AUSTIN, Texas -- A late season slump has left the Texas Longhorns in a familiar position: To make the NCAA Tournament, they'd better make some noise in the Big 12 tournament next week.

	Jody Conradt guided Texas to the first-ever perfect season.

Texas (19-11) has lost four of its past five games and Wednesday night's regular-season-ending 65-54 loss to No. 7 Oklahoma left the Longhorns at 7-9 in the Big 12.

Texas' postseason prospects hardly seemed in doubt when the Longhorns started the season 12-2.

Texas has four wins over ranked opponents, including a 63-57 win at Texas Tech that snapped the Red Raiders' 41-game home winning streak. But consistency has been a problem as the Longhorns have struggled against even the weaker teams in the league.

Texas lost on the road at Kansas State and at home to Kansas, two of the bottom three teams in the Big 12. Two wins in those games would have put Texas at 9-7 in league play and virtual lock for the NCAA Tournament.

The worst struggles have come in the past two weeks with 40-point loss at No. 6 Iowa State and a 16-point home defeat to Texas Tech.

Even so, Texas entered the Oklahoma game with an RPI rating in the low 20s, leaving them a decent chance at a postseason bid with a good run in the conference tournament. The Longhorns will be the No. 7 seed when the tournament starts Tuesday.

"We probably have created a scenario different than the committee has to face a lot," said coach Jody Conradt, who earlier this season reached the 1,000 career game mark.

"It wouldn't surprise me either way. I don't get too perplexed about the weather or committees," she said.

Texas is actually on familiar ground. Last season, the Longhorns were the No. 6 seed in the Big 12 tournament and ran off three straight wins to reach the championship game.

Texas lost to Iowa State in the final but the run was good enough to secure an NCAA at-large bid. The Longhorns went on to lose to St. Joseph's in the first round.

"We have to get our confidence back," said Texas forward Tracy Cook, who's fast start and slow finish to the season has mirrored her team's fortunes. "I think we'll go into next week knowing we need a one or two big wins to get into the tournament."

Texas' biggest problems have been on offense. Freshman Stacy Stephens, the Longhorn's leading scorer with 11.1 points per game, had just seven against Oklahoma.

At the current pace, Stephens falls below the Longhorns record for lowest scoring average for team leader of 13.4 points. Angela Jackson set the mark in the 1996-97 season when Texas finished 22-8.

Texas ranks 11th in the Big 12 in shooting and has struggled in recent weeks to make even the short shots near the basket. The Longhorns starting frontcourt of Stephens, Lindsey Ryan and Cook went 10 of 31 from the floor against Oklahoma.

"I think it's pretty simple what we have to do," Conradt said. "We have to either be perfect on defense, or we have to start making some of those chippies that we can't seem to get down."