Sooners Top Tennessee
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- The Oklahoma Sooners showed the Tennessee Lady Vols they are much more than "Courtney Paris and others" Monday night with a thorough 80 to 70 victory over Tennessee in front of 12,552 fans gathered inside Ford Center. OU's win delayed the inevitable, but still remarkable, 1,000th coaching victory for Tennessee's head coach Pat Summitt.
OU's "others" included 20 points from sensational Sooners' freshman Whitney Hand. Hand shot a red-hot 8 for 9 from the field including 4 for 5 from the three-point line.
"Whitney Hand was 8 for 9," Summitt said after the game. "It wasn't like we didn't watch her on tape. We did look at tape. We knew her number. We knew that she was a great three-point shooter. Now for what reason our guards did not defend. Whitney did a great job of taking pressure off of (Courtney and Ashley Paris).
The game went back and forth the first six minutes of the first half. Courtney Paris picked up her second foul with 15:37 left in the first half. When she went to the bench, OU's play started declining. After Hand hit a three-pointer to give the Sooners a 16 to 12 lead, Tennessee's star freshman Shekinna Stricklen put on an offensive show.
Stricklen scored 15 of Tennessee's 20 points during a four minute, ten second burst which was simply spectacular. During that span, Stricklen picked up three steals; knocked down three, 3-point shots; two one pull-up jumper; one lay up and two free throws.
Tennessee led the Sooners 33 to 18 after the 21 to 2 scoring run; however, the Sooners settled down and turned up the defense and increased the efficiency on offense.
OU scored 19 consecutive points. Oklahoma's Nyeshia Stevenson started the blitz by canning a three-point shot. Stevenson sank two free throws and teammate Danielle Robinson scored seven points during the run.
Oklahoma led Tennessee 41 to 36 at halftime.
The game stayed close early in the second half; and, after Tennessee freshman Glory Johnson made two free throws, Oklahoma's lead was only two points (46 to 44) with 16:03 remaining in the game.
Hand and Robinson keyed an 11 to 2 run to put the Sooners ahead 57 to 46 at the 13:11 mark of the game.
Then, the Sooners blew the game open with a 15 to 8 run over the next seven minutes. Hand scored seven points during the decisive run.
Stricklen scored a game-high 21 points; but, she was just 1 for 6 from the field in the second half. Glory Johnson added 12 points and eight rebounds. Vicki Baugh scored 11 points; however, after making a layup, Baugh injured her left knee with 2:37 left in the game. Baugh was already wearing a brace on the knee after tearing her ACL last April in the NCAA Championship game and having additional problems and swelling in the left knee the last few weeks. Angie Bjorklund added 10 points in 26 foul-plagued minutes.
Hand's team-high 20 points paced four Sooners in double-figure scoring. Ashley Paris scored 19 points; Danielle Robinson scored 17 points; dished out a game-high 12 assists (8 TOs); and Nyeshia Stevenson added 11 points and four assists.
The one noticeable Sooner player missing from that double-digit scoring column is Courtney Paris. CP3 scored nine points and pulled down 12 rebounds to end her truly mind-blowing streak of 112 consecutive double-doubles. Courtney shot just 4 for 12 from the field and missed numerous shots around the basket. She fouled out of the game with 41 seconds remaining; and, the Sooners' fans gave her a rousing standing ovation.
"What a great atmosphere for women's college basketball," said OU head coach Sherri Coale. "What a wonderful stage. Two great teams who played very well; shot the ball extraordinarily well. We were fortunate enough that Whitney Hand was on our basketbal team tonight.
"We did what we needed to do. I thought our club showed great poise when they went on that run midway through the first half. We could have panicked. Many teams would have. A younger team probably would have; but, we didn't. We played possession by possession and kind of pulled from that resevoir of comebacks that we have and got it back in check where we could do something with it."
The Sooners shot 53.4% (31 for 58) from the field for the entire game while Tennessee shot 42.9% (24 for 56). The Sooners shot 63.0% (17 for 27) in the second half while Tennessee shot just 38.5% (10 for 26) in the second twenty minutes. Tennessee committed 14 turnovers in the second half and 24 in the game. The Sooners turned the ball over 19 times.
Oklahoma's record improves to 19 and 2 overall. Tonight's win is the 15th straight for the Sooners.
Tennessee's record falls to 16 and 5 overall.
OU's "others" included 20 points from sensational Sooners' freshman Whitney Hand. Hand shot a red-hot 8 for 9 from the field including 4 for 5 from the three-point line.
"Whitney Hand was 8 for 9," Summitt said after the game. "It wasn't like we didn't watch her on tape. We did look at tape. We knew her number. We knew that she was a great three-point shooter. Now for what reason our guards did not defend. Whitney did a great job of taking pressure off of (Courtney and Ashley Paris).
The game went back and forth the first six minutes of the first half. Courtney Paris picked up her second foul with 15:37 left in the first half. When she went to the bench, OU's play started declining. After Hand hit a three-pointer to give the Sooners a 16 to 12 lead, Tennessee's star freshman Shekinna Stricklen put on an offensive show.
Stricklen scored 15 of Tennessee's 20 points during a four minute, ten second burst which was simply spectacular. During that span, Stricklen picked up three steals; knocked down three, 3-point shots; two one pull-up jumper; one lay up and two free throws.
Tennessee led the Sooners 33 to 18 after the 21 to 2 scoring run; however, the Sooners settled down and turned up the defense and increased the efficiency on offense.
OU scored 19 consecutive points. Oklahoma's Nyeshia Stevenson started the blitz by canning a three-point shot. Stevenson sank two free throws and teammate Danielle Robinson scored seven points during the run.
Oklahoma led Tennessee 41 to 36 at halftime.
The game stayed close early in the second half; and, after Tennessee freshman Glory Johnson made two free throws, Oklahoma's lead was only two points (46 to 44) with 16:03 remaining in the game.
Hand and Robinson keyed an 11 to 2 run to put the Sooners ahead 57 to 46 at the 13:11 mark of the game.
Then, the Sooners blew the game open with a 15 to 8 run over the next seven minutes. Hand scored seven points during the decisive run.
Stricklen scored a game-high 21 points; but, she was just 1 for 6 from the field in the second half. Glory Johnson added 12 points and eight rebounds. Vicki Baugh scored 11 points; however, after making a layup, Baugh injured her left knee with 2:37 left in the game. Baugh was already wearing a brace on the knee after tearing her ACL last April in the NCAA Championship game and having additional problems and swelling in the left knee the last few weeks. Angie Bjorklund added 10 points in 26 foul-plagued minutes.
Hand's team-high 20 points paced four Sooners in double-figure scoring. Ashley Paris scored 19 points; Danielle Robinson scored 17 points; dished out a game-high 12 assists (8 TOs); and Nyeshia Stevenson added 11 points and four assists.
The one noticeable Sooner player missing from that double-digit scoring column is Courtney Paris. CP3 scored nine points and pulled down 12 rebounds to end her truly mind-blowing streak of 112 consecutive double-doubles. Courtney shot just 4 for 12 from the field and missed numerous shots around the basket. She fouled out of the game with 41 seconds remaining; and, the Sooners' fans gave her a rousing standing ovation.
"What a great atmosphere for women's college basketball," said OU head coach Sherri Coale. "What a wonderful stage. Two great teams who played very well; shot the ball extraordinarily well. We were fortunate enough that Whitney Hand was on our basketbal team tonight.
"We did what we needed to do. I thought our club showed great poise when they went on that run midway through the first half. We could have panicked. Many teams would have. A younger team probably would have; but, we didn't. We played possession by possession and kind of pulled from that resevoir of comebacks that we have and got it back in check where we could do something with it."
The Sooners shot 53.4% (31 for 58) from the field for the entire game while Tennessee shot 42.9% (24 for 56). The Sooners shot 63.0% (17 for 27) in the second half while Tennessee shot just 38.5% (10 for 26) in the second twenty minutes. Tennessee committed 14 turnovers in the second half and 24 in the game. The Sooners turned the ball over 19 times.
Oklahoma's record improves to 19 and 2 overall. Tonight's win is the 15th straight for the Sooners.
Tennessee's record falls to 16 and 5 overall.
posted by Kris G @ 9:59 PM
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