OU Sports
Can they win?
There's a freedom to November basketball.
It's not like the games don't count. Indeed, a strong RPI can be built upon big wins long before conference play begins.
Yet grinding over an opponent is not only uncommon, it's a bad idea, especially when all you've got is a day between games.
That's where the 13th-ranked Oklahoma women find themselves today, in Athens, Ga., taking on No. 21 Georgia.
The Sooners are coming off their season-opening 108-66 victory over Mercer. The Bulldogs are playing their first game.
Against Mercer, OU struggled to make shots early and trailed 25-24 into the game's 13th minute. Between that point and the 2:58 mark of the second half, the Sooners outscored the Bears by 49 points.
Today, OU wants more of what it did during the last 27 minutes of its opener and less of what it did during the first 13.
"We have to be ready to go against Georgia," OU coach Sherri Coale said. "We can't have that cold spell we had to start the game (against Mercer) and survive (against Georgia)."
Still, OU knows it's going to endure some cold spells to go along with its offensive explosions. What OU can do is not help those cold spells along with turnovers, like the 19 committed against Mercer. It can also do something about letting its opponent pour it on while it struggles.
"That's just going to be the nature of the way we play," Coale said. "Now, hopefully, those droughts don't last quite as long as they did early (against Mercer). That's kind of going to be our identity and we're going to have to defend during those drought periods."
Georgia, coming off an 80-49 exhibition victory over Clayton State, returns three starters from a team that went 18-14 a year ago, closing with a first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Arizona State.
One of those Bulldog returnees is senior point guard Ashley Houts, who averaged 12 points and 4.7 assists last season.
"You have two quality teams that both are in a little bit of a rebuilding state," Georgia coach Andy Landers said. "At the same time, both teams have some veterans coming back who have proven that they're good players."
It's just another one of those intriguing early season games you find on the court more than anywhere else.
Clay Horning 366-3526 cfhorning@normantranscript.com
- OU Sports
-
-
Raising expectations
When Brigitte Ardossie first came to Georgia Tech four years ago, the program’s NCAA tournament barely registered a blip on the nat
-
Reason for confidence
The Sooners are anxious. They want to play. “It feels like we’ve been practicing all week,” senior forward and team captain Amanda Thompson said.
-
Jacks have a history
Oklahoma will be a big favorite when it takes on South Dakota State in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament at Lloyd Nobl
-
Terry places third at 149 pounds
OMAHA, Neb. — Oklahoma’s Kyle Terry earned third place at 149 pounds at the NCAA Wrestling Championships Saturday, marking the highest finish by a Sooner at the event since 2007. Terry, a senior, went 5-1 at the event.
-
She can fill it up
Chastity Reed didn’t grow up learning the game of basketball like many players do. The Arkansas-Little Rock junior wasn’t a star on the AAU circuit and she didn’t go to shooting clinics every day after school.
-
The march
It’s a popular question. How do you win in March? It’s a simple question that typically yields a simple answer. Or, as is the case at the Norman sub-regional several different simple answers.
-
Four get awards
OMAHA, Neb. — Oklahoma won’t have a national champion at this year’s NCAA Wrestling Championships, but it will crown four All-Americans.
-
To the point
The story of Oklahoma women’s basketball this season isn’t the story of point guard Danielle Robinson. It is not that simple. It is, though, close.
-
Sooners play a losing effort
FULLERTON, Calif. — Oklahoma’s 11th-ranked softball team now knows it can compete with one of the best teams in the nation. Winning, however, is a different matter.
-
Weather help Sooners out
Oklahoma handled the elements Friday. Now it’s waiting to see if the elements can do it a favor.
- More OU Sports Headlines
-
Raising expectations
