Sooners Rally To Take Down Texas Tech

Trailing by as many as 14 in the third quarter, the Oklahoma women's basketball team rallied to take down Texas Tech, 66-61, Wednesday night at Lloyd Noble Center. 

With OU (5-7, 1-0 Big 12) down one with just over four minutes to play, Shaina Pellington cut off a Texas Tech inbound pass and drove to the basket for the go-ahead layup. The victory marked OU's 16th straight win over the Lady Raiders. 

The Sooners, who outscored Texas Tech (9-3, 0-1 Big 12) 27-15 in the final frame, used a 20-4 run over a five-minute span to secure the victory.

“I’m proud of these guys," OU head coach Sherri Coale. "They overcame a lot of adversity tonight and found a way to win when they didn’t shoot it well. They were fantastic down the stretch when we had to have them."

OU got off to a slow start as Tech took a 19-11 advantage into the second quarter. The Sooners looked to have seized to momentum heading into the locker room, but the Lady Raiders scored on back-to-back possessions to take a nine-point lead into halftime. 

The Lady Raiders jumped out to a 14-point lead early in the third quarter, but the OU trimmed the deficit down to final heading into the final frame.

Pellington tallied a team-high 18 points, while freshman Madi Williams collected a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The sophomore scored 10 of her 18 points in the final quarter to propel the Sooners. Pellington was 8-of-16 from the field and added five rebounds, four assistts, four steals and two blocks. 

“I feel like I was focusing on the wrong things in the first half. In the last four minutes, it was a change in mindset," Pellington said. "Just let it go and just do what you got to do. We were all determined to win the game. We knew what we could do that in the fourth quarter.”

Taylor Robertson recorded 17 points and a season-high seven rebounds. The freshman knocked down three 3-pointers in her first Big 12 game and has made at least one trey in each game this season.

Ana Llanusa tallied 11 points and six rebounds in her first game back since Nov. 9. The sophomore knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the second half to help OU's comeback effort. 

Williams, who has scored in double figures in seven consecutive games, added her third straight double-double. Tatum Veitenheimer chipped in eight points and five rebounds, while Mandy Simpson added seven rebounds and led OU with six assists.

The Lady Raiders were led in scoring by Chrislyn Carr, who finished with 19 points on 7-of-23 shooting. Tech's Zuri Sanders added in a game-high 16 rebounds, while Brittney Brewer was a rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Tech narrowly outshot OU, .357-.333, from the field, but the Sooners limited the Lady Raiders to just 3-of-22 (.136) from behind the arc. OU recorded 18 assists and finished with 11 turnovers. The Sooners also took advantage of 20 Tech turnovers, scoring 22 points off Raider miscues.

Up next, the Sooners make their first road trip of Big 12 play on Saturday as they head to Manhattan to face Kansas State. The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. CT and be televised on Fox College Sports Central.

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