March 6, 2008

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WACO, Texas (AP) - Andrea Riley scored 27 points and Shaunte Smith added 17, as No. 20 Oklahoma State beat No. 8 Baylor 72-68 Thursday night to dash the Bears' chance of sharing the Big 12 regular season championship.

Maria Cordero added nine points for the Cowgirls (23-6, 11-5), seven of them coming in the final four minutes.

Angela Tisdale had 18 points for Baylor (24-5, 12-4), which could have tied Kansas State for the regular season conference title. Jessica Morrow and Danielle Wilson had 11 each.

Oklahoma State took a 42-29 lead with 4:44 left in the first half on consecutive baskets - a jumper and a 3-pointer - by Riley, who scored 19 in the half. But the Bears went into halftime on a 7-2 spurt to close within 43-36.

After two quick baskets to open the second half put the Cowgirls up by 11, Baylor used a 10-2 run to cut the lead to 53-52 with 13:04 remaining. The Bears were trailing by five when Melissa Jones hit a layup on an inbound play.

During the play, Tisdale and Oklahoma State's Taylor Hardeman got tangled in the lane and Hardeman was hit with a technical foul for kicking at Tisdale, who then made two free throws to end the run.

Baylor failed to capitalize on that momentum, however, as Oklahoma State scored six consecutive points to go up 59-52 with 10:40 to play. The Bears answered with three baskets of their own, cutting the lead to 59-58 at the 9:02 mark.

After two Cowgirl free throws, Baylor tied the game on Tisdale's three-point play with 6:40 to play. Smith hit two more free throws to put Oklahoma State up 63-61 and Baylor answered with a 3-pointer from Rachel Allison with 5:16 remaining.

Baylor then went scoreless for the next 3:36, allowing Oklahoma State to edge ahead.