OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Selecting one possession out of 70 to 80 as a seminal moment is silly ... unless it's a last-second game-changer.

No. 1 seed Oklahoma, though, had a moment early in the second half that appeared to signify that it would be the Sooners' night. Even though the final score - OU 70, No. 4 seed Pitt 59 - indicates a lack of drama, one play helped tip the scales.

The scene: In Sunday night's Oklahoma City Regional semifinal, the Panthers were hanging. The Sooners' Courtney Paris had just missed a jump hook and then committed her third foul.

Pitt's Shavonte Zellous was microwaving her game and made a 3-pointer to pull Pitt to within 44-35 early in the second half. On the Sooners' ensuing possession, the Panthers' pressure was draining the shot clock.

Freshman Whitney Hand, who had made a dozen key plays in the first half, gathered a loose ball and fired to Nyeshia Stevenson, who was five feet beyond the 3-point line. Shot ... swish ... the first snow flake in an avalanche.

"We were competing, trying to stretch the lead and Pitt was hanging in," Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale said. "We've been on the defensive end of that kind of shot and it's deflating.

"Considering the game situation we were in, that was a huge shot."

Zellous, who finished with a team-high 18 points on 7-of-20 shooting, conceded that Stevenson's shot was a back breaker.

"We had the shot clock going down but we had a defensive let down on her," she said. "That was a big shot that got the crowd into the game."

Oklahoma (31-4) will face sixth-seeded Purdue, a 67-61 winner over Rutgers, in Tuesday's regional final. The winner earns a spot in the Final Four in St. Louis against the winner of the Raleigh Regional.

Stevenson's shot-clock beater gave the Sooners a 47-35 lead. Combined with frigid Pitt shooting (1-of-12) to start the second half, Oklahoma had little trouble erasing any doubts in the minds of the mostly crimson-clad crowd of 10,843 in the Ford Center. At the 11:54 mark, OU was in control, 64-37.

If Stevenson's shot was the tipping point, Hand was the fulcrum. Her play in the first 15 minutes made the Engergizer Bunny look like a slacker.

"The way they were guarding us, it left the wings open and the shots were there," Hand said.

She scored 17 of the Sooners' first 32 points and she was OU's best rebounder (seven in the first half) and defender.

"She's an extraordinary collegiate player already," Coale said. "The great ones show up on the nights when the lights are brightest. She passed, she defended, she tipped passes, she rebounded. She's big time."

Hand's steal near midcourt led to a 3-pointer from the corner that gave Oklahoma a 32-21 lead 5:15 before halftime. She finished with 22 points and made 4-of-8 3-point attempts.

"I got some offensive rebounds and that helped me but I was feeding off of Whitney's energy," said Ashley Paris, who a double dozen - 12 points and 12 rebounds. "For a freshman to come out and play like that in a game like this, she really made the whole game for us. I got started when Whitney was started."

Pitt's size and strength was a factor. Oklahoma missed 18 shots most would consider point blank. Courtney Paris, who stayed on the floor after picking up the third foul, finished with 10 hard-earned points (on 4-of-14 shooting) and nine rebounds.

Oklahoma is one victory from the Final Four. A year ago, the Sooners were suffering after a second-round exit.

"Getting to this point has been kind of a brick wall for us," Coale said. "A brick wall can be there for a reason, to give us an opportunity to show us how badly we want something."