Oklahoma St pushes Baylor in 77-69 loss at Big 12
Sunday - 3/10/2013, 7:18pm ET
STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Basketball Writer
DALLAS (AP) -- Toni Young and Oklahoma State never got intimidated by top-ranked Baylor.
Not even when Young was getting some early shots blocked by Brittney Griner, the Lady Bears' 6-foot-8 All-American, or the Cowgirls trailed by 17 points in the second half.
And they almost pulled off a shocker at the Big 12 tournament.
Oklahoma State was within three points in the final minute before the defending national champions finally closed out a 77-69 semifinal victory Sunday.
"We don't ever give up. ... We came in and competed with the No. 1 team in the nation," Young said. "Not that many people came close to them."
The Cowboys (21-10) put together a furious late rally by taking advantage of some uncharacteristic turnovers by Baylor -- 18 of the Lady Bears' season-high 24 miscues came after halftime.
Baylor (31-1) has won 48 consecutive Big 12 regular-season and tournament games -- most by a large margin. The Lady Bears will play in their third straight conference tournament title game Monday night after going through the last two regular seasons without a league loss.
Oklahoma State trailed by 17 after Baylor guard Odyssey Sims converted a nifty three-point play with 15 minutes left. But the Cowgirls cut it to 72-69 with 1:34 remaining when Tiffany Bias converted a steal into a breakaway layup.
"Very proud of our basketball team," Cowgirls coach Jim Littell said. "We went toe-to-toe with the No. 1 team in the nation. ... It's something that's a step in the right direction for our program. We can build off this."
The Cowgirls likely helped their seeding in the NCAA tournament with this performance.
Young had 22 points and 11 rebounds. Liz Donohoe added 20 points and Bias scored 19.
Griner had 30 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks while Sims and Brooklyn Pope each scored 12 points for Baylor.
Destiny Williams added 10 points for the Lady Bears and Sims had seven assists.
With the shot clock running down early in the second half, Sims made a move and pushed the ball toward the rim. The ball went in as she was fouled, prompting Baylor coach Kim Mulkey to emphatically pump her arm to go with a leg kick.
The Lady Bears led 54-37 when Sims made the free throw.
Baylor still had a comfortable lead with 5
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