Sooners Stomp Liberty To Advance To Championship

Oklahoma topped Liberty 76-45 to advance to the championship game of the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament.

Friday, November 25th 2011, 8:39 pm

By: News 9


The Oklahoma Sooners moved one step closer to winning the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday with a 76-45 rout of Liberty.

Morgan Hook and Aaryn Ellenberg each scored 22 points to help the No. 12 Sooners to 5-0 on the season.

OU got out to a fast start making their first four buckets from the field to take a quick 10-1 lead.

It didn't take long for that small lead to diminish as OU went nearly six minutes without scoring which allowed the Liberty to eventually catch up and make it 12-10 with just over 12 minutes to go-- but that would be as close as they would get.

Oklahoma regained control by taking advantage of careless passing by the Flames and at the break the Sooners held a 37-24 advantage.

In the second half, the Sooners came out and extended the lead by sinking their first eight shots while the Liberty hit just one-of-nine.

Oklahoma would go up as much as 38 points and seemed to be all over the court taking advantage of tipped passes and scoring in fast break situations. The Sooners tallied 17 steals and 16 fast break points in the contest along with 32 points in the paint.

Another major contributor to the win was turnovers. OU forced 19 of 37 turnovers in the first half alone and make the Liberty pay by scoring 38 points off those mistakes.

Liberty, the defending Big South champs, only beat the Sooners in one category-rebounding. The Flames out rebounded Oklahoma 47-34.

Oklahoma shot 45.6 percent from the field and 35 percent from the three point arc while Liberty converted 28.6 percent from the field and 25 percent from three point range.

For OU sophomore Aaryn Ellenberg, it was her 23rd consecutive game of scoring a 3-pointer which breaks the record she previously shared with Nyeshia Stevenson. Ellenberg tallied 22 points, three rebounds, three steals, and three assists.

Hook added 22 points, four steals, three assists and two blocks for the Sooners while Sharane Campbell tallied 13 points for OU.

Oklahoma freshman Kaylon Williams played her first collegiate game for the Sooners after missing games one and two with a concussion. She sank two free throws and finished with two points and three steals in 14 minutes of play.

Terika Lunsford led Liberty with nine points and had 10 rebounds while Catherine Kearney totaled seven points 10 rebounds and two blocks. Avery Warley also grabbed 10 boards.

The Sooners now advance to the championship game of the tournament and will play host school Vanderbilt who beat Lipscomb 81-39 earlier in the day.

Oklahoma and Vanderbilt will tip off at 4 p.m. Saturday.

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News 9 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

November 25th, 2011

March 22nd, 2024

March 14th, 2024

February 9th, 2024

Top Headlines

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024