No. 4 Baylor 79, No. 7 Texas 63

The Baylor Lady Bears wish they didn't have to wait so long after their Big 12 tournament title to start playing again.

Nina Davis scored 22 points to help Baylor beat Texas on Monday night in the championship game for its 20th straight win. The Lady Bears await the selection show next Monday, then they won't play again until later in the week.

"Honestly, we've been playing pretty good, and I wish we could just keep playing," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "You hate to stop and take a break, for fear that you can't get back to where you just finished these last two or three weeks, because we've really played good basketball."

Alexis Jones scored 16 points for the Lady Bears. She was named the tournament's most outstanding player after averaging 15.7 points and 7.7 assists in three games. Beatrice Mompremier scored 15 points and Niya Johnson added 11 for Baylor (33-1), which swept the conference's regular-season and tournament titles for the sixth consecutive year.

Baylor won all three games against the Longhorns this season. Texas' loss to Baylor last week in the regular-season finale cost the Longhorns a share of the regular-season conference championship. Texas coach Karen Aston said she felt the Longhorns played better than in the recent 74-48 loss.

"I had hoped that we would be more competitive on every possession in this game, and I thought that we were for a longer period of time," she said. "But they were the better team tonight."

Lashann Higgs scored 15 points and Imani Boyette added nine points and 11 rebounds for Texas (28-4), which was seeking its first tournament title since 2003.

Texas hung tough early, but Baylor began creating a cushion late in the second quarter. Jones' 3-pointer as the shot clock expired in the final minute of the first half gave the Lady Bears a 36-25 lead at the break.

Davis, who had been relatively quiet the first two games, had 12 points in the first half. The Lady Bears held Texas to 37.5 percent shooting before the break.

Baylor pulled away in the third quarter by making 9 of 14 shots. Davis scored eight points in the period, and the Lady Bears took a 60-43 edge into the fourth quarter.

Now, the Bears take a high level of confidence into the NCAA Tournament.

"Around this time, the pieces should be coming together," Davis said. "The team as a whole, I feel like we're all coming together as a team, and what better way to end this next chapter than to end with a win in the championship?"

Iona 57, Quinnipiac 41

After coming so close three times, Iona is finally headed to the NCAA Tournament.

Marina Lizarazu scored 19 points and Joy Adams added 11 points and 13 rebounds Monday to help Iona earn its first NCAA appearance with a victory over Quinnipiac in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game.

"This is incredible to get one for the program," Iona coach Billi Godsey said. "A lot of hard work has gone into prior to my getting here. We continue to build on the foundation. Tweak it in our own special way. ... A great moment for us."

The Gaels had reached the MAAC title game three times since 2007, but lost each one to Marist. After defeating the Red Foxes in the semifinals, second-seeded Iona beat top-seeded Quinnipiac to end the Bobcats' 19-game winning streak.

"I know this year it's a process and just had to take it day-by-day," Adams said. "You can't take shortcuts where you want to go. This year definitely my team believed in that and came out on top."

The teams played eight days ago and Quinnipiac came away with a 16-point win to take the regular-season crown. Unlike that game, the Bobcats were missing leading scorer Maria Napolitano on Monday. The senior guard, who averaged 10.7 points, injured a knee ligament in the team's semifinal victory.

"Obviously she's been our leading scorer, she's been our rock," Quinnipiac coach Tricia Fabbri said. "We knew that everyone would have to step up. It was tough not to have her in uniform for the biggest game of the year."

With the score 15-15, Iona took over. Alexis Lewis hit a 3-pointer to start a 14-2 run. The freshman added another 3 and a layup. The Gaels (23-11) led 29-19 at the half.

They extended the lead to 35-22 in the third quarter before Quinnipiac (24-8) rallied. The Bobcats scored 10 of the next 11 points to pull to 36-32, with Adily Martucci hitting two 3-pointers during the burst.

That's as close as the Bobcats got. After an Iona timeout, the Gaels scored the final five points of the quarter to lead 41-32 entering the last period. The lead grew to 44-32 early in the final period, and Quinnipiac could only get within eight the rest of the way.

"They made it extra difficult for us to score," Fabbri said. "We made a run at them and they made a big basket out of a timeout."

As the final seconds ran down, the Gaels started to celebrate with Adams hugging Godfrey. Iona has a chance to have both its basketball teams in the NCAAs — the Gaels play Monmouth for the men's title Monday night.

Martucci scored 12 points and Aryn McClure added 11 for Quinnipiac, which was trying to make the NCAAs for the third time in four seasons.

St. John's 75, No. 18 DePaul 66

Aliyyah Handford scored 18 of her 23 points in the second half, Danaejah Grant had 22 points with 10 rebounds and No. 4 seed St. John's beat DePaul in the semifinals of the Big East Conference tournament.

St. John's (22-9) will play in the title game for the second time in the last three seasons. They face No. 7 seed Creighton, which upset third-seeded Seton Hall in the other semifinal, for the championship on Tuesday.

Handford and Grant combined for 11 points during St. John's 11-0 run midway through the fourth quarter for a 60-54 lead. The Red Storm made nine straight shots and led 65-59 with just under two minutes left.

Aaliyah Lewis added 14 points for St. John's and Akina Wellere had 12.

Ashton Millender made four 3-pointers and finished with 15 points, tying a career high, to pace top-seeded DePaul (25-8), which had its nine-game win streak snapped.