Sooners Battle Back to Advance to Big 12 Final

Oklahoma State built an early lead, but poor shots and Oklahoma propelled them to win.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:34 am

By: News On 6

Sooners Battle Back to Advance to Big 12 Final

Originally Published: Mar 13, 2010 3:41 PM CDT

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

KANSAS CITY, Missouri -- After building an early 16-4 lead, the Oklahoma State Cowgirls went into the locker room at halftime leading Oklahoma 40-36. The Sooners took over in the second half, however, and advanced to the Big 12 Tournament Championship with a 74-69 victory.

OSU started the game on a 16-4 run, including 10 straight. Andrea Riley contributed 10 of the 16 points.

The Sooners battled back, however, and closed the half on a 13-4 run to cut the lead to four points. OU held the Cowgirls without a field goal for nearly five minutes to close the half.

Riley led all scorers with 21 points in the half, while Oklahoma’s Amanda Thompson scored 15 and grabbed seven rebounds.

The Sooners came out of the locker room firing, starting the second half on an 8-3 run to take their first lead of the game 2:10 into the half.

The teams traded baskets for a few minutes, but the well dried up for Oklahoma State with 8:24 left. The Cowgirls didn’t score a basket for nearly six minutes, allowing Oklahoma to go on an 8-0 run to take a 66-62 lead.

The Cowgirls tried to come back late, but OU was able to hit six straight free throws in the final 38 seconds to seal the victory.

A second-half letdown by Riley spelled doom for OSU. She shot 3-of-17 after the break, but led all scorers with 32 points. Tegan Cunningham contributed 21 points and eight rebounds in the losing effort.

Danielle Robinson led the Sooners with 19 points, while Thompson scored 17 and grabbed 18 rebounds.

Oklahoma takes on Texas A&M, who is coming off of an upset over Nebraska, for the Big 12 title Sunday at 12:30 p.m. in Kansas City.