Sooners Trump Texas for Big 12 Tournament Title, 66-47

DALLAS, Texas -- When Oklahoma lost one of its top scorers, all the Sooners had to do was turn to the other one.

Dionnah Jackson scored 21 points and Maria Villaroell added 19 despite missing most of the first half because of foul trouble to help Oklahoma (No. 20 ESPN/USA Today, No. 19 AP) beat second-ranked Texas 66-47 in the Big 12 title game Saturday night.

"Dionnah Jackson took over the game," Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale said. "She went one-up on Texas and took over the game."

Big 12 | Notes

Oklahoma (23-8), the sixth seed in the tournament, earned a spot in the NCAA tournament for the fifth straight year with a punishing defense that held Texas (28-4) to a season low in scoring and an eight-minute scoreless stretch.

Texas also is certain to be in NCAA tournament, possibly as a top seed when the bracket is set Sunday.

Villarroel, who had 26 points and 13 rebounds in a semifinal upset of No. 8 Kansas State, left in the first half with just four points and three fouls. Jackson answered with 13 first-half points to help Oklahoma blow the game open in the first half.

"'Go, clock, go,' was what I was thinking," Coale said.

Jackson, the tournament MVP, also had nine rebounds, and the Sooners outrebounded Texas 42-28. The Sooners held Texas to 38 percent shooting in ending a five-game losing streak to the rival Longhorns.

"This is what we wanted; UT beat us twice, and we wanted to play Texas," said Jackson, wearing a Big 12 championship hat and T-shirt at midcourt after the game. "The game plan was to be tight and help each other."

When she finally came back in the second half, Villarroel found creases all over Texas' interior defense and also grabbed eight rebounds. She was 8-of-14 from the field, and her three-point play on a baseline cut put the Sooners up 59-41 with 4:05 left.

"She's been incredible," Coale said. "She's got a look in her eye when she's focused and concentrated. I've seen that look here and there throughout the season, but I've seen it all week here in Dallas."

Caton Hill added 11 points and nine rebounds for OU.

Tiffany Jackson was the only player to score in double figures for Texas, finishing with 18 points, seven rebounds and five blocks. She was 8-of-14 from the field, but the rest of the Longhorns struggled. The starting backcourt of Nina Norman and Jamie Carey combined to go 2-of-15.

"They were all over the place," Texas center Stacy Stephens said. "It was hard to get anything going. They outhustled us and got all the rebounds. We got a little too anxious in the game. We needed to calm down."

The Sooners led 30-20 at halftime, but it only got that close because Texas closed with a 7-2 run.

Dionnah Jackson scored 12 points during a 20-4 first-half run that put the Sooners ahead 28-13. Texas went without a score for 8:06 of that stretch, missing 13 shots and three free throws.

Along with the first-half Texas miscues came some bumbling and bad luck. Carey was drilled in the face with an Oklahoma pass, a Texas shot bounced off the top of Stephens' head to an Oklahoma rebounder, and a wide-open 3-pointer by Heather Schreiber went in then swirled out to a waiting Sooner.

Tiffany Jackson ending the scoreless stretch with a spinning shot in the lane.

"We didn't show any patience on the offensive end," Texas coach Jody Conradt said. "Their frantic pace on defense caused us to play frantic on offense."

The Longhorns pulled to 30-24 on Kala Bowers' fast-break layup two minutes into the second half, but then Oklahoma went on a 12-4 run capped by Leah Rush's layup. Texas never threatened again.

This will be the fifth straight NCAA trip for Oklahoma, which has posted seven straight winning seasons under coach Coale. The Sooners have never won a national title but lost to Connecticut in the championship in 2002, the last time they won the Big 12 tourney. They also lost in the 2001 Big 12 title game.

Oklahoma only had two NCAA appearances in its history before Coale arrived before the 1996-97 season. This season, Coale became the school's career leader in victories at 155-94.