Sooners Drop Central Oklahoma To Open Season

News9.com

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- After a tight few minutes to open the game, the Oklahoma women broke it open in the closing minutes of the first half and cruised to an 86-52 win over the Central Oklahoma Bronchos Thursday to open their exhibition season.

The teams battled early on, with the lead changing hands six times, it looked to be a tight matchup for the Sooners after three minutes. Thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from Aaryn Ellenberg, coupled with an assist to Whitney Hand, Oklahoma pushed the lead to seven points in just 45 seconds.

UCO fought back, with a pair of buckets from behind the arc from Heather Davis, with a single OU free throw tucked in the middle, cut the deficit to three points with less than 10 minutes left on the clock.

However, the Sooners cracked off 11 unanswered points over the next four minutes, part of a larger 29-8 run to close the half with a 50-26 lead.

A 10-6 run in the opening four minutes of the second half pushed the lead to 30 points, and the Sooners cruised to the easy win.

Ellenberg led all scorers with 24 points, 12 from 3-point range, and six assists, with Whitney Hand adding 13 points, six boards and four assists in the win. DaShawn Harden and Sharane Campbell both contributed 12 points in their time off of the bench.

Brittney Morgan was the only Broncho to score in double-digits, notching 12 points and five rebounds in the loss. Savannah Hamilton was the closest UCO player to come close to double-digits with nine points in 18 minutes on the court.

Oklahoma has one more exhibition game, at 7 p.m. Nov. 10 against Grand Canyon, before opening the regular season three days later against Sacramento State.