Little Leads OU Women Past Kansas State

A career-high 30-point effort from redshirt sophomore Peyton Little led the Oklahoma women's basketball team to a 73-64 win over Kansas State Saturday night in Manhattan, Kan. Little's big night coupled with a dominant rebounding performance, gave the Sooners (17-9, 11-4) the nine-point win.

Little went 8-of-10 from beyond the arc and added four free throws and a layup to hit 30 points, a new career high. Little has now scored 20 or more points in four consecutive games and has led the Sooners in scoring for the last eight games. Little was just one three shy of tying the school record for 3-point makes in a single game.

The last Sooner to score 30 points in a game was Aaryn Ellenberg who put up 36 against DePaul in the NCAA Tournament last year.

Other than the scoring work of Little, perhaps the biggest difference in the game came on the boards. The Sooners and Wildcats put in 23 and 22 buckets respectively, but Oklahoma pulled in 43 rebounds to just 28 for Kansas State. The Sooners grabbed 16 of those 43 on the offensive end.

Redshirt junior Kaylon Williams recorded her fifth double-double of the year with 13 points and a team-high twelve boards, nine of which came on the offensive end.

After trading buckets with the Wildcats early in the first half, the Sooners found themselves trailing 11-14 with just over 11 minutes to go. Oklahoma would go on a 12-3 run over the next six minutes to take a 23-17 lead with 5:27 left.

Kansas State answered with a run of its own. The Wildcats scored the next six points to tie the game at 23-23 with a minute and a half remaining.

Little put an end to that run when she buried a three from the left wing to put the Sooners up 26-23. Little then hit two free throws when Kansas State coach Jeff Mittie was hit with a technical.

Little hit a ten-footer as time expired to send Oklahoma into the locker room with a 30-25 lead. Little scored the Sooners' last seven point of the half and finished the half with 16.

Rebounding was a huge advantage for the Sooners in the first half. Both teams shot around 40 percent from the field, but Oklahoma out rebounded the Kansas State 23-10 and grabbed 10 offensive boards.

Oklahoma poured it on in the second half. Leading 37-29, the Sooners went on an 11-0 run on the back of made threes from Little, sophomore Derica Wyatt and Sharane Campbell-Olds. The run gave OU a 16-point lead and all the cushion it would need.

The Sooners strong second half was aided by better ball control. OU turned the ball over 16 times in the first period, but cut that number to eight in the second half. The Sooners totaled 16 assists in the ball game. Campbell-Olds led the team with four. Ortiz and sophomore Gioya Carter each had three.

The Sooners will be back in action when they host the 3rd-ranked Baylor Bears Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. inside the Lloyd Noble Center.