OU Women Take Fifth Straight With Win Against TCU

News9.com

NORMAN, Oklahoma – Talk about heading into conference play with some momentum.

Oklahoma won its fifth straight game on Wednesday night with an 82-54 blowout of TCU at home.

And for the fifth straight time, the Sooners led the game from wire to wire.

OU jumped out to a 15-2 lead but allowed the Horned Frogs to crawl back into the game, cutting the lead to five at one point (21-16).

After the TCU comeback, Morgan Hook hit a 3-pointer right as the shot clock expired, but TCU coach Jeff Mittie did not agree.

Mittie protested that the ball didn't leave Hook's hands until after the buzzer sounded, and his reactions got him two technicals and an ejection from the game.

Whitney Hand sank all four free throws, making it a seven-point possession for the Sooners. It was part of a 20-4 run that essentially took the Horned Frogs out of the game.

OU coach Sherri Coale said her players were so fired up over the 3 that they didn't realize what had happened for some time.

"They didn't even really know (about the technical fouls)," Coale said. "I was trying to tell them and calm them down. I was trying to tell Whitney that she needed to go shoot free throws.

"I think that play is what ignited us much more than the technical fouls did."

Aaryn Ellenberg had 24 points to lead the Sooners, and Sharane Campbell added 17 off the bench. Hand and Hook added 12 each.

After losing three straight earlier this year, OU will now ride a five-game winning streak into Big 12 play.

Coale said she couldn't ask for a much better situation at the moment.

"I have been so pleased with their progress and their approach," she said. "Their approach to practice, their approach to learning, their approach to consequences, really everything they have bought in. Once a team buys in, they are pretty easy to coach and they have been."

OU will host Iowa State on Wednesday, Jan. 4. Tip for that game is set for 7 p.m.