A&M upset in women's tournament

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A&M upset in women's tournament

OKLAHOMA CITY – Heather Ezell and Alison Lacey scored 11 points apiece and Iowa State used a late run with its leading scorer on the bench to beat No. 13 Texas A&M 57-51 Thursday night and advance to the Big 12 championship game.

The Cyclones (25-7) outscored the top-seeded Aggies 8-1 while Lyndsey Medders was saddled with foul trouble, breaking a late tie to advance to the conference title game for the first time since they won Big 12 championships in 2000 and 2001.

As Medders looked on, Nicky Wieben hit a turnaround jumper in the lane to put Iowa State up 49-47, and the Aggies (24-6) didn't get another field goal the rest of the way – repeating a 6-minute drought that cost them in a 61-54 loss at Iowa State on Feb. 14.

Toccara Ross followed Wieben's basket with a jumper in the key and – after a free throw by Texas A&M's La Toya Micheaux – Ezell added a floater in the lane. Ross' layup off a backdoor cut pushed the lead to 55-48 by the time Medders checked back in with 2:15 left.

A night earlier, the fifth-seeded Cyclones needed 27 points from Medders – including a tying 3-pointer to force overtime – to beat Nebraska in the quarterfinals.

This time, her teammates carried the Cyclones in crunch time.

Texas A&M lost for only the second time in its last 13 games, with both defeats coming at the hands of the surging Cyclones. Iowa State has won eight straight games and will meet either No. 2 seed Oklahoma or No. 3 seed Baylor for the Big 12 title Saturday.

Takia Starks scored 15 points to lead Texas A&M, which shot 33 percent in the second half.

Iowa State, the Big 12's most prolific 3-point shooting team, took its first eight shots of the second half from long range and hit five to build a 43-35 lead on Ezell's 3 from the left corner.

Ezell then missed four straight shots – including the Cyclones' first two-point attempt of the half more than 8 minutes in – as the Aggies got back within 43-41 on A'Quonesia Franklin's 3-pointer from the top of the key.

The Aggies got even on Starks' jumper that tied it at 45.

Medders, the Cyclones' leading scorer and the Big 12 assists leader, then picked up her fourth foul and went to the bench with 5:46 remaining and the score tied at 47.

The Cyclones ended up going 10-for-26 on 3-pointers against an Aggies defense that had led the Big 12 by allowing opponents to shoot only 26.2 percent from long range.

Megan Ronhovde had three of Iowa State's 3-pointers for nine points, and Medders scored eight.

The Cyclones overcame 12 first-half turnovers and led 28-25 after Ezell's 3-pointer from the right side – the only field goal by either team in the final 31/2 minutes before the break.