Claremore Daily Progress

Sports

January 29, 2013

BIG 12 WOMEN'S BB: Coale sees positive signs after battle with Baylor

CLAY HORNING CNHI News Services

NORMAN — After Saturday’s 82-65 loss at Ferrell Center, the No. 20 Oklahoma women have lost five straight games to Baylor going back to 2011.



Saturday, they were in the game, down nine points with 11:49 remaining, but were down 26 points with 4:49 remaining.



The Sooners picked up 33 points from junior shooting guard Aaryn Ellenberg, 12 points and 16 rebounds from senior forward Joanna McFarland, and eight points, five rebounds and five assists from junior point guard Morgan Hook. They received very little from anybody else.



Nonetheless, Sherri Coale sounded like a coach who saw more good than bad as she exited the Sooners’ meeting with the nation’s No. 1 team, saying, “I thought we did some really, really good things.”



Baylor was bigger and more athletic at pretty much every position, yet the Sooners (15-4, 5-2) hung with the Lady Bears (18-1, 8-0) on the glass, only outrebounded 44-40.



“They have emphatic rebounders,” Coale said. “So, to be able to stay with them in that category bodes well for us moving forward. That’s been sort of an Achilles’ heel for us.”



Even the fact that OU was within 10 points as late as it was and kept the final number inside 20 is more than many teams have managed against Baylor.



The Lady Bears have one loss, by a point to No. 6 Stanford, but have beaten many strong teams by big margins: 80-51 over No. 5 Kentucky, 76-53 over No. 9 Tennessee, 83-49 over No. 12 Oklahoma State and 67-39 over No. 24 Iowa State.



“As you come into this game, yeah, you’re doing everything you can to win it, but you’re also trying to make sure you get better at the things that will help you win games in the future, and I thought we did that today in terms of our execution, in terms of our rebounding,” Coale said. “It got away from us a couple of times in our sureness (with the ball), but still we’ve come in here and turned it over a lot more than 15 times.”



What the Sooners didn’t do was shoot the ball well. They made a respectable 11 of 26 from beyond the 3-point arc, but the looming presence of Baylor center and reigning player of the year Brittney Griner contributed to shooting a horrid 9 of 46 from within the 3-point arc.



Griner blocked eight shots but was nowhere in sight for a drive to the basket that should have been an easy lay-up for Ellenberg. Instead, as she reached the lane, Ellenberg turned her head and, looking for Griner, promptly lost focus and laid the ball directly into the front of the rim.



“It just makes you think twice about it,” Ellenberg said.



Nonetheless, Coale likes where her team is headed. The Sooner Nation surely wants to believe her, for the next three weeks should determine where OU finishes in the conference race and just what kind of a season the Sooners will have to draw upon as they enter, presumably, the NCAA tournament.



Wednesday, TCU visits Lloyd Noble Center in a game OU should win comfortably. What follows is a gauntlet: at West Virginia, at Kansas State, No. 13 Oklahoma State, No. 24 Iowa State and at Kansas, a team that is receiving votes in both national polls.



The schedule eases after that, though OU’s remaining slate still includes a visit to OSU and welcoming Baylor to Lloyd Noble Center.



The coach is confident.



“These guys have just taken every shot they’ve been dealt and they just continue to get better and keep plugging away,” Coale said of her players. “I’m proud of them.”

 

Text Only
Sports
  • Gasso trusts that Ricketts will find her timing again

    Oklahoma pitcher Keilani Ricketts was not at her best on Sunday. The defending USA Softball Player of the Year didn’t give up a run in her two and two-thirds innings of work, but she was far from the dominant pitcher who tossed a no-hitter last week.

    May 20, 2013

  • Sooners claim regular season finale with win over K-State

    Oklahoma managed to end the regular season on a positive note Sunday. Kolbey Carpenter went 2 for 4 and drove in three runs to help power the Sooners to a 7-3 victory over Kansas State at Tointon Stadium.

    May 20, 2013

  • Chamberlain's curtain call only the beginning

    The chant reaching near-deafening levels, Lauren Chamberlain finally realized what she was supposed to do.

    Moments after blasting a three-run home run that broke open what had been a close regional final, the sophomore tepidly stepped up out of the dugout and waved to the home crowd, enjoying the first curtain call of her career.

    May 20, 2013

  • OU's dominant victory a shining example of how tough Sooners are in softball

    On the first day Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso thought it was better to go with Michelle Gascoigne over Keilani Ricketts against Arkansas’ bats, the Sooners beat the Razorbacks by five runs.

    A day later Gasso had the same thought. OU prevailed by 13 runs.

    May 20, 2013

  • Cowboys fall short in Big 12 regular season finale

    Oklahoma State University played catch up the entire game of Saturday’s series finale with West Virginia at Allie P. Reynolds, and never could quite get over the hump.
    The Cowboys would respond after each Mountaineer score but it wouldn’t be enough as they lost the finale 5-4 on Senior Day.

    May 20, 2013

  • Referees stop Lake Eufaula Classic with South on top

     It was an outcome unlike any in the 29 years of the Lake Eufaula Classic, and a bruise different than any player has ever departed with.

    Officials, following the second serious skirmish of the game, walked off the field and the game was called, the South leading the North 12-10 at Paul Bell Stadium.

    May 20, 2013

  • Grand Junction Bound: Connors State advances to JUCO World Series

    All season long, Connors State coach Perry Keith has said his team was winning a lot of ball games ugly.

    On Saturday, the game between the Cowboys and No. 1 Delgado (La.) was anything but as Connors beat the Dolphins 3-1 to capture the South Central district championship and a berth in next week’s NJCAA College World Series.

    May 20, 2013

  • Young Americans waste no time qualifying for Indy 500

    Bump Day at Indianapolis followed the script.
    No surprises, no drama and no drivers getting bumped.
    On a day devoid of tension and rumors, all nine drivers who made attempts on the second and final day of Indianapolis 500 qualifications made it into the 33-car field, led by two young Americans - Josef Newgarden and Graham Rahal - who easily had the two fastest cars on the track.

    May 20, 2013

  • NCAA WOMEN'S BB: Texas Tech hires OSU assistant Candi Whitaker

    Texas Tech has hired Oklahoma State assistant Candi Whitaker to coach its women's basketball team.
    The school announced Monday that the former Lady Raiders player would return to her alma mater as coach. The move comes about a week after Kristy Curry left for Alabama.

    May 20, 2013

  • Pacers, Heat start bracing to square off again

    A year ago when Miami and Indiana faced off in the postseason, there were blood-drawing hits, flagrant fouls, technical fouls, choke signs being directed toward LeBron James and more than a few sharp-tongued comments.
    Here they possibly go again, at least on the comment front.
    The Eastern Conference finals between the Heat and Pacers won't begin until Wednesday night, but there's already signs that the animosity present throughout last season's Miami-Indiana second-round series will likely return this time around.

    May 20, 2013