OU Women Outlast Texas in Overtime

The Sooners squandered an 11-point second half lead, but still remained undefeated in Big 12 play.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:09 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Jan 16, 2011 3:46 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 15 Oklahoma women’s basketball team needed an extra period, but remained undefeated in conference play a 71-67 victory over rival Texas Sunday.

OU (13-3, 3-0) trailed for the majority of the first half and went into halftime down 28-25. The Sooners went on a 19-4 run early in the second half to take their biggest lead of the game and seemed on the verge of running away with the game. But Texas (11-6, 0-3) would not go away.

The Longhorns went on an 18-6 run of their own to eliminate their double-digit deficit and retake the lead. The teams went back and forth through the final two minutes of regulation, and UT’s Chassidy Fussell tied the game with a layup with 27 seconds left. OU's Whitney Hand missed a jumper before the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

The Sooners opened overtime with the first six points to immediately take the upper hand. They carried that lead through the rest of the period, and survived two potential game-tying 3-point attempts by Ashleigh Fontenette on UT’s final possession to seal the outcome.

The Sooners managed to win despite bad shooting for much of the night. They finished shooting just 14 percent from 3-point range and 31 percent overall. The OU bench combined to shoot 2-of-11 on the day.

Danielle Robinson took 30 shots by herself and made 11 of them on her way to scoring a game-high 30 points. Aaryn Ellenberg scored 16, and Carlee Roethlisberger added 10.

Fontenette and Kathleen Nash each recorded double-doubles; Nash led the Longhorns with 20 points and 14 rebounds, and Fontenette finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

The Sooners are one of four Big 12 teams still undefeated in conference play, joining Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor. OU will face Tech in its next game at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Norman.