MORGANTOWN — West Virginia fell into the madness that comes with March on Saturday with its own style of late-game heroics.

It was not the typical buzzer-beater that generally pops up this time of year. Instead, the 15th-ranked and second-seeded Mountaineers advanced to their first Big 12 tournament championship game since 2021 with a clutch steal from senior point guard Jordan Harrison.

WVU’s 5-foot-9 speedster snuck up from behind and stole the ball from Colorado’s 6-3 forward Jade Masogayo, as the final seconds ticked off the clock inside the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. to secure the Mountaineers’ hard-fought 48-47 victory.

“Honestly I just saw the ball,” Harrison said. “I saw the back of her numbers. So, I mean, that’s what they teach us, to dig if we see the back of the numbers. My eyes lit up and I just went for it.”

WVU (26-6) now advances to today’s Big 12 tournament title game against No. 10 and top-seeded TCU. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. on ESPN in what will likely be another defensive showdown. The Horned Frogs swept the regular-season series, winning on a buzzer-beater in Morgantown, 51-50, before taking the game in Fort Worth, 59-50.

TCU defeated Kansas State, 74-62, in the other semifinal.

“The goal was to come and win a championship and play the next one and play (Sunday),” WVU head coach Mark Kellogg said. “And we’re still here. We’ll go give this a great shot.”

As for WVU’s semifinal victory, Harrison had her hands – literally – all over the Mountaineers’ effort. She finished with 15 points, five rebounds and four steals. None of those steals were as important as her final one.

WVU led 48-47, when guard Gia Cooke was fouled with 2.9 seconds remaining. Cooke missed both free throws and Colorado’s Anaelle Dutat came up with the rebound and the Buffaloes (22-11) called a timeout to advance the ball to midcourt with 2.2 seconds left.

Colorado freshman Logyn Greer inbounded the ball to Masogayo above the free throw line and Masogayo began to drive to her right and towards the basket.

That’s when Harrison – named the Big 12’s Defensive Player of the Year this season – came in from behind and knocked the ball away. The ball sailed out of bounds as time ran out. Harrison laid on the ground, and that’s where the celebration began.

It was another step forward for WVU in Kellogg’s third season. In his first season at the school, WVU was eliminated in the tournament’s quarterfinals. Last season, TCU ended the Mountaineers’ run in the semifinals. Now, it will be another rematch, this time in the title game.

It will be WVU’s fourth trip to the Big 12 tournament championship game. WVU won the title with a monumental upset against Baylor in 2017 and then lost to the Bears in 2014 and 2021.

WVU led the game for 32 minutes and held a 34-22 lead midway through the third quarter, but Colorado kept battling back. The Buffaloes took a brief lead when Desiree Wooten nailed a 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining for a 45-43 lead.

WVU answered right back with Cooke’s 3-pointer for a 46-45 advantage with 31.4 seconds remaining and then Harrison added two free throws with 16 seconds remaining for a 48-45 lead.

Colorado used a timeout to advance the ball following Harrison’s free throws and went for the tie. With 2.9 seconds left, Wooten sprung free at the top of the arc and launched a 3-pointer and was fouled on the play by WVU forward Kierra Wheeler.

Wooten, who finished with 14 points, missed the first of three attempts, but connected on the other two for the final score. She then fouled Cooke before the ball could even be inbounded, so no time ran off the clock to set up the final sequences of plays.

“It gets a little bit harder this time of year, because possessions kind of decrease,” Kellogg said. “They’re all magnified. You’re hanging on to every one of those. I think we’re good enough to defend this, but I do think we’re certainly capable to score it a little bit better than we have in the past just because of the inside-out balance with some of these guys that we haven’t had in the paint the last couple years.”

The game was truly a defensive battle from the start. The teams were tied at 17 at halftime, setting the Big 12 tournament record for fewest combined points in a half.

WVU was held to just 30.5% (18 of 59) shooting from the floor and the Mountaineers made only 3 of 13 from 3-point range.

Colorado wasn’t that much better, shooting 17 of 47 (36.2%) overall and just 2 of 12 from behind the arc.

“Great college basketball game,” Kellogg said. “Two teams that are pretty good defensively. That’s probably an understatement. Really, really good on the defensive end.”

The difference was WVU held a 12-2 advantage in second-chance points and the Mountaineers gained extra possessions by forcing 14 turnovers to their six. WVU needed every bit of those advantages.

Wheeler recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Cooke added 14 for WVU and Colorado was led by Zyanna Walker’s 16 points. Harrison’s four steals gives her 101 on the season, the sixth player in program history to have at least 100 in a season.