NORMAN — About 8 minutes into the Oklahoma women’s eventual loss to Connecticut, the Sooners trailed 21-4. Next up, against Kansas State, as both teams failed to put their stamp on the contest, OU trailed 48-39 with less than 10 minutes remaining. Then, three days ago, with the first bucket of the second half, Iowa State led the Sooners 45-28.
OU (17-9, 9-5 Big 12) came out ice cold against the Huskies, flat against the Wildcats and failed to guard the 3-point arc in the first half against the Cyclones.
"It’s really been just a little bit of everything,” Sooner coach Sherri Coale said.
Against Connectcut, OU climbed within five points before the first half concluded and remained competitive to the buzzer. Against Kansas State, OU closed on a 29-14 run to win 68-62. Against Iowa State, OU got within a point before the Cyclones finally fought off the Sooner comeback.
“I think it’s tremendous that we’re able to (rally),” Coale said. “We’d like to not dig the hole, obviously.”
That’s the thing.
Is there a solution?
“Just continue to focus one possession at a time. It’s doing all good things together, like having five players play well on a night,” Coale said. “It’s just waiting on that perfect storm. You have to feel it and then carry it over, and we’re getting pretty close.”
Beginning at 7 tonight at Lloyd Noble Center, not digging a hole will be as important as ever.
Texas A&M (19-6, 10-4) is not the same group that claimed last season’s national championship, but it’s ranked No. 14, has second place in the conference all to itself and has been a long-running thorn in the Sooners’ sides.
The one thing OU can’t do tonight, Coale said, is turn the ball over. Possessions must yield attempts.
She’s likely right, but junior guard and team captain Whitney Hand is framing the challenge outside the confines of the court and between each Sooners’ ears instead.
“I really think it’s a maturity thing,” Hand said. “It’s a personal decision on every page to stay focused and to sustain that focus the whole game.”
Spotting inconsistency among the roster is not hard.
Aaryn Ellenberg is finally over a seven-game shooting slump. As she slumped, Sharane Campbell picked up much of the offensive slack. Yet, at Iowa State, the freshman guard played 8 minutes without scoring or attempting a shot.
Forward Joanna McFarland has yet to find her way since returning from a broken jaw five games ago. She returned at Baylor, played 25 minutes and grabbed nine rebounds. In 27 minutes against Missouri, she scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds. But in three games since, McFarland has failed to score, while grabbing four rebounds during 35 minutes on the court.
Post Nicole Griffin started against Missouri and Connecticut and played nine ineffective minutes in each game. It was only the second game after losing her starting job, at Iowa State, that she came back to life, finishing with 14 points and four rebounds.
Hand agrees with Coale, that the Sooners are very close. Even if that fact only underlines frustration.
“I feel like we’re right on the edge. That’s definitely the way I feel,” she said. “And it’s the most frustrating thing, too. If we’re going to get there or not, it’s going to depend on each of us as individuals.”
OU has beaten a top-10 team this season. However, that team — Texas Tech — is no longer in the polls.
The Aggies aren’t what they’ve been, but would still be the best team OU’s beaten this season.
Also, victory would be a huge momentum boost with three regular season games remaining, two away from home.
“We need to come out with a confident mindset, so we’re ready to play in the beginning,” freshman forward Kaylon Williams said, “so we won’t have to claw and fight our way at the very end.”
It sounds so simple.
Clay Horning 366-3526 cfhorning@normantranscript.com
