Sooners Top Stetson, Advance In Preseason WNIT

Aaryn Ellenberg got hot at the right moments to lead the Sooners to a season-opening win at the Lloyd Noble Center Friday night.

Ellenberg scored 24 points and hit four consecutive 3-pointers through a 10-minute, second-half run that helped No. 11 Oklahoma defeat Stetson 78-60 in a Preseason WNIT First Round contest.

"I kind of just take it as it comes," Ellenberg said. "Obviously, I expect myself to knock down shots. When I do that the numbers should be there, regardless, I don't think about it do much. I just go with the flow of the game."

Ellenberg was 8-of-15 from the field, including a 6-of-11 mark from behind the arc on an otherwise sluggish night for OU's long-range shooters.

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"It's the first time we've seen the zone and we've maybe spent 10 or 15 minutes on zone offense in practice," Coale said. "The lack of rhythm and the second guessing and just some of it felt disjointed. It's just because we don't run a half-court zone ourselves and so we don't see it in practice very much."

OU hit just two of 15 first-half 3-point attempts and finished with a 25 percent 3-point shooting percentage.

Redshirt sophomore Kaylon Williams added 17 points in her return to the court after missing 2012-13 with a torn Achilles tendon.

"I loved what Kaylon was able to do tonight," Coale said. "I thought she showed great confidence, especially in the second half. She looked a little different in the second half than she did the first. She was really determined and adamant about receiving the ball and doing something good with it."

Williams ignited OU's inside game by shooting 5-for-5 in the first half. OU outscored Stetson 38-18 in the paint.

Sharane Campbell totaled 10 points, with a six-point, six-rebound performance in the first half.

"She really just saved us early," Coale said. "She calmed the storm and then she made a couple of plays that ignited us."

Oklahoma led 34-25 at halftime.

Sasha Sims scored 16 points to lead Stetson.

The Sooners next host Wichita State, 69-46 winners over IPFW, Sunday, Nov. 10, at 2 p.m. in the WNIT second round.