I thought we were good at,” Aggie head coach Peggie Gillom said. “Today we were not there. We did not box out very well.”

TEXAS 65, KANSAS 63

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Texas avoided one of the biggest upsets in Big 12 tournament history – barely.

Kala Bowers scored 23 points to lead the fifth-seeded Longhorns past 12-seed Kansas 63-61 in a game that came down to the wire Tuesday.

Sharrone Spencer hit a jumper to pull the Jayhawks (5-25) to within one-point. She was fouled on the play but missed the free throw with seven seconds left to play.

Bowers secured the rebound and made one free throw to secure the victory. Katie Hannon’s desperation three-pointer at the buzzer fell short.

The Longhorns (20-8) will play No. 4 Kansas State Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.

Kansas – the only women’s team to go winless in the history of the Big 12 (0-16) – led by as many as 14 before Texas stormed back.

“We were mad, not really nervous,” said Kenya Larkin, who chipped in with nine points and eight assists. “When we got down like that, it put a sense of urgency in everybody’s mind.”

Kansas was led by senior KC Hilgenkamp who scored 17 points.

“We were all positive coming in here and playing in the Big 12 tournament. We all wanted to play,” Hilgenkamp said.

TEXAS TECH 78, MISSOURI 51

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri was simply no match for seventh-seeded Texas Tech Tuesday as the Lady Raiders pounded out a 78-51 win.

Jia Perkins led the way for Texas Tech, scoring 24 points. Candi White had nine points and 10 assists.

“I thought it was the most important game of the week for us,” Texas Tech head coach Marcia Sharp said. “Every time we have a chance to play well we help our chances in the NCAA Tournament.”

Missouri (14-14) struggled all game as only one player tallied double digits in scoring. Natalie Bright hit five of 14 shots for 11 points.

Texas Tech (18-10) will play the No. 2 seed Baylor tonight at 6 p.m.

Sharp was happy with the large victory as it let her rest her starters for a good portion of the second half. She anticipated needing them to log a lot of minutes against the Lady Bears.

“Later in the game I was really pleased with our young players,” Sharp said. “I thought they really played well enough for a long stretch of time that we could rest our starters. That will be important to us tomorrow.”

– Jeremy Gustafson