KANSAS CITY, Mo. — During Saturday night's Big 12 quarterfinals at the T-Mobile Center, the second quarter of the Texas-Kansas women's basketball game belonged to Longhorns forward Aaliyah Moore.

The fourth quarter? Shay Holle claimed that.

As for the game itself, that was owned by No. 7 Texas.

The Longhorns moved into Monday's semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament behind the play of Holle and Moore in a 76-60 win over Kansas. They'll play Kansas State on Monday afternoon for a spot in the championship game.

The Longhorns (28-4) were listed as a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament in ESPN's most recent bracketology predictions. That move up from a No. 2 came in the wake of conference tournament losses by Ohio State and UCLA. But Texas players weren't ready to talk about the NCAAs after Saturday's win. Texas still has two games left to win in Kansas City.

"One game at a time," Holle said as head coach Vic Schaefer furiously scribbled something on the podium while sitting by his fourth-year guard in the postgame press conference.

"We're definitely focused on what we're trying to get to right now: the Big 12 championship," Holle continued. "That's what's on our mind. So one game at a time here. Once we get back home, we will start prepping. Obviously we all know what's at stake and we know we're in a very blessed position and we just need to put our heads down and work. But we're definitely focused on being in Kansas City right now, Big 12 championship, as it now says on the table."

Third time was a charm for Texas, too

Texas and Kansas met nearly two months after the Longhorns beat KU by 35 points in Austin. The Jayhawks, though, kept things much closer this time around.

Texas led 19-12 after the opening quarter and then leaned on Moore in the second session. The junior forward scored 10 points and grabbed six points in the quarter and guided Texas into halftime with a 34-29 edge.

Moore went on to contribute 19 points and 11 rebounds. Two years ago, she had a breakout performance as a freshman in the Big 12 championship game. She had to watch the Big 12 Tournament from the bench last year, however, as she recovered from a knee injury.

"It feels amazing. To be able to go out there, play with my teammates, see Shay do what she does but actually be on the floor to witness it, not from the sideline, grateful, blessed, thankful that I'm in this position I am today and it took work," Moore said. "The game took work tonight, but just give God the glory and my teammates and coaches and everyone that supported me through what happened."

Texas was challenged on its way to the semifinals

A Kansas team that had beaten ranked Kansas State and Oklahoma teams since Feb. 25 did not go away. Despite all-conference honoree Taiyanna Jackson's foul troubles in the second half, Kansas pulled within one point in the third quarter. Texas entered the final quarter with a slim 48-43 lead.

Over the first 80 seconds of the fourth, Holle knocked down two 3-pointers and made a jumper. She's an all-conference defender who entered the game averaging just 7.8 points, but that eight-point outburst put UT up by nine. Kansas never got any closer.

"As I told Shay Holle, it's a whole lot easier to coach this game when you have a guard that can make a shot," Schaefer said.

Added Holle: "I think coach puts all of us in good positions to score and my teammates found me. I maybe didn't take as many shots as I should have in the first half, but we want to be patient, get a good look. So the ball found me at a good time and they went in."

In addition to the third double-double performance of Moore's season and Holle's 10 points, Texas also got 15 points from center Taylor Jones as the Longhorns took advantage of Jackson's foul situation. Madison Booker scored a game-high 21 points and distributed seven assists, and Schaefer pointed out that the Big 12 co-player of the year only had one turnover.

"Drinks are on me," Schaefer said.

"Water," suggested Holle.

Kansas (19-12) was led by 20 points from freshman guard S'Mya Nichols. The Jayhawks were projected to be a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament by ESPN, but Kansas must wait more than a week to learn its tournament fate.

Texas, meanwhile, will spend Sunday preparing for Kansas State, which beat West Virginia 65-62 on Saturday night. Kansas State (25-6) and Texas split their two games this season with each team picking up a win on their home court.

Monday's Big 12 semifinals

No. 6 Texas (28-4) vs. No. 16 Kansas State (25-6), 4 p.m., T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., TV TBA, 103.1

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas outlasts Kansas to advance to Big 12 Tournament semifinals