OKLAHOMA CITY – With the score tied and leading scorer Takia Starks battling leg cramps, Texas A&M coach Gary Blair knew exactly what to do on the Aggies' final possession against Kansas State.

Just a simple "sandlot play," as he called it, for Danielle Gant, who drove to the basket from the top of the key and rattled in a 4-footer over a double team with 25.3 seconds left to lift the Aggies to a 65-63 victory Friday in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals.

"Going down to NCAA Tournament time, I know where my bread is buttered," Blair said. "I'm going to keep going to my horse in there."

Playing in her hometown for the first time since last year's NCAA Tournament, Gant delivered all game, scoring 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting and grabbing a season-high 14 rebounds.

She scored eight points and pulled down three key offensive rebounds in the final 6:29, when the lead changed hands five times.

Gant also switched defensive assignments throughout the game, showing her versatility by defending 6-foot post Marlies Gipson on some possessions and 5-8 point guard Shalee Lehning on others.

"She just has that mentality that refuses to lose," Blair said. "She had to guard everybody on that team. There's not a 5-10 player in the country that plays harder and better than her."

Kansas State (24-7), which lost to the Aggies by 26 two weeks ago, got 22 points from Gipson and 19 from Ashley Sweat as it rallied from a 10-point first-half deficit to take its first lead with 10:32 left.

Nine lead changes later, the Wildcats had a chance to send the game into overtime but missed their final shot. Lehning first dribbled the ball off her leg, but scrambled for the loose ball, flipping it to Sweat, whose 9-foot jumper hit the back of the rim but didn't get the same kind bounce that Gant's shot got.

"I wouldn't want anybody else taking that shot," Lehning said. "Her shots always seem to hit that back rim in practice, and they always fall. Yeah, I thought it was going in."

The Aggies (24-6), who are trying to win the tournament title for the second consecutive year as the No. 4 seed, have won six of their last seven games.

And Gant and Starks aren't the only reasons why.

Texas A&M received 13 points from Starks, but also had significant contributions from Tanisha Smith and freshman Adaora Elonu, who finished with 10 points each.

Sydney Colson added eight points and hit a critical 3-pointer with 7:53 left when the Aggies' offense appeared to be bogging down.