Swoopes Sweeps to Title : Women: The unanimous choice as MVP scores 47 points during Texas Tech’s victory over Ohio State.

ATLANTA — The sign arose out of the all-red Texas Tech cheering section, with minutes left in the NCAA women’s basketball championship game.

“CAN YOU BELIEVE SWOOPES?” it said.

Few could, few did.

Sheryl Swoopes, completing a spectacular NCAA tournament, scored 47 points to lead Texas Tech to an 84-82 victory over Ohio State and the NCAA title before 16,141 in the Omni.

She played her final college game Sunday, and said afterward that she will play pro basketball in Europe next year.

In leading her teammates to their 19th consecutive victory, here’s what she did to an Ohio State (28-4) team that had won 14 in a row and double-teamed the 6-foot forward from Brownfield, Tex.:

--She was 16 for 24 from the field and 11 for 11 from the free-throw line.

--Playing all 40 minutes, she made four of six three-point shots, had five rebounds, three assists, blocked a shot and had two steals.

--Her second basket, seven minutes into the game, was a three-point set shot that broke the all-time NCAA women’s tournament scoring record. She finished the tournament with 177 points, averaging 35.4.

--From the free-throw line, for the tournament, she was 57 for 61.

--She set seven tournament records.

The Red Raiders led most of the way, and had a 40-31 halftime lead. But Ohio State made a strong run midway through the second half and had the lead three times in the last 10 minutes, before Texas Tech pulled away at the finish.

With 45 seconds to play and her team protecting an 80-73 lead, Swoopes blocked a pass under Ohio State’s basket, creating a turnover and a foul on Ohio State that sealed the national championship.

The finish wasn’t as close as the score indicates. Texas Tech allowed the Buckeyes’ Audrey Burcy to shoot an uncontested three-pointer with one second left, which she made.

Afterward, Ohio State Coach Nancy Darsch could only state the obvious.

“She was tremendous,” she said.

“She hurt us mentally, because we take a lot of pride in our defense. She attacked our heart, and those shots she was making. . . . it got our kids down, I think.”

Said Buckeye freshman Katie Smith, who scored 28 points: “We played her as tough as we could, we worked so hard on her. But when she still makes those shots . . . what can you do?”

Darsch: “We wanted her to work hard, we didn’t want her getting layups. We also wanted to put fresh people on her, show her a mix of size and quickness. We tried trapping her, too. Nothing worked.”

Marsha Sharp, the Texas Tech coach: “There are no words to describe what a great player she is.

“I’ve never seen a player who can dominate a game like she can. She’s the greatest player of her time, and she does everything with so much class. She has a certain charisma--it’s why all our people love her so much.

“But all of my players are quality people--they all deserve this.”

Sharp said a turning point for this team was Game 1.

“We played at (defending national champion) Stanford in our opener, and we were down 20 at the half and came back to lose by only seven. Our players knew then they could play with anyone.”

Swoopes was asked afterward if she was in a “zone” Sunday.

At that, her teammate, Krista Kirkland, interjected: “Sheryl is always in a zone.”

“At the point where we decided to take control of the game in the second half, I just felt like I could score every time I got it,” Swoopes said. “They pounded on me defensively a little bit, trying to get me frustrated.”

This was Swoopes’ 17th 30-plus game. Her lowest output for her five playoff games was 30, against Washington.

With Texas Tech ahead by only 75-73 with two minutes to play, Swoopes missed a shot from the corner. However, she got the rebound and was fouled. Her two free throws, points 43 and 44, gave the Red Raiders a 77-73 lead and the Buckeyes never got closer.

Swoopes was the unanimous choice as most valuable player. Also voted to the all-tournament team were Kirkland, Ohio State’s Nikki Keyton and Smith, and Vanderbilt’s Heidi Gillingham.

In a League of Her Own

NCAA records set by Texas Tech’s Sheryl Swoopes. Old records in parentheses: TOURNAMENT

Points: 177 (134, Bridgette Gordon, Tennessee, 1989)

Field goals: 56 (53, Gordon, 1989)

Free throws: 57 (41, Carolyn Jones, Auburn, 1990) FINAL FOUR

Points: 78 (56, Clarissa Davis, Texas, 1986)

Field goals: 27 (22, Gordon, 1989)

Field-goal attempts: 48 (42, Gordon, 1989)

Free throws made: 19 (ties record by Jones, 1990) CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Points: 47 (28, Dena Head, Tennessee, 1991, and Dawn Staley, Virginia, 1991)

Points in half: 24 (18, Head, Staley and Cynthia Cooper, USC, 1986)

Field goals: 16 (12, Erica Westbrooks, Louisiana Tech, 1988)

Free-throw percentage: 11-11, 100% (ties record by Mary Ostrowski, Tennessee, 1984, and Julie Zeilstra, Stanford, 1990)