March 9, 2006

Final Stats |  Notes

DALLAS (AP) -- Sophia Young scored 29 points and Angela Tisdale hit four free throws in the final minute to help No. 10 Baylor hold off No. 22 Texas A&M 53-52 Thursday night in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.

Baylor (24-5) has won 13 straight against Texas A&M and has two tournament victories by a combined six points.

Texas A&M (23-8) trailed 53-50 after Tisdale hit two free throws with 17.2 seconds left.

A'Quonesia Franklin badly missed a 3-pointer that could have tied it. Danielle Gant grabbed the miss near the rim and hit a layup at the buzzer for the final score.

Baylor will look to defend its Big 12 tourney title against No. 8 Oklahoma on Saturday night. Oklahoma beat Missouri 75-54 in the other semifinal Thursday.

Neither team led by more than five points. After Young's layup brought Baylor within 38-36 with 10:11 to play, neither team led by more than two until the final minute.

Franklin had 14 points and Gant added 10 for the Aggies, who were playing in their first Big 12 tournament semifinals.

Baylor took the lead for good at 49-47 on Chameka Scott's layup with 2:46 to play.

After both teams went scoreless on their next two possessions, Patrice Reado hit one of two free throws to get Texas A&M within 49-48 with 34.4 seconds left.

Tisdale, who scored eight points and was 6-of-6 from the foul line, hit two free throws to extend the lead to 51-48.

Gant cut the lead back to one on a layup with 20.5 seconds left.

Baylor made its last 10 free throws to finish 15-of-16 from the line. Texas A&M was just 5-of-9 from the charity stripe.

The Lady Bears needed overtime to beat Kansas State 79-74 on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.

Young scored 16 points in the first half to lift Baylor to a 28-27 halftime lead.