No. 15 West Virginia didn’t put forth one of its better performances this season Saturday against Colorado.
The Mountaineers still managed a way to secure a spot in the Big 12 Conference Tournament title game.
A three-pointer from Gia Cooke with 32 seconds to play left the Mountaineers with a one-point lead, and WVU hung on to defeat the Buffaloes 48-47 in a semifinal at T-Mobile Center.
With the win, WVU (26-6) advances to play top seed TCU in the Big 12 final at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Cooke later missed two free throws with 2 seconds left, but Jordan Harrison poked the ball away from Colorado’s Jade Masogayo just before time expired, preventing the sixth-seeded Buffaloes (22-11) from attempting a potential winning shot.
Cooke’s late go-ahead triple came off a second-chance opportunity and allowed the Mountaineers to lead, 46-45.
On the ensuing possession, Masogayo missed a shot that WVU’s Kierra Wheeler rebounded, and Harrison made two free throws with 16 seconds left for a three-point margin.
Wheeler was then whistled for a foul as Desiree Wooten attempted a triple with 2 seconds remaining, but Wooten missed the first foul shot. She made the next two despite appearing to try to intentionally miss the third.
Both teams locked down defensively and struggled to score throughout the first half, which ended in a 17-all tie.
After turning it over six times in the first half, Colorado had five third-quarter turnovers, while Wheeler and Cooke scored five points apiece in that frame to spark a 17-point period that left the Mountaineers on top 34-30 with 10 minutes remaining.
Wooten’s trey with 6:11 left brought CU to within 37-36, and the Buffaloes gained a one-point lead when Zyanna Walker scored on their next possession.
Wheeler’s bucket inside put WVU back on top, and the Mountaineers led 43-40 when Cooke drained a jumper with 2:59 remaining,
The Buffaloes ran off the next five points, including Wooten’s go-ahead trey with 1:08 remaining, though Cooke countered 36 seconds later to give her team the lead for good.
Harrison led the Mountaineers with 15 points, while Cooke scored 14 and Wheeler added 12 to go with a team-high 10 rebounds.
Walker scored a game-high 16 points and Wotten added 14 in defeat.
Sunday will mark West Virginia’s fourth appearance in a Big 12 final. The Mountaineers are 1-2 on this stage and won in 2014.
TCU (29-4) defeated the Mountaineers in both regular season meetings.