WAHINE BASKETBALL
No. 3 Sooners brush away Wahine
The Oklahoma Sooners protected their No. 3 ranking in the Associated Press women's basketball poll yesterday with a convincing 76-56 victory over Hawaii.
The Sooners took a 4-2 lead on Courtney Paris' two free throws 1:46 into the first half and never trailed after that in the championship game of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Paris, the tournament's most valuable player, recorded her 31st consecutive double-double with game highs of 18 points and 15 rebounds in just 24 minutes of action.
"Courtney is a great player, very composed and knows what she can and can't do. She understands she has a physical advantage and doesn't panic. She is dominating," said UH coach Jim Bolla.
"We tried to go right at them, but couldn't get the ball to drop for us. When it didn't, they got the rebound."
The Wahine frontcourt players were a combined 5-for-22 from the field.
"We felt we were ready and there is no doubt we put forth the effort," said UH co-captain Brittany Grice. "We knew it would be tough to box out, but you don't realize how tough it is until you actually get in there."
After Tanya Smith muscled in a rebound for the UH's first points of the game, the Sooners (3-0) scored 11 unanswered points, with Chelsi Welch netting five.
The Wahine (1-1) would cut their deficit to five points (15-10) on a trey by Janevia Taylor with 12 minutes left in the half. But it would be another 6 minutes before the Wahine would connect on another field goal, a 6-foot, base-line jumper from the right side by Saundra Cariaga.
In between, UH missed eight shots from the floor and turned the ball over four times. Surprisingly, the Sooners weren't that hot from the field either, had their own turnover problems and could only build a 12-point (27-15) lead.
Welch continued to sizzle from the field, scoring seven of OU's last nine points as the Sooners, held to their lowest first-half point total this year, led 33-21 at the break.
"I think there was a intimidation/respect factor. Sometimes it seemed like we got out of the way to let them score," Bolla said.
"We play these teams to find out how good we are and what we have to work on. They took a lot of things away from us, dominated on the boards and made us put the ball on the floor too much instead of passing.
"We did OK in some areas, forced some turnovers, but didn't capitalize when the Parises were out of the game. It was a learning experience."
Grice added, "We have to aspire to be more competitive in these games."
Taylor's 12 points led the Wahine.
Georgetown 79, Eastern Kentucky 77
The Hoyas (1-2) rallied in the final 3 minutes to edge the Lady Colonels (1-2) in the third-place game. Shanice Fuller's fullcourt sprint and driving layup with 4.1 seconds on the clock was the difference.
Eastern Kentucky's Amber Kirkpatrick tied the score with 10 seconds left by sinking two free throws.
Kieraah Marlow led Georgetown with 20 points. Crystal Jones was high for Eastern Kentucky with 16.
Oklahoma 76, Hawaii 56
Sooners (2-0)
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Nyeshia |
2 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
2 |
1 |
4
|
Paris, C. |
7 |
18 |
4 |
6 |
24 |
15 |
2 |
18
|
Olajuwon |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
4
|
Paris, A. |
7 |
11 |
0 |
2 |
25 |
7 |
0 |
14
|
Plumley |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Moore |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
3 |
0 |
0
|
Thompson |
5 |
10 |
1 |
2 |
18 |
6 |
3 |
11
|
Welch |
5 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
25 |
3 |
2 |
14
|
Rush |
2 |
4 |
4 |
6 |
21 |
2 |
2 |
8
|
Hammond |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Sanchez |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Brown |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
21 |
2 |
4 |
0
|
Higgins |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
22 |
0 |
2 |
3
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
4
|
Totals |
30 |
69 |
13 |
23 |
200 |
48 |
16 |
76 |
Rainbow Wahine (1-1)
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Taylor |
5 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
32 |
0 |
2 |
12
|
Tinnin |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Kotani |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Cho |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Solia |
3 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
22 |
5 |
0 |
9
|
Cariaga |
2 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
17 |
1 |
0 |
5
|
Chretien |
0 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
19 |
2 |
3 |
2
|
Liepkalne |
0 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
4
|
Smith |
2 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
27 |
9 |
2 |
5
|
Tambini |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
1 |
2
|
Lee |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Grice |
2 |
11 |
5 |
8 |
27 |
3 |
3 |
9
|
Zagrobelna |
3 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
4 |
1 |
8 |
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
6
|
Totals |
18 |
52 |
13 |
21 |
200 |
30 |
13 |
56 |
Key -- fg: field goals made; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws made; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes played; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime -- Oklahoma 33, Hawaii 21.
3-point goals -- Oklahoma 3-10 (Welch 2-3, Higgins 1-6, Rush 0-1), Hawaii 7-17 (Solia 3-6, Taylor 2-3, Zagrobelna 2-3, Chretien 0-2, Lee 0-1, Cariaga 0-1, Tinnin 0-1). Personal fouls -- Oklahoma 20, Hawaii 16.
Steals -- Oklahoma 11 (Paris, C. 3, Hammond 2, Welch 2, Thompson 2, Moore, Brown), Hawaii 7 (Taylor 2, Kotani, Cho, Solia, Liepkalne, Tambini). Blocked shots -- Oklahoma 5 (Paris, C. 3, Paris, A. 2), Hawaii 6 (Zagrobelna 2, Grice, Smith, Solia, Cariaga). Turnovers -- Oklahoma 15 (Welch 3, Brown 2, Thompson 2, Rush 2, Paris, C. 2, Plumley, Paris, A., Hammond, TEAM), Hawaii 20 (Smith 4, Cariaga 4, Zagrobelna 3, Grice 2, Tambini 2, Tinnin 2, Taylor, Chretien, Liepkalne).
Officials -- Bryan Barr, Brian Yamasaki, Kirk Hottendorf. A -- 1,036.