Sooners Down Western Illinois In Offensive Shootout

The temperature may have been dropping like a rock outside, but inside Lloyd Noble Center Wednesday night, Oklahoma and Western Illinois were anything but cold.

Both teams shot over 50 percent for the game, but it was the Sooners who came out on top, defeating the Leathernecks 97-80.

Aaryn Ellenberg led the Sooners with 25 points, a season-high. The senior came into the game shooting just 33.9 percent from 3-point range this season, but shook off the mini-slump to hit 7-of-12 attempts from behind the arc against WIU.

Ellenberg led five Sooners in double figures. Morgan Hook had 14 points, Nicole Griffin had 13 points and Sharane Campbell had 12 points. Nicole Kornet came off the bench to score 10 points.

Ashley Luke led the Leathernecks with 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting. Rebecca Henricson had 18 points and Tori Niemann had 13 points.

The Sooners were stingy on defense, forcing 21 turnovers and turning those into 32 points. Those 32 points also helped Oklahoma have a big 50-32 advantage in points in the paint.

The Sooners jumped out to a 22-10 lead with 13:06 remaining in the first half, courtesy of seven points from Hook in a 12-0 run over a two-minute stretch. WIU kept the game close, thanks to some really good 3-point shooting. The Leathernecks shot 10-for-23 from deep for the game.

The Sooners kept the lead the entire half, with Ellenberg burying a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to give OU a 51-34 lead at the break.

Oklahoma extended the lead to 21 less than two minutes into the second half, but WIU went on a 12-2 run to cut the lead to 59-48. The Sooners responded with a couple of baskets and led by as many as 13 the rest of the way, with the lead growing to as many as 22.

The Sooners face a huge test on Sunday when No. 2 Duke comes to Norman to take on Oklahoma at 3 p.m.