January 21, 2006

(17) Oklahoma 73, (8) Baylor 70

WACO, Texas Kendra Moore made two 3-pointers in the final 17 seconds, the game-winner coming with less than a second left, and No. 17 Oklahoma beat Baylor 73-70 on Saturday night to break the Lady Bears' 25-game home winning streak.

After Moore put the Sooners (15-4, 5-0 Big 12) up 70-68 with her first 3-pointer of the game, Baylor pushed the ball up the court for Angela Tisdale's driving layup with 7.2 seconds left. Play continued, and Moore drove to an opening on the right wing and hit with 0.8 seconds left.

Baylor got a timeout, but Jordan Davis' desperation inbound pass was knocked down at midcourt as time expired.

Courtney Paris had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead Oklahoma. Paris, a 6-foot-4 freshman center, entered the game second in the Big 12 in scoring with a 20.7 average and tops in rebounding at 15.0. Moore finished with 14 points and Erin Higgins had 11.

Sophia Young led Baylor (13-3, 3-3) with 18 points, three below her Big 12-leading scoring average. She also had nine rebounds. Tisdale had 16 points, Chameka Scott 15 and Abiola Wabara 13.

Oklahoma trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half, but tied it at 43 when Paris made an inside basket and then hit a free throw with 13:40 left. Paris missed all four of her free throws in the first half, then made all five after halftime.

The game was tied eight more times after that, and the margin was never more than four points.

Moore, blocked by Abiola Wabara on the previous offensive possession, penetrated the lane and hit 13-footer with 1:38 left to tie it at 67. Wabara then drove and hit her second free throw after being fouled.

Higgins' 3-point attempt hit both sides of the rim before popping out, then Baylor missed two shots of its own before Oklahoma crossed midcourt and called timeout with 31 seconds left.

The Sooners worked the ball inside, with both Paris sisters -- Courtney and 6-3 Ashley -- touching the ball before kicking it out to Moore for her first go-ahead basket from the left wing.

Tisdale was part of eight straight points that put Baylor up 21-11. She had a pass to Scott for a layup, then hit a 3-pointer and three free throws.

Oklahoma scored eight straight to get to 27-25 on a 3-pointer by Higgins with five minutes left in the half. The Sooners didn't get closer before halftime, when they trailed 35-31.

Former Louisiana Tech coach Leon Barmore, the Women's Basketball Hall of Famer who Mulkey-Robertson played and coached for, attended the game. Barmore was recognized during a timeout in the first half, and Mulkey-Robertson came out of Baylor's huddle to hug her former coach at midcourt.

Mulkey-Robertson was a point guard during a four-year stretch when Louisiana Tech had a 130-6 record and won back-to-back national titles. She then spent 15 seasons on Barmore's staff and was part of another national title there, before coming to Baylor in 2000 and leading the Lady Bears to last year's national title.

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