ST. LOUIS, Mo. - All the wind sprints, all the free throws, all the weight lifting, the road trips, the bumps, bruises, sprains and scrapes, all of what makes up the guts of a basketball season is came down to this for Oklahoma:

Seven missed layups in the second half, 17 turnovers, and 13-of-20 free throw shooting and a game-winning 3-pointer that found more iron than nylon.

The top-seeded Sooners had their 2008-09 journey end one victory short of the national championship game and two victories shy of the ultimate prize. Junior Nyeshia Stevenson's 3-pointer lipped out, giving third-seeded Louisville a scrappy 61-59 victory in Sunday night's NCAA Women's Final Four semifinal.

A loss is a loss is a loss. But some defeats sting more than others. For twins Courtney and Ashley Paris, their Final Four experience was way too brief and far too unsatisfying.

"It seems like it goes by so fast," said Oklahoma's Courtney Paris, fighting off the tears. "You look up and all of a sudden you're a senior. But I've got more sisters than just Ashley now. I just we could have done more."

"It seems like we've been playing for Oklahoma forever," Ashley said, also with tears trying to break through. "It goes by really quick and it hurts now to have gotten this far and not play in the championship game."

The game started like the Sooners would have a play date on Tuesday night. Oklahoma made seven of its first 13 shots and blitzed to a 16-2 lead. Louisville coach Jeff Walz burned two 30-second timeouts to try to stop the bleeding.

Oklahoma's next 16 possessions produced just eight points as the Sooners missed 10 of 13 shots and committed six turnovers. That allowed the Cardinals to get back in the game, cutting the margin to 24-18. But even a 34-22 lead turned into fool's gold as Oklahoma (32-5) made just seven of 26 shots (26.9 percent) in the second half.

"It's not exactly how I scripted it," said Walz, whose team will try to end Connecticut's perfect season in Tuesday night's championship game. "At halftime I told 'em that if they wanted to play their own game, we'll pack up and go home. I thought we had a good game plan. We just had to follow it."

The second half hinged on two changes, one strategic and one statistical.

First, Louisville used a box-and-one defense with freshman Becky Burke shadowing Oklahoma freshman Whitney Hand, who had made three 3-pointers to help spark the Sooners' first half success. Hand managed just two free throws in the second half.

Second, the Cardinals' Angel McCoughtry started hitting shots. She missed her first eight attempts but made six of her last nine for a game-high 18.

"We believed at halftime," said McCoughtry, who scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half. "To come up with this win shows a lot of heart."

Louisville asserted its will by starting the second half with a 20-4 run.

"They took control of the game in first five minutes of second half," Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale said. "They came out swinging and we didn't respond very well. We got tentative with the basketball and completely whiffed on some of the things in our game plan."

The Cardinals were just 3-of-13 from 3-point range, but Burke made two in the final five minutes. The second gave Louisville a 58-52 lead but was countered by Stevenson's 3-pointer with 3:11 remaining. Hand's two free throws made it 58-57 with 90 seconds left but OU could get no closer.

Louisville's Candyce Bingham missed the back end of a one-and-one with 7.6 seconds remaining. Ashley Paris chased the rebound, passed ahead to Danielle Robinson who found Stevenson open. It appeared she had time to drive for a game-tying layup but instead went for the victory.

"I was yelling, 'Ball, ball, ball,'" said Stevenson, who missed seven of her eight 3-point attempts. "I knew I was wide open. I just knew it was going in."

The Sooners' hopes rose on the arc of Stevenson's shot and then were dashed when the ball found more iron than nylon. Stevenson collapsed to the court and was consoled by Ashley Paris.

"I love the fact that she could get her feet set and try to win the game," said Coale, whose 2002 team reached the national championship game before losing to Connecticut. "It was a courageous shot and from my vantage point, boy, the line was sure true."