Dallas ? Kansas State left Missouri way behind in the Big 12 Conference tournament.

Kendra Wecker scored 25 points and Kansas State held a 21-0 fast-break advantage in the first half en route to a 79-58 victory over Missouri on Wednesday night in the tournament quarterfinals.

“We’re a team that’s had a great deal of success with that all season long,” Wildcats coach Deb Patterson said. “Any opportunity to push the ball, we take it. I thought we came out and played with a great deal of energy from the start.”

Laurie Koehn added 15 points, Nicole Ohlde scored 14, and Megan Mahoney had a Big 12 tournament record 12 assists for No. 8 Kansas State (24-4).

Kansas State will face Oklahoma tonight.

The Wildcats, who led by as many as 34 in the second half, made 20 of their 30 first-half field-goal attempts, going 8-for-11 from three-point range. When Kansas State looked inside, the Wildcats got easy baskets on backdoor plays and lobs for a 48-28 edge in points in the paint.

Kansas State finished 35-of-64 from the field, 9-for-16 from three-point range.

“Anytime we have an opportunity to exploit an opponent, we have to take advantage of it,” Patterson said.

The second-seeded Wildcats got off to a 37-15 start, using a 21-6 first-half spurt to put away the seventh-seeded Tigers early.

Missouri's Evan Unrau, center, battles for position with Kansas State's Laurie Koehn, left, and Twiggy McIntyre. The Wildcats beat the Tigers, 79-58, Wednesday in Dallas.

Stretch James had 18 points, and Evan Unrau added 17 for Missouri (17-12).

Kansas State was in front at halftime, 48-25 behind 15 points from Wecker and 12 from Koehn.

Missouri couldn’t get on track offensively, converting only nine of 31 first-half shots and missing all nine three-point tries.

“I wouldn’t say we were tight, we were ready to play, but we had some defensive breakdowns early and our kids know that’s not supposed to happen,” Missouri coach Cindy Stein said. “They were hitting everything and we had some good looks that didn’t fall.”

Stein called Kansas State a team “we feel can compete for a national championship.”

Despite Missouri’s 21-point loss to Kansas State in the Big 12 tournament and a 36-point blowout defeat to the Wildcats during the regular season, Patterson said the Tigers were worthy of consideration for an NCAA bid.

“They didn’t play their very best game, but we played extremely well,” Patterson said. “With 17 wins in a league as tough as ours, they’re a very legitimate consideration for the NCAA tournament.”

Baylor forward Emily Niemann celebrates the Bears' victory over Texas Tech. BU beat the Red Raiders, 80-72, Wednesday in Dallas.

No. 2 Texas 64, Iowa State 54

Dallas — Outshot and outrebounded in the first half by underdog Iowa State, No. 2 Texas got back on track.

Texas opened the second half with a 20-8 run, capped by three straight jumpers from Nina Norman, in a victory over Iowa State.

Norman and Tiffany Jackson had 16 points each for the Longhorns (27-3), who will face No. 14 Baylor in the semifinals.

“We knew we had to pick it up defensively,” Texas coach Jody Conradt said. “Nobody could afford to relax.”

Lyndsey Medders had 12 points. and Lisa Kriener added 11 points for the Cyclones (15-14).

No. 14 Baylor 80, No. 10 Texas Tech 72

Dallas — Sophia Young had 26 points and 13 rebounds, leading the No. 14 Bears.

Baylor lost starting center Steffanie Blackmon with 2:37 remaining when she twisted her left knee on a drive to the basket. Blackmon’s status is questionable for the Texas game.

LaToya Davis led Texas Tech (24-7) with 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Alesha Robertson added 17 points. Dionne Brown added 11 points, and Jessika Stratton had 10 for Baylor (24-7).

“I think Sophia is a great player,” Davis said. “You just have to try and slow her down, but it’s hard to stop her. Baylor’s inside game has always been great.”

No. 19 Oklahoma, 63, No. 13 Colorado 56

Dallas — Caton Hill scored 10 of her 17 points in a key second-half run and made two free throws with 22 seconds left, leading 19th-ranked Oklahoma.

Oklahoma (21-8) will meet No. 8 Kansas State in today’s semifinals.

Dionnah Jackson had 19 points and nine rebounds, and Maria Villarroel added nine points and 14 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Sooners.

Tera Bjorklund had 15 points and Randie Wirt 13 for Colorado (22-7), which made just 16 of 48 shots.

Colorado cut a seven-point halftime deficit to 44-41 with 8:45 left.

But Hill got a 12-7 run started with a pair of three-pointers, and her two free throws with 2:32 left expanded Oklahoma’s advantage to 56-48.