Kansas State stayed close with Oklahoma for most of the game, but came up short in a 78-64 contest that was tighter than the final score indicates.

The Sooners started out the game with a bang, building a 18-4 lead. But KSU followed that with a 35-18 run of their own and held a 39-36 lead at halftime.

The second half started similar to the first half with the Sooners scoring 7 points in the first 92 seconds in a 14-2 run that gave them a 50-41 lead. Once again the Wildcats answered and tied the game at 50. The score remained close and the teams had their last tie at 60-60 with just over six minutes left in the game.

Marlies Gipson's basket with just under four minutes left brought the score to 67-64, but it would be the final points for the Wildcats. ``I missed some layups, we didn't crash the offensive boards and the shots just wouldn't fall,'' said Gipson.

KSU used a variety of players on Courtney Paris and did force her to miss more shots than she usually does. But the freshman sensation still finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds. This was her 25th double-double of the season.

Three other Sooners also finished in double figures and OU got to the line 29 times in the game, compared to 15 for KSU.

Coach Patterson said, “The difference for us is that we didn’t finish shots.”

Coach Coale talked about an ability of her team to turn it up another level as the game is on the line. "This team has a switch that they can flip to bury people pretty quickly."