Offensive Struggles Doom Oklahoma In Big 12 Loss

Oklahoma shot just 26 percent from the field and were eliminated from the Big 12 women's basketball tournament with a 59-46 loss to Texas.

Sunday, March 8th 2015, 7:42 pm

By: News 9


You have to score to win in basketball and simply put, that was just too difficult for the Oklahoma women on Sunday afternoon.

The Sooners shot just 26 percent from the field and were eliminated from the Big 12 women's basketball tournament with a 59-46 loss to Texas.

A night after imposing their will offensively against West Virginia, the Sooners were unable to do much of anything against the Longhorns. However it wasn't from a lack of trying. Oklahoma held Texas to 42 percent shooting and forced 22 turnovers. Even though the offense never got on track, the Sooners gave themselves every opportunity to rally.

The Sooners were led by Peyton Little and Gioya Carter, who each scored 11 points. Gabbi Ortiz and Kaylon Williams each scored eight points.

For Texas, Imani McGee-Stafford and Brady Sanders had 11 and McGee-Stafford added 10 rebounds. The Longhorns enjoyed a lot of balance despite the offensive struggles. Seven players scored at least six points and 32 of Texas' points came from the bench.

Oklahoma had plenty of chances, getting 13 offensive rebounds which led to 15 more shots for the Sooners. But they were unable to take advantage of that and the 22 Texas turnovers as shot after shot clanged harmlessly off the rim.

“I thought we played bad basketball for 40 minutes,” OU coach Sherri Coale said. “I thought it was just bad basketball.”

Two stretches in particular doomed the Sooners. After a Williams bucket and foul gave the Sooners a 16-9 lead with 10:22 to go in the first half, Oklahoma nearly went the rest of the half without a field goal and nine minutes without a point. Only a Vionise Pierre-Louis free throw with 1:54 left and a deep 3-pointer from Gabbi Ortiz prevented a scoreless final 10 minutes for OU. The Sooners trailed at half, 23-20.

It looked like the Sooners had found their groove in the second half, as Oklahoma scored 11 points in the first 5:32 of the half. A Carter 3-pointer with 10:35 left gave OU a 34-30 lead.

Oklahoma went cold once again as the Longhorns found their stroke, particularly from deep. The Longhorns went on a 14-0 run before a Carter 3-pointer stymied the charge momentarily. But Texas continued its rampage, pushing the lead to 51-37 before another Carter 3-pointer with 2:07 left.

The Sooners will wait to learn its NCAA tournament destination on March 16 when the NCAA Selection Show airs.

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

March 8th, 2015

March 22nd, 2024

March 14th, 2024

February 9th, 2024

Top Headlines

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024

March 28th, 2024