Clay Horning
• If the Sooners want to make it
to the Elite 8,
they have to get past the Rebels’
tough defense
By Clay Horning
Transcript Sports Editor
DAYTON, Ohio — Ashley Awkward likely said it best.
“Our defense is our dictator,” said the Mississippi guard.
And not in the Mussolini sense, but in real fast sense.
“They would like to make it a track meet from one end to the other,” Oklahoma women’s coach Sherri Coale said of the Rebels.
Unranked and No. 7-seed Ole Miss meets ninth-ranked and No. 3 seed OU at 1:30 p.m. today in a Dayton Regional semifinal at University of Dayton Arena and the game within the game, at least going into the game, could not be more clear.
“Defense has been our main goal since Coach (Carol) Ross came here,” all-SEC selection Armintie Price said. “We made it a point of emphasis within ourselves that this is what we have to do. We’re not tall so we have to move fast and move with the ball. We take pride in our defense with trapping and causing chaos.”
Ole Miss helped to force 29 turnovers from defending national champion Maryland last week. It was the 20 the Terrapins committed in the first half that led to an advantage the Rebels never gave back on the way to an 89-78 victory.
Ole Miss doesn’t win every game in which it creates an abundance of turnovers. Tennessee committed 20 in Knoxville and beat the Rebels 81-69, while Kentucky turned it over 25 times in Oxford and still prevailed 69-61.
But the giveaways and the pace they can create give the Rebels a chance against top the nation’s best. They probably don’t beat Tennesse in Oxford or Kentucky in Lexington without getting 20 cough-ups from the Vols and 21 from the Wildcats.
So, maybe OU should take care of the ball.
The Sooners committed 19 turnovers against Marquette, but a near-season low 10 against Southeast Missouri State last week in Austin.
According to Coale, getting better with the ball was a necessity. And rather than it being a part of some kind of natural evolution, it was a decision made by the team.
“We told our guys,” she said, “we’re going to have to beat pressure.”
The Sooners received a heavy dose of pressure from Texas A&M; and lost, then received a heavy dose from Texas and lost, Then, after beating Oklahoma State, got another heavy dose from Texas A&M; and lost, yet showed promise the second time around with the Aggies after the half with Jenna Plumley running the point.
That led to a shakeup of the starting lineup, which has since led to better basketball and a 10-game winning streak.
“We lost (three) games, Texas A&M; and Texas, where their big thing is ball pressure, quick hits and running with the point guards,” Sooner center Courtney Paris said. “I think that’s the cool thing about the Big 12, that you see a little bit of everything and it’s one of the most challenging leagues to play in.”
But if OU is prepared, it must still execute and that will begin with Plumley.
“It’s really about staying poised and being able to read the floor in order to break them down for easy scores,” the freshman point guard said. “One thing we’ve worked on is being able to read where the trap is coming from and making that extra pass to the open player.”
OU has proven able to win lots of ways, but the same may not be the case for Ole Miss.
“It’s very ironic, I think, that we are the sixth scoring offense in the country yet we don’t have an offense,” Ross said.
The Rebel coach was a little sarcastic, but likely quite truthful. Because it starts with defense.
“Ole Miss is terrific at applying pressure and forcing opponents to make mistakes,” Coale said.
But if the Sooners handle the pressure, they likely stand a good shot at handling the Rebels.
Clay Horning
366-3526
cfhorning@normantranscript.com
