Associated Press
No. 15 Texas 64, Missouri 59: KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Missouri endured its share of heartbreak in Cindy Stein's final season, and it was no different in her final game as coach.
No. 15 Texas overcame sloppiness and a career shooting day by Amanda Hanneman to hold off Missouri 64-59 in the first round of the Big 12 women's tournament Thursday.
Fifth-seeded Texas (23-7) trailed 29-28 at the half and couldn't put away the 12th-seeded Tigers (12-18) until the final minute. The Longhorns advanced to a quarterfinal game Friday against fourth-seeded Texas A&M.
"It was a struggle," Texas coach Gail Goestenkors said. "They kept fighting, and I would expect nothing less of a Cindy Stein team. They've lost a lot of tough, close games."
The loss was Mizzou's sixth by five points or less against a Big 12 opponent -- a statistic that surely has worn on Stein's players.
"Sometimes that's life and life isn't always fair, but you've got to keep gettin' up and getting dressed every day and try and have a positive spirit because negativity is for losers," said Stein, who announced her resignation March 1 and finished 185-177 in 12 years at Mizzou.
Brittainey Raven scored 11 points to lead Texas, which has won 12 straight against the Tigers and 19 of the last 20.
Ashley Gayle blocked five shots to set the Texas single-season record of 99. Earnesia Williams, Kathleen Nash and Yvonne Anderson added nine points apiece for the Longhorns, who beat the Tigers 60-41 in Austin, Texas last week.
"We knew they were going to play hard," Nash said. "I would say we didn't come in here ready enough, and we were happy to get out of here with a win."
Hanneman kept the Tigers in the game, making a career-high seven 3-pointers and finishing with a game-high 21 points. Jessra Johnson had 11 points.
"When you're a shooter like me, when the first one goes down, it's always a good thing," Hanneman said. "I just kept telling myself, 'You're going to make 'em today.' "
Missouri shot just 32 percent, but Hanneman's long-distance shooting and Texas' 19 turnovers kept it close.
The Longhorns were poised to pull away throughout the second half, but the Tigers wouldn't let them.
Hanneman twice hit 3-pointers to cut five-point leads to two points. Christine Flores made a left-handed scoop shot and converted a baseline pass from Johnson into a backdoor layup to get Mizzou within 56-54 with 5:04 left.
Missouri was within 59-56 after Shakara Jones' lay-in, but Williams' jumper and Anderson's free throws made it a seven-point game with 2:43 left.
The Tigers weren't done, though. Jones' basket and Johnson's free throw trimmed Texas' lead to 63-59 in the final minute, and Mizzou had a chance to make it a one-possession game. But Mizzou couldn't get a shot off against Texas' tight defense before Johnson was called for traveling with 12 seconds left.
As she did before the game, Goestenkors gave Stein a hug at midcourt after the final buzzer.
"I feel for Cindy, I really do," Goestenkors said. "She's a good friend and a great coach, and I know there are good things out there for her. I hated that this was her last game."
Stein said she didn't know what her next career move would be. She said it could be coaching or possibly an administrative position.
She did have some immediate plans, though.
"I'm going to go grab a beer," she said.
*
No. 20 Oklahoma State 76, Kansas 69: KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Andrea Riley scored 37 points, Toni Young added 16 and No. 20 Oklahoma State put away Kansas 76-69 on Thursday in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.
Carolyn Davis made a contested layup with 12:22 left that capped an 8-0 spurt and gave the Jayhawks a 49-47 lead, their first since early in the first half. Oklahoma State (22-9) quickly responded by scoring the next seven points and never trailed again.
Riley scored 20 of her points during the first half while setting a school record by playing in her 129th game. She can become the Big 12's career scoring leader against Iowa State in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Davis had 31 points for Kansas (15-15), which lost its final six games.
The Jayhawks managed to trim a double-figure lead to one possession in the closing minutes, but never could come all the way back. Marisha Brown's three-point play off a miss cut Oklahoma State's lead to 69-66, and Nicollette Smith buried a 3 with 56 seconds left to make it 72-69.
Riley scored Oklahoma State's final seven points to help the Cowgirls survive.
After missing Kansas' last game because of a concussion sustained in practice, Davis checked in with 17:46 left in the first half and quickly rattled off six straight points. It was a much-needed outburst for a team that hadn't scored more than 54 points in its last five games.
Riley wasn't exactly sitting around, either.
The two engaged in a back-and-forth scoring duel throughout the game. The only difference was that Riley scored from all over the court while Davis did most of her damage inside.
Riley could have scored more, but she tossed up two air balls and missed two layups. She finished the first half 5 of 18 from the field, while Davis scored 14 first-half points and made all five of her field goal attempts.
One of the highest-scoring pairs in the country, Riley and Tegan Cunningham came into the game averaging a combined 41.9 points -- tied for most in the nation by a tandem.
They continued that trend by scoring 11 of the Cowgirls' first 13 points, along with their final nine before halftime. Cunningham finished with 14 in the game.
Picked before the season to finish second in the Big 12 and once nationally ranked, injuries and inconsistent play plagued Kansas down the stretch.
The Jayhawks played their 10th straight game without leading scorer Danielle McCray or starting point guard Angel Goodrich, both of whom suffered season-ending ACL injuries. Goodrich injured her knee in a 70-68 loss against Oklahoma State on Jan. 12.
*
No. 16 Baylor 72, Colorado 65: KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Reserve Whitney Zachariason scored a career-high 17 points and 16th-ranked Baylor shook off pesky Colorado for a 72-65 victory in the first round of the Big 12 tournament Thursday night.
The 11th-seeded Buffaloes, who lost 13 of 16 conference games, threatened to avenge a 34-point regular-season loss before Baylor managed to put them away. Jordan Madden hit a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left to give the Bears (23-8) a six-point lead.
Brittany Spears had 24 points and Alyssa Fressle added 16 for Colorado (13-17), which was held without a field goal for the last 6:25.
The Bears advance to a quarterfinal Friday night against 12th-ranked Oklahoma. The game will mark the return of suspended star freshman Brittney Griner.
The Buffs finished with losses in 12 of their last 13 games.
Zachariason, averaging five minutes and 1.4 points, made a career-high five 3-pointers. She came in with a total of three 3-pointers in her 18 games.
Zachariason gave the Bears the spark they needed with Griner serving the second game of a two-game suspension for punching and breaking the nose of Texas Tech's Jordan Barncastle last week. The Bears also were without second-leading scorer Melissa Jones, who has battled injury the second half of the season.
Baylor won the regular-season meeting with Colorado 76-42 in Waco, Texas. Griner had 24 points, 10 rebounds and 11 blocked shots in that game.
Baylor lost 70-54 to Texas without Griner and Jones on Sunday, and looked headed for another defeat against the Buffaloes. Colorado led 62-58 when Chucky Jeffery scored with 6:25 left.
The Buffs didn't make another field goal against the nation's No. 2 team field-goal defense, but Baylor didn't have the game put away until Madden's deep 3-pointer with 39 seconds left.
The Bears wouldn't have been as close if it hadn't been for Zachariason's breakout night. She hit three shots from long distance in the first half.
The Buffs outscored Baylor 18-4 over the last 6:37 of the half. Spears's 3-pointer capped the run, which turned Colorado's 27-21 deficit into an eight-point lead.
-- Wire reports
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