No. 8 Oklahoma Beats Kansas St. 78-58

Wednesday, January 3rd 2007, 12:32 pm

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Twin sisters Courtney and Ashley Paris combined for 30 points and 36 rebounds to help No. 8 Oklahoma overcome a 3-point onslaught by Kansas State for a 78-58 win Wednesday night.

Four days after scoring a school-record 43 points on 20-for-26 shooting in an 80-58 win against No. 22 New Mexico, Courtney Paris struggled from the floor. She made only 9-of-21 shots, but still wound up with 18 points and 19 rebounds for her 40th straight double-double.

Ashley Paris had 12 points and 17 rebounds for her first double-double of the season, and Chelsi Welch added 12 points as the Sooners (11-1, 1-0 Big 12) won their 20th conference game in a row.

Marlies Gipson scored 14 and Ashley Sweat added 11 to lead Kansas State, which made 12 3-pointers on a season-high 24 attempts. The Wildcats (12-2, 0-1) had a nine-game winning streak snapped.

Courtney Paris, Oklahoma's All-America center, converted only six of her first 18 shots before making three in a row. She left the game with 4:41 left after picking up her fourth foul with Oklahoma up by 16.

Kansas State had trimmed Oklahoma's 16-point halftime lead to 46-36 on the second 3-pointer by Kimberly Dietz in an 8-2 Wildcats run early in the second half. But Oklahoma answered with five straight points, and then pushed the lead to 65-45 with a 12-3 run that included eight points from the Paris twins.

The two combined to outrebound Kansas State 36-35, and Oklahoma had a 22-rebound edge overall.

Kansas State sustained an early 10-0 Sooners run by hitting five of their first 11 shots from 3-point range. But after Sweat connected on back-to-back 3-pointers, Courtney Paris converted on an offensive rebound to start a 12-0 burst for Oklahoma.

By the time Welch sank a 3-pointer to finish the run, the Sooners were up 33-18 and the game was never in doubt after that.