TOP 25 ROUNDUP \ Women's basketball

No. 6 Baylor 68, No. 17 Kansas St. 55
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Sophia Young scored 18 points, earning Big 12 tournament MVP honors, and Baylor won its first championship. Steffanie Blackmon had a season-high 14 rebounds for the Bears (27-3), who won their 14th straight. Chameka Scott added 12 points and Chelsea Whitaker finished with 10 for the former Southwest Conference members, who added their first automatic NCAA tournament bid in school history to the Big 12 regular season title. It wasn't easy against a Kansas State team that trailed Texas 17-0 in the semifinals before rallying to win 72-69. The Wildcats (23-7) started slowly in each half Saturday night, but kept mounting comebacks that fell just short. Kansas State, which trailed 47-30 with just over 14 minutes remaining, drew to three points and was still within 57-53 on Kendra Wecker's free throws with 3:53 to go. But the Wildcats scored only once more after that, and Baylor closed out the game with an 11-2 run. Megan Mahoney scored eight points in a 13-0 run that got the Wildcats within 47-43 with 7 1/2 minutes left, and Kansas State got a boost when Young and Blackmon both picked up their fourth fouls near the end of that run. But after hitting the front end of a two-shot foul with 7:33 to go, Mahoney missed the second and then injured her left leg in a collision as she tried to chase down the rebound. She did not return. Mahoney still led Kansas State, playing in its first tournament final since the Big 12 formed in the 1996-97 season, with 17 points. Wecker, the Big 12 player of the year, had 14 points and 16 rebounds. Laurie Koehn added 11 points for the Wildcats.
Associated Press