COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S AND WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR : Ohio State Wins in Overtime : Women’s semifinal: The Buckeyes beat Big Ten rival Iowa, 73-72, after Hawkeyes the turn ball over in final seconds.

The season ended for the Iowa women’s basketball team Saturday, with a coach signaling for an overtime timeout, waving frantically to players who never saw her.

“(The Buckeyes) were playing very tough defense, they were in our faces,” Iowa Coach Vivian Stringer said after Ohio State defeated the Hawkeyes, 73-72. “My players just didn’t see me.”

Ohio State will play Texas Tech today for the national championship.

And if Ohio State doesn’t win the title today, stay tuned. At one point during Saturday’s semifinal, Ohio State Coach Nancy Darsch had three freshmen on the floor.

The best, 5-foot-11 guard Katie Smith, sent the game into overtime with a drive along the baseline with 11 seconds to play in regulation. Her twisting layup made the score 61-61.

At the other end, Iowa’s Laurie Aaron missed a shot with two seconds to play.

Iowa (27-4) and Ohio State (28-3) had traded home court victories during the regular season, and shared the Big Ten championship.

Iowa was the sentimental pick of many. Vivian Stringer’s husband, Bill Stringer, the team’s conditioning coach, died of a heart attack Thanksgiving Day.

The Hawkeyes led for most of the first half and had the lead three times in the final 4 1/2 minutes of regulation. They also led three times in overtime, their biggest a 70-67 advantage.

In overtime, there were four three-point baskets and Ohio State had three of them, two by Audrey Burcy. Nikki Keyton sank one of two free throws with 33 seconds to play for the final margin.

Smith missed from the line on a one-and-one with 15 seconds to play. Ohio State rebounded, but threw the ball into the seats.

Iowa, however, was not able to get off a shot. Aaron turned it over at Iowa’s end--with Stringer frantically calling for a timeout. As the horn sounded, Ohio State senior guard Averrill Roberts was clutching the ball.

“I don’t know if the ball hit her foot, if she dropped it or what . . . I was just there, and I grabbed it and held on,” said Roberts, who had 16 points and eight steals.

“For the last four years, Roberts never did much against us,” Stringer said. “I don’t think she ever had more than four or six points against us in all that time. She was overdue.”

It was Ohio State’s 14th consecutive victory, and the Buckeyes become the first Big Ten team to play in the women’s championship game. It was only the second overtime game in women’s Final Four history.

Darsch was asked how her team will try to stop Texas Tech’s Sheryl Swoopes today.

“I don’t have an answer for that now, and I may not even have one tomorrow,” she said.