COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S AND WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR : Business as Usual for Swoopes as Texas Tech Beats Vanderbilt : Women’s semifinal: She has 31 points--her fourth consecutive playoff game with 30 or more--to lead team to 60-46 victory.

ATLANTA — All-American Sheryl Swoopes had her fourth consecutive 30-point game in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament Saturday, leading Texas Tech to a 60-46 semifinal upset of top-ranked Vanderbilt.

The 6-foot Swoopes was dominating against the Commodores, as she was against Washington, USC and Colorado in postseason play. Today, she leads her team against Ohio State for the national championship.

Texas Tech (30-3), ranked fifth in the season’s final AP poll and winner of 18 in a row, beat a team that had been ranked No. 1 for six weeks.

Since Jan. 20, when the Red Raiders lost, 76-75, at Texas, their closest game has been a 78-71 victory over Texas three weeks ago.

Vanderbilt (30-3) got a 24-point, 12-rebound game from its 6-foot-9 junior center, Heidi Gillingham, but it wasn’t nearly enough before a crowd of 16,141 in the Omni.

Swoopes swept Vanderbilt aside in her smooth, seemingly effortless style late in the second half, refusing to let the Commodores catch up down the stretch.

In a matchup of two of the nation’s best zone defenses, Swoopes shot over and drove through Vanderbilt players seemingly at will. She went up and over Gillingham for a baseline layup midway through the first half.

Swoopes was 11 of 24 from the field, eight of nine from the free-throw line, had 31 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and three steals--a typical Swoopes game.

In the playoffs, she has scored 31, 36, 33 and 30 points. She scored 53 in the game three weeks ago against Texas.

Her 130 playoff points are four shy of the all-time record, 134 points, set by Tennessee’s Brigette Gordon in 1989.

“You expect her to get her points, but where she kills you is when she comes out of nowhere to get those easy shots,” Vanderbilt Coach Jim Foster said.

“They can put her anywhere on the floor, and she’s effective.”

Gillingham, who was 12 of 18 from the field, credited Texas Tech’s defense. “They’re an awesome team, and their defense beat us today,” she said. “They were obviously a better team than we were, all game long. It was their great defense that didn’t allow me to get the ball enough down low.”

Vanderbilt led only once, 4-2. The Commodres got even at 19-19, but Texas Tech guard Krista Kirkland scored seven points within two minutes near the end of the first half, as the Red Raiders opened a a 28-26 halftime lead.

Vanderbilt’s deficit wavered between three and seven points most of the second half, but Texas Tech point guard Noel Johnson seemed to provide the breakaway. She scored a three-pointer with 2:28 to play, put Texas Tech fans on their feet and gave her team a 53-46 lead.

It seemed too much for Vanderbilt to overcome, and Kirkland and Swoopes made sure it was. Both made four free throws in the last two minutes, while Vanderbilt went scoreless in the final three minutes.

Vanderbilt was hurt by the poor shooting of senior forward Shelley Jarrard, who was one of the nation’s percentage leaders in three-point shooting. She was one of eight from three-point range and one of 11 overall.