Tulsa 55, Rice 52

3/5/2006 8:14 PM

By DAVID JIMENEZ
Associated Press Writer

DALLAS (AP) - Tulsa won the Conference USA regular-season title and were favorites to win the conference tournament.

Still, it was hard for the Golden Hurricane players to believe they will be playing in the NCAA Tournament in two weeks.

Tulsa beat Rice 55-52 Sunday in the CUSA title game to earn the school's first trip to the NCAA tourney.

``It means a whole lot,'' Tulsa senior forward Emily Jaskowiak said. ``When I came here four years ago, I never imagined that we'd be here. It's all surreal.''

Tulsa's Jillian Robbins had 17 points and 10 rebounds to cap a weekend that saw her named the tournament's most outstanding player.

But Tulsa survived a Rice rally in the last two minutes as Amber Cunningham missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime.

``You have to give Amber credit,'' Rice coach Greg Williams said. ``She got off a good shot that was just a little bit short. She did a great job under those circumstances.''

Rice (17-13) had won nine straight games and was aiming for its second consecutive NCAA berth.

Tulsa (25-5) has won 14 of 15 games.

The Golden Hurricane shot 29 percent from the floor but made up for their poor shooting by forcing Rice into 23 turnovers.

Lauren Neaves, who scored 36 points in Rice's semifinal win Saturday against SMU, was held to 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting.

``We knew that was their bread and butter and we had to slow her down,'' Robbins said.

Tulsa's Megan Moody added 14 and Jaskowiak had eight points and 11 rebounds.

Cunningham added 12 points for the Owls and Samantha Stovall had 11.

Neither team led by more than seven points in the game.

The Golden Hurricane led 54-47 with 2 minutes left before Rice came back.

Stovall hit a 3-pointer and a jumper to bring the Owls within 54-52 with 58.5 seconds left. Moody hit one of two free throws to stretch the advantage to 55-52 with 13.5 seconds left.

That set the stage for Cunningham's final attempt, which was on line but just short. She fell to the floor in disbelief after the miss as Tulsa players stormed the court in celebration.

``It was an incredible game,'' Tulsa coach Charlene Thomas-Swinson said. ``I'm still out of breath.''

Robbins scored six straight points, including a three-point play to put Tulsa ahead 35-29 early in the second half.

Tulsa led 26-25 at halftime behind Robbins' eight points and nine rebounds.

``We were our own worst enemy,'' Williams said. ``It was a difficult hill to climb out of against a real solid team. Our turnovers were the difference in the game.''