OU women rally over TCU
BY Staff Reports
Thursday, January 10, 2013
1/10/13 at 6:27 AM
FORT WORTH - No. 16 Oklahoma used a pair of late scoring runs in the second half to rally for an 85-79 win over TCU on Wednesday and remain perfect in Big 12 play.
Aaryn Ellenberg scored 26 points and Joanna McFarland finished with a career-high 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Sooners.
Oklahoma (13-2, 3-0 Big 12) continued running an efficient offense, shooting 49 percent from the field, but it was the Sooners' execution on defense through the final minutes that sealed the victory over the Horned Frogs (7-7, 0-3).
"I was really proud of our second-half effort," OU head coach Sherri Coale said. "We were flat early on; give TCU credit, they hit a bunch of shots, but I'm not sure we made them very difficult."
Morgan Hook, who had a double-double with 13 points and a career-high 12 assists, connected on a middle drive and made a free throw to give OU a two-point lead with 1 1/2 minutes to play.
The following possession, Ellenberg forced a turnover that converted to a Sharane Campbell pull-up jumper as the shot clock expired to give OU an 81-77 lead.
Ellenberg, who lost her left shoe on a half-court inbounds, forced Kamy Cole's dribble out of bounds, then deflected the ensuing inbounds pass off Cole's leg to seal the victory.
"I think our discipline to go inside late in the game was impressive," Coale added. "So I'm very proud."
TCU's Natalie Ventress scored a game-high 27 points, but had just four in the second half.
TCU hit 47 percent of its first-half shots, including 8-of-15 3-pointers, to lead Oklahoma 44-39 at halftime. It was the most points the Sooners have given up in the first half this season.
"We talked about their guards being their strengths," Coale said. "Their willingness to shoot the 3s - you can tell in film those guys have a lot of confidence. They believe they are supposed to make those shots."
TCU led 61-53 with 12 minutes remaining before OU went on a 10-2 run to tie the game at 63. The Sooners then allowed six unanswered points before coming out on top of the game's 18th and final lead change.
"I thought it was a great basketball game," TCU head coach Jeff Mittie said. "Both teams were going at each other for 40 minutes. It really boils down to a couple plays here and there and they made a few more than we did."
