Coming into Tuesday night’s game against No. 20 Texas A&M;, Oklahoma women’s coach Sherri Coale said the Aggies were a barometer.
Though just 5-4 in Big 12 play coming in, A&M; was the coaches’ pick to win the conference and with very much the same team beat the Sooners twice last season.
But the way things went, OU ended up becoming its own barometer. After a forgettable and horribly sloppy first half that included 17 turnovers, the Sooners turned around and played their best half of the season.
“It was recess,” Coale said of the first half.
It’s a term she uses frequently, and not so surprising given that her team has committed at least 20 turnovers 10 different times. OU (18-4, 8-2 Big 12) has committed less than 10 turnovers only once this season.
But now, after Tuesday’s second 20 minutes, the Sooners have created a new standard for how well they can play. Though likely impossible to maintain such a level for entire game after entire game, approaching it more often might not be asking too much.
How high a level?
OU came out in the second half and scored on its first six possessions, netting 13 points. Just like that a 32-26 deficit became a 39-34 lead. After netting no points on their next two possessions, the Sooners came back with a natural three-point play from Danielle Robinson and a 3-pointer from Jenna Plumley to make it 45-37.
It was like that the rest of the game.
In the final 20 minutes against the Aggies, OU scored 42 points on 65.4 percent (17 of 26) shooting, hit 50 percent (3 of 6) from beyond the 3-point arc, hit 5 of 7 free throws, outrebounded the Aggies 14 to 9, dished eight assists against four turnovers and stole the ball eight times.
According to Coale, the Sooners had to slow down to get moving.
“I felt like the reason we missed so many chippies in the first half was because we were just moving so fast,” she said. “Our movement to get the open shot was so rushed and so hurried that it led into the delivery of the shot.”
The Sooners made 9 of 27 first-half shots.
Nobody mirrored the horror of the first half and the beauty of the second quite like Plumley.
The sophomore guard committed four turnovers without an assist in 10 first-half minutes. After the half, she hit 3 of 4 3-point tries, dished three assists and did not commit a turnover.
“I just had to play at my level and speed,” she said. “When I came out, I was trying to make too many things happen and … I was rushing things too much.”
So was everybody else.
Until everything changed.
Clay Horning
366-3526
cfhorning@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
Related Photos
-
Oklahoma forward Courtney Paris looks to pass against Texas A&M Tuesday
Discussion
Rising to another level
- OU Sports
-
-
The influx of junior college players means Stoops is seeking quicker results
Each recruiting class sends a message. It means some teams are on the rise and others are starting to fall. Those are the outside perceptions. What Oklahoma did, internally, on National Signing Day, sent a message within its own locker ...
-
Sooners’ success at this point in season depends on your perception
One way to measure a basketball team’s success is to chart the chasm between where it is and where it could be. And when it comes to the Oklahoma women, that chart goes both ways....
-
It’s always too early to tell who will have impact
I have this line kicking around in my head. I want to share it, but not use it. I want to say something profound about Oklahoma’s national signing day experience without becoming part of the national signing day hype machine....
-
Stoops believes Sooners filled their needs with signing day
As late as November, Oklahoma had a light year planned on the recruiting trial. Then things changed with the exodus of players in December. Its 2012 recruiting went from plugging a few holes to a major overhaul....
-
Recruiting not limited to usual stomping grounds
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops called receivers coach Jay Norvell a couple times in the last couple of weeks. Neither was sure what time zone they were in....
-
Sooners hope to lock down signatures today of more than 20 commits
The fax machines have been dusted off and tested. Today is the one day a year the outmoded piece of technology serves an important use. National letters of intent will begin streaming into the Swtizer Center around 8 a.m. and won’t stop ...
-
Sooners finally reach realization about defending
In real life there isn’t a light bulb that suddenly fires up above someone’s head when an idea sinks in. If there were, Oklahoma’s practice gym would have been a little brighter this week. Something former OU coach Jeff Capel tried to get ...
-
OU courting recruits from eight different states, less from Texas
It has been the most fruitful of recruiting grounds. For nearly five decades, Oklahoma has recruited so well in Texas that it’s basically considered an in-state school....
-
Sooners struggle with shooting woes
Not long ago, Oklahoma junior guard and team captain Whitney Hand was asked what the Sooners had to do to hang with top-ranked Baylor. “Make shots,” she said....
-
Pledger named player of the week
Oklahoma guard Steven Pledger was named the Big 12 Conference’s Player of the Week on Monday after his performances in games against Baylor and Kansas State....
- More OU Sports Headlines
-
The influx of junior college players means Stoops is seeking quicker results
