Dallas ? Oklahoma’s Maria Villarroel and Leah Rush couldn’t do much the first time they faced Kansas State.

Villarroel only played two minutes and didn’t score before being benched in Kansas State’s 78-64 victory in January. Rush played nine minutes and scored four points

In the rematch, Villarroel scored 23 points, and Rush added 18, and No. 19 Oklahoma used a barrage of three-pointers to stun eighth-ranked Kansas State, 78-66, Thursday night and earn a spot in the Big 12 Conference tournament title game.

“I used that game for motivation,” Villarroel said. “I wanted to go harder on the court, and I used my speed like coach told me. I took whatever they gave me. When I saw her (Amy Dutmer) on me, I said, ‘Oh yes.’ I went baseline all the time.”

Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale, whose team has won nine of 11 since that loss to Kansas State, joked Thursday about her decision to bench Villarroel.

“That was an Einstein moment on my behalf to bench her in a game where she could have had 20 points in one half,” Coale said. “I felt like that was the turning point in the year. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom.”

The Sooners (22-8) will face rival Texas (28-3) Saturday for the championship and an automatic NCAA Tournament berth.

Oklahoma roared to a 49-35 halftime lead after hitting eight of 11 three-pointers, and regular-season co-champion Kansas State (24-5) never recovered. The Sooners made 53 percent (10-of-19) of their three-point shots.

The Wildcats pulled within 10 points twice in the second half, but never really threatened.

Oklahoma's Erin Higgins celebrates after a teammate scores in the Sooners' 78-66 victory over No. 8-ranked Kansas State. OU's victory Thursday in Dallas in the semifinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament set up Saturday's championship-game meeting with Texas.

KSU had one consolation, with two-time Big 12 player of the year Nicole Ohlde setting the league record for career scoring. She had 18 points, giving her 2,193 for her career.

Ohlde passed the 2,187 points Phylesha Whaley scored for Oklahoma from 1997 to 2000 when she hit a short turnaround jumper that cut the deficit to 69-57 with 2:30 remaining.

Laurie Koehn also hit the record books, making four three-pointers for a Big 12-record 288 in her career. She passed Megan Taylor of Iowa State, who had 287.

No. 2 Texas 63, No. 14 Baylor 59

Dallas — Stacy Stephens made a short fadeaway to seal the game with 35 seconds left, and Texas beat Baylor to earn a second straight appearance in the Big 12 tournament championship game. Stephens finished with 16 points for the Longhorns (28-3). Texas also got 19 points from Nina Norman.