Edwina Brown fights for the defensive rebound against Oklahoma.

Sare, who hit five three-pointers on her way to 25 points as the Longhorns upset North Carolina State on Sunday, was asked afterward about a couple of Texas' tough losses -- 71-69 at Oklahoma State and 76-73 to Oklahoma in Austin.

Sare admitted they were tough defeats, and then mentioned that the Longhorns would be "ready to take it to OSU on our floor," when the teams meet again Wednesday at Texas.

Smiling, Conradt told the freshman, "Don't give them any bulletin-board material."

Then when asked about her conference sweeping this year's Big 12/ACC Challenge -- Iowa State defeated North Carolina earlier Sunday -- Conradt said, "Today, at least, the Big 12's better," then jokingly asked, "And we don't have any ACC teams left to play, right?"

No, not until possibly in the NCAA Tournament, an event to which Texas hopes it receives an expected and not surprise invitation this year. Last season, the Longhorns left the Big 12 Tournament at 16-11 after a first-round loss to Nebraska thinking it was time to start planning for next year.

The Longhorns gasped, shrieked and spilled at least one dinner all over the floor in astonishment when Texas' name showed up on the bracket during the NCAA selection show.

This season, the Horns are 12-6 and as usual, you can't knock their schedule. They lost by seven at UCLA, four at Hawaii in the championship game of the Wahine Rainbow Classic, four at Rutgers and then the two Big 12 losses.

Uh, and yes, there was that, ah-hem, 40-point loss at Tennessee. But throw that one out, and the Horns have been that close in every loss.

And they beat Illinois in early December. Through it all, the ups and the downs, there's been one constant: senior guard Edwina Brown.

The 5-foot-10 Brown is leading the Big 12 in scoring (22.5), is 10th in rebounding (7.9), third in assists (5.94) and fifth in steals (3.0). But what you notice most about Brown is the way she runs the show in Austin.

"I haven't had a better leader," Conradt said.

Whoa. How about Kamie Etheridge, a current Kansas State assistant who was the point guard on those fabulous Texas teams in the mid-'80s, including the 34-0 NCAA champions in '86?

"Well, let me amend that; Kamie would get a little upset," Conradt said. "Kamie was a different kind of leader. She was surrounded by so many other talented players, and she knew how to lead them on court. They didn't need as much leadership off court.

With Edwina, on court or off, everything she says, this group is all ears."

That makes sense, considering she's the only senior on a team with 10 freshman and sophomores. What's interesting, though, is that Brown is also a good listener.

She paid close attention to everything said and done by her older U.S. teammates in the Pan Am Games last summer.

"Even if they didn't talk, it was the way they carried themselves," Brown said. "I learned something from everybody."

She also credits Kathy Harston, who's in her 11th season as a Texas assistant, for "having a big part in making me the player I am." Harston could play a little ball herself, making the Kodak All-America team as a senior at Wayland Baptist in 1980.

And this is one of the things you like about Brown -- she knows that about Harston. So many current players' knowledge of the past extends about as far back as 1995.

"Hey, she was pretty good player," Brown says of Harston. "She knows what she's talking about. Even the stuff she says under her breath, I listen to."

Brown struggled from the field on Sunday (5 of 16), so what she did was get to the line (15 of 18), rebound (12), get steals (four) and feed her teammates (seven assists).

One of those assists, perhaps as much as anything else Brown did Sunday, was sure to catch the eye of the WNBA scouts at courtside. She threaded the needle from behind halfcourt on the break to freshman Tai Dillard -- one of those passes that's open for about a 10th of a second only to those who do not hesitate to throw it.

What Brown was probably most proud of, though, was that she didn't get upset about her shooting woes.

"That's the difference," Brown said. "In years before, I probably would have gone into the dumps."

It's really cool to watch when everything at last clicks in for kids -- almost as if they've been studying a language for years and now they actually understand it. You can see that now with Brown.

"My first three years, I was kind of in the passenger seat," she said. "And sometimes in the backseat."

Well, now you could say she's in the driver's seat for Big 12 Player of the Year.

Cyclones watch
There is, of course, going to be a little competition for that honor. Including from Iowa State point guard Stacy Frese, whose scoring numbers are slightly down this year because the Cyclones now have a real low-block threat.

	Iowa State's Stacy Frese, right, battles with Texas Tech's Katrisa O'Neal.

Angie Welle, a 6-4 sophomore, is having the best season of any true center in the Big 12 at 15.9 ppg, 8.6 rpg and a league-best 63.2 field-goal shooting percentage.

Frese -- talk about another great leader -- understands how effective a weapon Welle has become and looks for her. Not that Frese isn't still nailing those "OK, you all can just go home now" 3-pointers from 22-plus feet. She leads the Big 12 in three-point percentage at .500.

You go against Iowa State, you're facing the best inside shooter and best perimeter shooter in the league. So what are you supposed to do with that?

Well, perhaps you wait until the Cyclones pull their starters and then you throw a press on their reserves. That's what North Carolina did Sunday, after Iowa State put in the bench with about 7 minutes left and a 30-point lead.

This always spawns the old debate: Should a team just keep pounding an overmatched opponent? Is there some universally acceptable time to bring in the subs?

Of course not, but there is common sense. Iowa State's Bill Fennelly wanted to give his bench kids a chance to play, and anyone familiar with him knows he's the kind of coach who would not want to rub it in to a team that's gone through rough times, as Carolina has without point guard Nikki Teasley (who, of course, is on her way back to the team).

What other ACC coaches could have told Fennelly, though, is that any such subtle graciousness would be lost on Sylvia Hatchell and the Tar Heels.

Sure, the Heels should have kept playing hard and not given up. But when your opponent is clobbering you and then calls off the dogs, do you so crassly try to take advantage of that?

As Rhoda Morganstern, one of the great social observers in sitcom history, once said, "That's class with a capital K."

What's on the way