Ellenberg Leads Sooners To Victory Over No. 22 Kansas State

The Sooner women's basketball team, led by Aaryn Ellenberg, handed No. 22 Kansas State its first conference loss of the season with a 65-57 road win Tuesday night.

Ellenberg was stellar for the Sooners scoring a season-high 31 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three point range and 50 percent from the floor. The sophomore also swiped a career-high nine steals on the night.

Oklahoma survived a late game surge by the Wildcats who started the second half scoring eight unanswered points.

Ellenberg was not only strong on offense, but also came up big for the Sooners on defense. She helped combat the Wildcats second-half attack by forcing three inbounds turnovers in four minutes of play while also scoring six-straight points to extend the Sooner lead.

The Sooners found themselves in an 8-3 hole early on in the game after committing three quick turnovers and the Wildcats swiped two steals.

But the three-point-ball started falling for OU who took the lead on Ellenberg's second three-pointer of the night.

Kansas State's offense relied on pounding in points in the paint. KSU scored 20 of their 25 first-half points from inside.

The Sooners went on a 9-2 run and would lead by as many as nine points in the first. Kansas State battled back to within three, but two more three point balls from Ellenberg gave the Sooner a 33-25 lead at halftime.

The Sooners shot 77.8 percent from behind the arc in the first and 50 percent from the field while Kansas State was paced byTasha Dickey who shot 50 percent from the field and tallied 14 points.

Oklahoma, who was without Joanna McFarland after she fractured her jaw in Saturday's game against Oklahoma State, had only two other players besides Ellenberg score in the first. Ellenberg led all scorers with 19 of the Sooners 33 first half points while Morgan Hook and Whitney hand helped with seven points a-piece.

In the first five minutes of the second half, Kansas State scored eight unanswered points to close the gap to 36-34.

The two teams traded baskets for much of the second, before Ellenberg locked down on defense to force three inbounds turnovers and steal the ball five times.

Ellenberg went on to score six-straight points to put the Sooners up 47-42 with less than 11 minutes remaining.

Kansas State kept it close until the end, but their poor perimeter defense and turnovers proved to be their downfall. In addition, Oklahoma sank its final six free throws of the game to take the 65-57 victory.

Oklahoma (11-5, 3-2) shot 53.8 percent from behind the arc on the night while KSU went just 3-of-22 from three-point range.

Morgan Hook totaled 11 points and six assists for the Sooners while Hand finished with nine points.

The Wildcats (13-4, 4-1) were led by Dickey who finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. Jalana Childs added 16 points and eight rebounds.

Oklahoma returns to Norman to host the Texas Longhorns Saturday, Jan. 21 at 11 a.m. inside the Lloyd Noble Center.