Lincoln - No. 4 Oklahoma opened the game on a 15-0 run and never looked back on its way to a 77-56 women's basketball victory over Nebraska at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln on Saturday night.
Nebraska, which slipped to 9-5 overall while losing its Big 12 opener, missed its first seven shots from the field and committed eight turnovers before freshman Harleen Sidhu knocked down a jumper with 13:08 to play in the first half to stop the Sooner run. Oklahoma improved to 12-2 on the season and 1-0 in the Big 12.
All-American Courtney Paris led the Sooners with her 106th consecutive double-double, finishing with 18 points and 20 rebounds, including 10 points and 15 boards in the first half.
Ashley Paris just missed a double-double of her own with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Nyeshia Stevenson provided a lift off the bench by scoring nine of her 14 points in the first half.
The Sooners forced 14 first-half turnovers by the Huskers and outrebounded NU, 30-17, in the opening half on their way to a 44-23 halftime lead.
Sophomore Dominique Kelley led the Huskers with 12 points - all in the second half - while juniors Yvonne Turner and Cory Montgomery added nine points apiece. Sophomore Catheryn Redmon contributed eight points and nine boards while tying a career high with three blocked shots for the Huskers.
Nebraska shot just 36.7 percent (22-60) from the field, including 22.2 percent (4-18) from three-point range. NU did hit 8-of-10 free throws. The Huskers committed 21 turnovers, while forcing 17 by the Sooners. OU shot a solid 43.6 percent (34-78) from the field, including 33.3 percent (6-18) from long range. The Sooners were just 3-of-4 at the line. OU finished with an impressive 50-35 advantage on the glass.
Courtney Paris scored 10 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in the opening half to get the Sooners off to a solid start. Paris grabbed nine offensive rebounds in 15 minutes of action in the first half, on her way to a career-best 12 offensive rebounds. Whitney Hand, who finished with 10 points, four rebounds and four assists, added eight first-half points with a pair of three-pointers. Seven Sooners scored in the opening half, including Danielle Robinson who pitched in six points and four assists.
Turner led the Huskers with six first-half points, including 4-of-4 shooting at the free throw line, while Sidhu added five points off the bench for NU.
OU built its biggest lead of the first half at 37-12 with 4:28 remaining, and extended the lead to 30 points on two occasions midway through the second half.
The Huskers continued to fight to the final buzzer, matching the Sooners with 33 second-half points. Kelley led NU's second-half performance with 12 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals after halftime.
Nebraska hits the road for the first time in Big 12 Conference action on Wednesday when the Huskers travel to Austin to take on No. 8 Texas. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. with television coverage provided by Fox Sports Southwest. Free live audio will be available on Huskers.com by the Husker Sports Network.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Oklahoma vs Nebraska 1/10/09 7:05pm at Bob Devaney Sports Center- Lincoln, Neb.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Oklahoma 12-2, 1-0 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 05 PARIS, Ashley....... f 6-13 0-1 0-0 3 6 9 2 12 3 3 1 3 26 21 THOMPSON, Amanda.... f 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 2 2 1 1 1 0 16 03 PARIS, Courtney..... c 9-16 0-0 0-1 12 8 20 1 18 2 1 3 1 26 13 ROBINSON, Danielle.. g 4-10 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 8 7 4 0 1 25 25 HAND, Whitney....... g 4-11 2-6 0-0 0 4 4 0 10 4 1 1 2 27 01 STEVENSON, Nyeshia.. 5-10 2-4 2-2 1 0 1 1 14 0 2 0 1 20 04 OLAJUWON, Abi....... 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 10 ROETHLISBERGER, Carl 2-6 0-3 1-1 0 3 3 4 5 1 1 0 1 18 14 WILLIS, Lauren...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 31 HAMMOND, Rose....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 45 HARTMAN, Jasmine.... 2-3 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 5 2 2 0 0 15 53 VINING, Jenny....... 1-2 1-2 0-0 1 1 2 1 3 2 1 0 0 16 TEAM................ 4 4 Totals.............. 34-78 6-18 3-4 20 30 50 15 77 23 17 6 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 19-45 42.2% 2nd Half: 15-33 45.5% Game: 43.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd Half: 3-9 33.3% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-3 100 % 2nd Half: 0-1 0.0% Game: 75.0% 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 9-5, 0-1 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 40 Montgomery, Cory.... f 4-13 0-0 1-1 1 5 6 0 9 0 2 0 0 31 44 Redmon, Catheryn.... f 4-12 0-0 0-0 3 6 9 3 8 0 3 3 1 29 22 Turner, Yvonne...... g 2-9 1-6 4-4 0 2 2 2 9 2 5 2 3 24 24 Kelley, Dominique... g 5-8 1-2 1-1 1 4 5 3 12 4 3 0 2 27 32 Hester, Tay......... g 1-3 0-0 1-3 1 4 5 2 3 1 5 0 0 17 05 Burke, Kaitlyn...... 3-6 1-3 1-1 0 0 0 0 8 2 1 0 0 20 11 Neals, Nicole....... 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 12 13 Kuhlmann, Kala...... 1-3 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 0 0 20 21 Sidhu, Harleen...... 2-4 1-3 0-0 1 1 2 1 5 0 0 0 0 13 35 Periago, Jessica.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 TEAM................ 3 2 5 Totals.............. 22-60 4-18 8-10 10 25 35 11 56 11 21 5 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-27 29.6% 2nd Half: 14-33 42.4% Game: 36.7% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 20.0% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 22.2% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-7 71.4% 2nd Half: 3-3 100 % Game: 80.0% 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Melissa Barlow, Beverly Roberts, Gator Parrish Technical fouls: Oklahoma-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 4739 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Oklahoma...................... 44 33 - 77 Nebraska...................... 23 33 - 56