February 18, 2006
Morenike Atunrase scored 16 points for No. 21 Texas A&M, but Courtney Paris scored 15 for No. 9 Oklahoma as the Sooners won, 73-54, Saturday night at Lloyd Noble Center in front of 11,689.
A&M falls to 19-7 overall and to 8-5 in the Big 12, while Oklahoma secured the outright Big 12 Championship as it improves 23-4 overall and to 13-0 in the league.
?I thought we played a whole lot better tonight than we did against Baylor,? A&M coach Gary Blair said. ?We had a good defensive plan, but they had the put backs. Our first shot defense was pretty good.?
The A&M defense limited Paris to her lowest output in 10 games. She split her 16 points evenly over the two halves.
?Paris did a tremendous job particularly in the second half,? Blair said. ?You have to try (a different defensive technique). You can?â„¢t guard her one on one. She?â„¢s one of the best posts, if not the best, in the country. I?â„¢m partial to the Big 12.?
A&M used a big lineup for the first time this season with La Toya Micheaux and Lenka Zimova in the lineup at the same time.
?They?â„¢ve never been on the court at the same time, not even in practice,? Blair said.
Micheaux scored a career best nine points to go with eight rebounds while Zimova had six points.
After A&M had closed a 12-point gap to seven points, 59-52, with 3:40 to play following a three point play by Eric Roy, Oklahoma pulled away in the final two minutes with a 14-2 run as Higgins drained a pair of three pointers.
?I enjoyed what we were doing until the 14-2 run at the end,? Blair said. ?It turned into an easy game at the end. I?â„¢m disappointed in how we finished the game. It?â„¢s not that we lost to Baylor and Oklahoma this week, we lost to two top 10 teams. I think they have an equal chance to get to the final four if they get the right draw.?
The Sooners scored the first seven points of the game before Atunrase drained a three pointer to pull A&M within 7-3 with 17:05 to play in the first half.
A&M struggled to make shots in the first half as it missed on 16 of the first 21 shots.
As the Sooners were scoring from the paint, they struggled from long range missing 10 straight before Erin Higgins hit with 4:33 to play in the first to give the Sooners a 26-14 lead. Higgins finished with nine points on three, three pointers.
But the Aggies answered the Sooners with a 14-6 run to close the half trailing 32-28 at the break.
Atunrase hit a three pointer from the left wing with four seconds left in the first half to finish the frame with eight points and four rebounds.
A&M carried their resurgence into the second half by tying the game at 37-37 after a bucket by Atunrase. It increased the earlier 14-6 run to 23-12.
The Sooners answered with a 20-8 run capped by a bucket by Brittany Brown to give Oklahoma a 57-45 lead with 7:25 to play.
Leah Rush scored 14 points for the Sooners and Chelsi Welch added 12. Paris recorded a double-double with 14 rebounds.
Atunrase was the Aggies?â„¢ only double-digit scorer.
The Aggies will host Texas (13-11, 7-6) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena.
NOTES--- Micheaux was selected as the State Farm Player of the Game. Danielle Gant made the second start of her career. A freshman from Oklahoma City, Gant scored eight points and four rebounds.