March 13, 2009

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Baylor coach Kim Mulkey has a message for those who think the Bears won't be as effective a team without injured star Danielle Wilson.

"We're not going away," Mulkey said. "I don't know what else we can do. Just keep winning, guys. Just keep winning."

The Bears did just that on Friday night, albeit barely. Jessica Morrow and Melissa Jones each scored 15 points and No. 7 Baylor rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to beat Oklahoma State 67-62 in a quarterfinal game of the Big 12 Conference tournament.

Oklahoma State (16-15) led 43-28 with 16:33 left, but only made three second-half field goals, none in the final 5:19. Baylor (25-5) used a 10-0 run to close the gap and took the lead for the first time since the opening moments with 1:51 left on two free throws by Kelli Griffin. The Bears scored the game's final eight points.

"You saw today what we've done all year long," Oklahoma State coach Kurt Budke said. "We have the ability to play with anybody for 25 to 30 minutes."

Baylor will play either No. 18 Iowa State or No. 23 Texas in the semifinals on Saturday. Oklahoma State - once ranked in the Top 25 - will find out Monday if it will be invited to play in the Women's National Invitation Tournament. The Cowgirls have lost 10 of their last 12 games.

Baylor, which beat Oklahoma State twice during the regular season, played for the third straight game without Wilson, their leading scorer and rebounder, who went down with a knee injury in a Feb. 28 win at Texas.

The Bears lost by 24 at Kansas in their first game without Wilson, but have beaten No. 10 Texas A&M and Oklahoma State since then, which Mulkey said is proof that the Bears can thrive using other players, like frontline reserve Morghan Metlock, who had 14 points.

After being asked a question after the game about how Baylor is adjusting to life without Wilson, Mulkey launched into a reply that included the phrase, "We're not going away" four times.

She argued that "if we are the conference that everybody says we are" two teams from the Big 12 should receive No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament. Three Big 12 teams are now ranked in the top 10: No. 3 Oklahoma, Baylor and Texas A&M.

If not, Mulkey said, "I want somebody to tell me why not. You can talk about Stanford, being out in their league, and we beat them early in the year. This league is brutal. ... I don't think we have to win this thing to be a No. 1 seed. I don't think that's fair. We finished second in this league, and if it's supposed to be what it is, and everybody says it is, then this team deserves a No. 1 seed."

Andrea Riley led Oklahoma State with 17 points but went 4-of-21 from the field and made several critical errors in the final moments, while Shaunte Smith had 13 points and 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season.

"We had a lot of opportunities to run away with the game, but sometimes the ball just doesn't go in the basket," Riley said.

Oklahoma State's biggest lead came when Taylor Hardeman hit a 3-pointer, making it 43-28 with 16:33 left. But Baylor cut the gap to 43-38 on Medlock's basket with 13:09 left.

Baylor tied the game at 54 with 6:19 left on a 19-foot jumper by Medlock. Oklahoma State scored the next six points, with two free throws by Megan Byford giving the Cowgirls a 60-54 lead with 5:01 left, but managed only two points after that, two free throws by Melinda Mercado with 2:29 left.

Griffin's free throws put Baylor ahead 63-62. Riley threw a high pass that Smith couldn't corral and the ball sailed out of bounds. Then Riley was called for a charge after colliding with Jones while driving to the basket with 25.8 seconds left with the Cowgirls still trailing by one. Riley said the call was correct.

Morrow hit two free throws to give Baylor a 65-62 lead with 13.7 seconds left. Riley brought the ball downcourt and passed to Hardeman, who passed up a 3-point attempt and threw the ball back to Riley, who airballed a 3-pointer.

Jones, who also had eight rebounds, made two free throws with 2.8 seconds left for the final margin. Rachel Allison had five points and 10 rebounds for Baylor.

"We knew if we had any chance, we had to start off the second half, you know, with spark and get back in it somehow," Morrow said. "And I think we kept chipping away and we got momentum back and were able to make a run."

Oklahoma State put together one of its best halves all season while taking a 37-26 lead over the Bears. The Cowgirls outrebounded Baylor 28-17 and committed only three turnovers while holding the Bears to 11-of-31 shooting.