• What’s next: Third-ranked Oklahoma, now 26-3 and 14-1 in the Big 12 Conference following Wednesday’s 61-49 victory over Texas Tech at Lloyd Noble Center, meets No. 15 Texas at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Frank Erwin Arena in Austin.
• Keep an eye on: Whitney Hand. The freshman shooting guard has been out since breaking the ring finger on her left hand against Baylor Feb. 21 has not returned to the lineup, yet did take the court Wednesday in uniform for the first time. Already she is participating in every practice drill that doesn’t involve contact. Though she’s not expected to play in the regular-season finale against Texas, she could be back in time for the duration of the Big 12 tournament, which begins for OU on March 13 in Oklahoma City. If that happens, she’ll be a week ahead of the four-weeks it was said she might miss when the fracture was first diagnosed.
• Interesting development: Once again, turnovers. OU committed 29 in their only conference loss at Texas A&M; Feb. 23, but it was written off as an aberration at the time and, particularly, after the Sooners committed just 11 Saturday against Oklahoma State. But Wednesday OU was back at throwing it away, committing 23 turnovers including no less than three from five different players: Ashley Paris (3), Nyeshia Stevenson (5), Danielle Robinson (4), Carlee Roethlisberger (3) and Jenny Vining (3). It could be that Hand being out of the lineup is just that disturbing or the distraction of Senior Night was just that debilitating, but if the Sooners continue to turn the ball over like they have two of the last three games, it will be the very first reason they fall short of the Final Four.
• Notes of note: Both teams combined on 47 turnovers and 38 field goals on 101 attempts … The Sooner seniors — Courtney Paris, Ashley Paris, Carolyn Winchester — have been part of 107 wins, more than any other senior class in program history … The Paris twins both had double doubles for the 27th time in the same game … Tech was only credited with six assists. OU had 23, led by Danielle Robinson’s six.
— Clay Horning
Boxscore
No. 3 Oklahoma 61, Texas Tech 49
FG FT Reb
Tech Min M-A M-A O-T A F Pts
Roberson 28 0-4 4-4 2-6 1 1 4
Seals 32 2-8 7-8 3-5 0 3 11
Mallard 20 4-9 3-3 0-2 0 5 11
Moore 28 4-8 1-2 2-3 0 2 10
Murphree 28 3-9 2-2 0-2 2 5 8
Barncastle 17 1-3 0-1 2-5 1 1 2
Walker 15 1-3 0-0 1-3 1 0 3
Martin 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Henderson 10 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 1 0
Brown 15 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Totals 200 15-47 17-20 10-29 6 19 49
Percentages: FG .319, FT .850.
3-Point Goals: 2-8, .250 (Moore 1-1, Walker 1-2, Seals 0-1, Brown 0-1, Roberson 0-1, Murphree 0-2). Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 0. Turnovers: 24 (Murphree 6, Moore 4, Mallard 4, Roberson 3, Martin 2, Seals 2, Walker, Brown, Henderson). Steals: 12 (Roberson 5, Seals 3, Mallard 2, Walker, Murphree). Technical Fouls: Mallard.
FG FT Reb
OU Min M-A M-A O-T A F Pts
AParis 25 6-11 3-7 5-10 0 2 15
Wchester 6 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0
CParis 31 5-11 2-4 6-16 0 3 12
Stevenson 20 2-8 0-1 1-1 1 1 4
Robinson 34 5-9 8-9 1-2 6 2 18
Olajuwon 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Roethlis. 15 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 3 3
Thompson 31 3-8 0-0 1-5 4 3 6
Hammond 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Hartman 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Vining 30 1-3 0-0 0-1 2 1 3
Totals 200 23-54 13-21 16-40 14 15 61
Percentages: FG .426, FT .619.
3-Point Goals: 2-9, .222 (Vining 1-2, Roethlisberger 1-3, Thompson 0-1, Stevenson 0-3). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 6 (C.Paris 4, Thompson 2). Turnovers: 23 (Stevenson 5, Robinson 4, Vining 3, Roethlisberger 3, A.Paris 3, C.Paris 2, Thompson 2, Winchester). Steals: 12 (Thompson 4, Roethlisberger 3, C.Paris 2, Robinson, A.Paris, Stevenson). Technical Fouls: None.
Texas Tech 28 21 — 49
Oklahoma 25 36 — 61
A—9,310. Officials—Scott Yarbrough, Gator Parrish, Brenda Pantoja.
