Wallace passes Baylor to final

15 assists tie career high, set record for Big 12 Tournament.

Nina Davis took little credit for her 24-point outburst.

That, she said, should go to Kristy Wallace. Baylor’s point guard set a Big 12 Tournament record with 15 assists to help the second-ranked Bears defeat No. 24 Kansas State 88-71 Sunday in the semifinals.

“She gets pretty much all the credit — 99.1 percent,” Davis said. “The other half is us finishing the shot. We go as Kristy goes. All season long, she’s been our Energizer Bunny. She never gets tired.”

Wallace matched her career high for assists in a game.

“She is just a great player,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. “She can play through fouls. She can play through blood. She can play through a turnover, and she just is somebody you would sure like to be on the receiving end of her passes because she just gives it to you where you can finish.”

Alexis Prince and Kalani Brown each scored 18 points for Baylor (30-2), which will seek its seventh straight tournament title Monday night against West Virginia.

Davis said she won’t take the opportunity for granted.

“Winning never gets old,” she said. “If I’m ever in a position where winning championships becomes the sameold, same-old, it’s time for me to stop playing basketball.”

Karyla Middlebrook scored 20 points, Kindred Wesemann had 15 points and Breanna Lewis added 14 points and 11 rebounds for Kansas State (22-10), which had won four of its previous five games.

Baylor led 52-38 at halftime behind 16 points from Davis. Prince had 15 points on 5-for-5 shooting at the break, and the Lady Bears shot 59 percent from the floor in the half. Baylor’s largest lead was 22 points in the second half.

Late Saturday

West Virginia 82, No. 19 Oklahoma 58: Tynice Martin scored 21 points, Teana Muldrow added 19 with eight rebounds, and the Mountaineers beat the Sooners (22-9) in a quarterfinal. Their victory over No. 12 Texas on Sunday in the semifinals made them 22-10.

Katrina Pardee had 13 points, Lanay Montgomery scored 12 and Chania Ray had 10 assists for No. 6 seed West Virginia. Pardee and Montgomery each scored six points during a 12-0 run to open the game, and West Virginia never trailed.

Maddie Manning scored 14 and Pierre-Louis added 10 for Oklahoma.