No. 25 Oklahoma 57, Nebraska 43

<br>LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) _ Oklahoma Coach Sherri Coale thought her team could score on anyone when the season began. But she was thankful for the defensive prowess of the No. 25 Sooners after their 57-43

Monday, January 13th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) _ Oklahoma Coach Sherri Coale thought her team could score on anyone when the season began. But she was thankful for the defensive prowess of the No. 25 Sooners after their 57-43 win over Nebraska.

Oklahoma held Nebraska scoreless for more than seven minutes in the second half Saturday, forced 25 Nebraska turnovers in the game and held the Cornhuskers to just 24 percent shooting from the field.

``I've been really pleased with our defense and pleasantly surprised,'' Coale said. ``Our defense is ahead of schedule. I'm tickled with that.''

Oklahoma (10-4, 1-0 Big 12) led just 34-33 after Nebraska's Margaret Richards hit a jumper with 12:10 left to play.

Then the Sooner defense went to work, setting up a 14-0 run on the offensive end that gave Oklahoma a 48-33 lead on Villarroel's driving shot with 4:45 remaining.

The Sooners' second half surge was led by Chelsi Welch, who scored 10 of her 17 points in the period and, Coale said, took over the game.

Asked if that was her intention, Welch said, ``Definitely. I hope I showed that. I went out and executed. Anyone wants that.''

Nebraska (7-5, 0-1) cut the lead to 10 on Richards' three-pointer with three minutes left. But the Cornhuskers, who made just 6 of 32 second-half shots could get no closer.

``They did a nice job of taking us out of what we wanted to do,'' Nebraska coach Connie Yori said. ``Their changing defenses bothered us. Oklahoma's pressure really bothered us.''

Oklahoma went through a scoring drought of its own, putting up only a single point in the final seven minutes of the first half. But Nebraska only managed six points in that stretch to tie the game at 21 at the half.

``You're not going to beat many people scoring 21 points in the half,'' Coale said. ``It's a big win for us. Any win on the road in the Big 12 is huge.''

The teams combined for 29 turnovers in the first half of the physical, defense-oriented game. They finished with a combined 48 turnovers.

Oklahoma made just 36% of its shots, but the Sooners held Nebraska to just 24% from the field and only 18% in the second half.