Sooners Advance, Drop Iowa State, 78-74

DALLAS (AP) - Erin Higgins bailed out Oklahoma.

Higgins made a 3-pointer with 49 seconds remaining to help lift the No. 8 Sooners past pesky Iowa State 78-74 Wednesday and advance to the Big 12 tournament semifinals. Courtney Paris dominated inside with a season-high 36 points, 16 rebounds and six blocked shots, and she was also key on the game-winning shot.

Iowa State had been defenseless against Paris for most of the afternoon, so the Cyclones elected to collapse on the 6-foot-4 freshman and allow Higgins to shoot the 3-pointer.

``It's a called play,'' Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale said. ``It makes the defenders chose between Courtney and our 3-point shooter. We know we're not just Courtney. That's why we were 16-0 in the conference.''

Championship Central

Oklahoma (27-4) will meet Missouri in semifinals on Thursday at 6 p.m. CST.

Ninth-seeded Iowa State (17-12) gave the top-seeded Sooners a scare when Brittany Wilkins scored with 1:05 left to cap a 16-3 run and give the Cyclones a 74-73 lead.

But Higgins' shot from the top of the circle gave the Sooners a 76-74 advantage. Laura Andrews made two free throws in the final 24 seconds and Paris blocked Wilkins' layup attempt with 10 seconds remaining to seal Oklahoma's 15th consecutive win.

Wilkins finished with a career-high 28 points, while Lyndsey Medders had 15 points and 12 assists.

``When Higgins hit that 3, it hit us in the heart,'' Medders said. ``That was exactly what we didn't want to happen.''

Paris, whose previous game-high was 32 points against Texas on Jan. 25, had 15 points against double-teaming defense in the regular-season meeting against Iowa State. But Oklahoma won that game Jan. 4, 87-67 behind a 3-point barrage.

Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly decided to change tactics in the rematch.

``The way we guarded her was the way we had to with our team,'' Fennelly said. ``At our place, we doubled her and held her to 15 points but they lit us up for 13 3s.''

Iowa State had a chance to sent the game to overtime until Paris blocked Wilkins' layup attempt.

``The coaches are always giving me problems about my defense,'' Paris said. ``I was happy to get that stop and go to the bench and say, 'I told you so.'''

The Sooners established their inside game early as Paris had 12 points in the first 10 minutes and 19 at halftime. Fennelly tried Wilkins and Megan Ronhovde guarding Paris, and he also went to a zone, but Paris dominated the paint in the first half.

``She's a great player, as good as I've ever seen and coached against,'' Fennelly said.