ATLANTA -- It was obvious all season Sheryl Swoopes was the best player in women's college basketball. What was not so obvious, at least until Sunday, was that her team was also the best.
The Texas Tech Lady Raiders, with Swoopes putting on a record- setting, one-woman show, fought off an Ohio State comeback bid in the second half Sunday to win the NCAA championship with an 84-82 victory.
It was the first NCAA team title ever in any men's or women's sport for the school on the plains of west Texas.
'Obviously,' Texas Tech Coach Marsha Sharp said, 'this is the greatest thrill any of us have had in our athletic careers.
'There are no words to express the kind of player Sheryl Swoopes is. I'm just glad she could show the nation what kind of player she can be.'
Swoopes scored 47 points, 19 more than any woman had ever scored in an NCAA championship game. She scored 177 points in her five tournament games, 43 more than any player had before.
She hit 10 of her first 11 shots as Texas Tech built a 40-31 advantage at intermission, then helped turn back the Buckeyes in the second half when they overcame a 10-point deficit to briefly take the lead.
'This is better than I thought it would be,' said Swoopes, who will likely sign a contract to play basketball in Europe. 'It is something special.
'It was a great game, but it was a tough one. After a while, I decided I had to do whatever I could to take control.'
Swoopes saved her best for last. With 58 seconds remaining in the game and the Lady Raiders clinging to a four-point lead, she drove the lane, made a layup and was fouled. The following free throw, the last point of her collegiate career, broke the Buckeyes' back.
Texas Tech eventually built an eight-point lead with 20 seconds to play -- thanks to four late free throws by Noel Johnson -- allowing the Lady Raiders to withstand two three-point shots by Ohio State's Audrey Burcey in the final 10 seconds.
'I thought when we tied it up and went ahead (with less than 11 minutes to play), we would go ahead and take care of things,' Ohio State Coach Nancy Darsch said. 'We were working very hard for everything we got and they didn't seem to have to work as hard for what they got.
'We had some plans to try to deal with Swoopes in hopes we could keep her from getting her shots. But she answered everything we tried.'
Krista Kirkland added 14 for the Lady Raiders, who overcame a 28- point effort by freshman Katie Smith.
Texas Tech's championship season ended with a 31-3 record -- the Lady Raiders only losses coming to defending champion Stanford, Utah and rival Texas. Texas Tech ended its season with a 19-game winning streak. Ohio State finished 28-4.
Swoopes scored at least 30 points in all five of her tournament appearances en route to the national title, scoring 177 for the tourney. That shattered the tournament record of 134 set four years ago by Tennessee's Bridgette Gordon.
The Texas Tech superstar's 47 points also smashed the championship game record of 28 and came within three of equaling the all-time tournament record of 50 points set in the West Regional finals 11 years ago by Lorri Bauman of Drake.
Swoopes scored 23 points in the first half, also the most ever in one half of a championship game, and when she scored on a layup three minutes deep in the second half, the Lady Raiders had a 10-point lead.
But Ohio State went on a 19-8 run and took the lead with 10:53 to play when Nikki Keyton converted a three-point play. The lead then changed hands five times before Texas Tech took the lead for good at 63- 62 on Johnson's jump shot with 8:17 to play.
During the final 10 minutes of play, Swoopes hit all 11 of her free- throw attempts, falling one short of the championship game record.
