What’s next: Next season. With Tuesday night’s 79-75 NCAA Tournament second-round overtime loss to Notre Dame, the Oklahoma women ended their season with a 22-9 record.They lose nobody from a team with no seniors and only two juniors, Courtney and Ashley Paris.
Keep an eye on: Guards. Tuesday night they were not near the issue they had been throughout the season. Jenna Plumley had her best night from 3-point land of the season and dished five assists, while Amanda Thompson finished with 19 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, coming about as close as any Sooner has to a triple double this season. Yet Thompson still committed six turnovers and Stevenson four without an assist. And it can’t be denied that OU’s season-long struggles did not start in the paint. The one thing Sooner fans need not worry about in the offseason is this team’s front line. Yet there’s plenty to fret about, beginning with horrid season-long 3-point shooting and a bushel of turnovers.
Interesting development: Depth is still an issue. Way back on media day, presented with the idea that OU brought back four starters but lost a great bench, full of seniors, Sooner coach Sherri Coale said she didn’t see it that way, that Nyeshia Stevenson and Abi Olajuwon were ready to play, ditto for the entire freshman class, save walk-on Lauren Willis. But it never materialized. Olajuwon played less and less as the season progressed (5 minutes since Jan. 30), Jenny Vining never overcame 3-point confidence issues and Carlee Roethlisberger played 5 minutes Tuesday, Rose Hammond 9. Stevenson is OU’s lone bench success this season. There’s no other way to look at it after all five starters played at least 35 of 45 minutes against the Irish, three of them at least 38, including Courtney Paris 43 and Jenna Plumley all 45.
Notes of note: OU was ranked No. 6 in the preseason and again the second week of January. It entered March Madness ranked No. 14 … The Sooners hit 6 of 9 free throws. Notre Dame hit 22 of 24. The last time OU shot more free throws than an opponent was Feb. 23 against Oklahoma State … OU’s 46.1 percent shooting (30 of 64) was its best outing since beating Kansas State (26 of 51; 51 percent) 68-65 Feb. 20 … OU has advanced to the Sweet 16 five times under Sherri Coale, but not past the round since 2002 when it lost the national championship game to Connecticut.
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