OKLAHOMA CITY – Forget the turnovers, shooting percentages and rebounding numbers.

The biggest difference in the Big 12 tournament semifinal between No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 10 Texas A&M, Sooners coach Sherri Coale said, was desire.

"I thought [A&M's] Danielle Gant just wanted to win more than anybody else on the basketball floor," Coale said. "The results speak for themselves."

Gant missed one shot in her second consecutive 22-point performance in her hometown as the fourth-seeded Aggies knocked off top-seeded Oklahoma, 74-62, to move within one win of their second consecutive tournament title.

A&M, which handed the Sooners their only regular-season loss less than three weeks ago, used a variety of defenses to speed up the pace and frustrate Oklahoma. OU made six first-half field goals to fall behind by 11 points early and wound up shooting 32 percent with 17 turnovers.

Oklahoma star Courtney Paris was limited to nine field goal attempts after committing three fouls in the first 11 minutes. Although she had 15 points and 15 rebounds for her 125th career double-double, Paris played a mere 24 minutes and fouled out with 3:23 left.

"You play Courtney by fronting her and ball pressure and praying for help," A&M coach Gary Blair said. "If you're going to stay behind her, you're going to see who's who in America ... because she's too good."

The Aggies got another strong performance from Sydney Colson, whose late 3-pointer helped spark Friday's quarterfinal victory over Kansas State.

The gritty point guard, who returned to practice four months after knee surgery and has had limited playing time this season, had career-highs of 15 points, five assists and 38 minutes.

That came after a pregame challenge from Blair, who asked her to raise her game against one of the league's top point guards, Danielle Robinson. Colson came through at the right time.

After Oklahoma closed within one by scoring seven consecutive points to open the second half, Tanisha Smith made an 18-foot jumper from the wing to start an 11-1 Aggies run that included several big plays by Colson. She hit a 3-pointer, then stole the ball and fed Gant for a basket before finishing with a layup to push the lead to 42-31 with 14:09 left.

"When I hit that 3, I felt like we got a little bit of adrenalin going, and momentum," Colson said, "and it took us down the stretch."