Sooners Break Records In 117-55 Win Over Sacramento State

The University of Oklahoma women's basketball team opened the regular season with a high powered 117-55 win over Sacramento State Sunday afternoon.

The Sooners set two records in the game, a team record in the first half scoring 69 points which exceeds the previous record of 66 points that was set in January 1994 and a program record with a 62 point victory—the largest win margin in program history.

OU got out to a good start thanks to hustle and ball movement and before they knew it Oklahoma was up 5-0 and they never looked back.

It was an entire team effort for the Sooners who had seven players finish in double figures.

In the first, Oklahoma built its lead thanks to a 26-5 run during a six minute span that started four minutes into the game.

Sacramento State struggled to hold on to the ball and in finding any type of rhythm offensively.

By halftime the Sooners held a 69-28 lead and were shooting 61 percent from the field and 50 percent from the three point line. Sophomore Aaryn Ellenberg recorded 24 points in the first half alone for the Sooners.

Meanwhile Sacramento shot a mere 26 percent from the field and committed 16 turnovers.

In the second half OU had a couple short spurts where they looked cold, but nevertheless they continued the dominance on the boards and in its quick ball movement to help them to the 117-55 victory.

Ellenberg continued to pace the scoring for OU on the afternoon totaling 28 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three point range with five rebounds and six assists.

Next came Whitney Hand who finished with a double-double scoring 18 points and 10 rebounds along with four steals.

Also scoring in double figures were DaShawn Harden with 15 points, Nicole Griffin with 14 points and nine rebounds, Morgan Hook with 12 points and eight assists and Sharane Campbell and Jelena Cerina who both scored 11 points.

The Sooners shot 59.7 percent from the field, 47.8 percent from the three point line and 87 percent from the free throw line on the night. OU also grabbed a total of 59 rebounds and had 25 assists.

"I thought we did a nice job," said OU head coach Sherri Coale. "I thought our starters did a nice job and we shot it really well and when you're shooting 50 percent from the three point you are going to score a lot of points."

Coach Coale was also impressed with the inside play of the Sooners who scored 54 points in the paint.

"I was really pleased with (the inside play) and they looked to score instead of looked to pass first which we have been harping on all week, said Coale."

Sacramento State shot 23.4 percent from the field and 21.9 percent from three point land. They were paced by Allie Moreno who finished with 16 points on the afternoon. Moreno was helped by Sadie Clements who tallied 15 points and three rebounds.

Oklahoma will take on New Mexico Saturday Nov. 19 at 3p.m. in Albuquerque.