Plumley leads again

Freshman saves Sooners at Tech

Staff & Wire Reports

LUBBOCK, Texas — Two starts into her collegiate career, Jenna Plumley’s legend continues to grow.

The first time around, at home against Texas, it was what she set up, dishing out eight assists. Saturday at United Spirit Arena, it was what she finished off.

The Oklahoma freshman hit six 3-pointers — as many as she had made in Big 12 play all season — and scored a career-high 22 points to lead No. 14 Oklahoma to a 70-67 win over Texas Tech on Saturday.

In only her second start for the Sooners, Plumley hit 6 of 8 from beyond the arc in taking the advice of teammate Ashley Paris, who had encouraged her to put the ball up more.

“Ashley always tells me to shoot it because whether I make it or miss it, they’re going to be there for the rebound,” said Plumley, who had made just 6 of 24 3-point attempts in Oklahoma’s 12 previous conference games.

The Sooners led by 11 midway through the second half before Tech used a 12-4 run to whittle the deficit to 61-58 with 4:46 remaining.

A 3-pointer by Tech’s Raquel Christian tied it at 63 before Plumley hit her sixth 3 to put Oklahoma (20-4, 10-3 Big 12) ahead for good.

Plumley’s three-pointers were huge, Sooner coach Sheri Coale said.

“It takes some guts to pull that trigger and they were at critical times and that changes momentum,” she said.

Alesha Robertson and Patrice Edwards scored 16 points each to lead Tech (15-12, 6-7 Big 12). In the run that brought Tech back, the Lady Raiders scored seven points in less than 40 seconds.

Edwards had a chance to tie the game with 38 seconds remaining but missed the second of two free throws.

Texas Tech coach Kristy Curry called Plumley a “firecracker.”

“She was just the difference today for OU,” said Curry. “She’s a set shooter and we allowed her to get her feet set. But give her credit, she’s a firecracker. They’re very senior-laden and I think it makes her job easier when she has the players around her that she has.”

Courtney Paris scored 18 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for her 52nd straight double-double. But Coale said she played with indecision, which is unusual for the star sophomore.

Paris agreed.

“I think coach nailed it,” she said. “I missed a lot of layups, but the guards still got it to me.”

Oklahoma committed 15 of their 20 turnovers in the second half. Tech took advantage, getting 16 points from the ones after the break.

It was the second straight game Coale started Plumley. But despite Plumley’s performance, Coale didn’t commit to continuing to start the freshman.

“One game at a time, but obviously her performance tonight did nothing to change the way I felt about her being in the rotation,” Coale said. “But we go back and work all week and get ready for the next one.”

Tech led by 8 points early but struggled late in the first half, failing to score a field goal in the final 6:36. The Sooners used runs of 11-0 and 8-0 to lead 36-29 at halftime. Courtney Paris had a double-double — 12 points and 10 rebounds — before the break, the 10th time this season she’s gotten one in a single half.

Tech had lapses it could ill afford, Curry said.

“I just thought that mentally we made some poor decisions at critical times that really hurt us,” she said.