OU women topple Kansas on Senior Night
BY GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer
Sunday, March 03, 2013
3/03/13 at 6:48 AM
NORMAN - Joanna McFarland had a pretty big Senior Night moment during Oklahoma's 85-77 victory over Kansas Saturday. Kansas had pulled to within 73-69 with two minutes remaining, when McFarland's 3-pointer beat the shot clock and helped keep OU safe.
Aaryn Ellenberg had a productive game, with 22 points, six rebounds and another space-creating 3 with 1:42 remaining. Nicole Griffin and Morgan Hook, with 13 points apiece, joined Ellenberg and McFarland (13) in double figures.
Still, the star of Saturday night's show in front of 8,061 Lloyd Noble Center fans was clearly Jasmine Hartman.
The fifth-year senior used her final home game as the setting for a career-high 18 points. None of them was window dressing, either.
Hartman's steal and layup opened the scoring. She scored five straight points to push OU ahead 23-18 midway through the first half. She finished the Sooners' 10-0 first half-ending run with a foot-on-the-line jumper and a driving layup.
OU trailed 35-29 after a 3-pointer from Kansas guard Angel Goodrich with 5:10 left in the first half. Hartman helped push OU back in front, for good as it turned out.
Kansas surged a couple times in the second half, but never pulled even. McFarland and Ellenberg hit their late 3s, then Hartman finished the game by making 4-of-4 free throws to cap her career-high.
The Sooners improved to 20-9 overall and 10-7 in the Big 12 Conference and concluded the night with an on-court ceremony honoring their four seniors - Lyndsey Cloman, Whitney Hand, McFarland and Hartman.
The public address announcer called Hartman OU's "defensive stopper." And while that might have been the case her first three seasons and 28 games, it wasn't Saturday night. She spent a lot of her 26 minutes with the ball in her hands, running the offense to the tune of five assists to go with her 18 points.
Not bad, considering Hartman had seven points in OU's 16 Big 12 Conference games coming in. She came in averaging a point. She averaged two points her first three years. She sat out 2011-12 with a torn ACL.
Original Print Headline: Sooner women topple Kansas
Guerin Emig 918-581-8355
guerin.emig@tulsaworld.com
