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Oklahoma basketball: Breakaways from a milestone win by Lady Sooners

By Chip Rouse

SAN ANTONIO - APRIL 04: Head coach Sherri Coale of the Oklahoma Sooners during the Women's Final Four Semifinals at the Alamodome on April 4, 2010 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO - APRIL 04: Head coach Sherri Coale of the Oklahoma Sooners during the Women's Final Four Semifinals at the Alamodome on April 4, 2010 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images) /
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The women’s Oklahoma basketball season has had a very average feel to it, but there was nothing average about what the Lady Sooners accomplished over this past weekend.

Oklahoma found itself on the wrong side of a 49-27 halftime score at Kansas on Sunday. Deficits of 18 or more points is not something unfamiliar to the Sooners. Four of their five losses have been margins of that size, but this was a halftime score and on the road.

Despite their losing record against Big 12 opponents, the Lady Sooners have a worse record at home this season (1-3) than away from Lloyd Noble Center (3-2). OU entered the Kansas game with a middling 10-10 record overall and 3-5 in Big 12 play.

While being so far down so early in the game, and against a team that had won just one of eight games in conference play was definitely unfamiliar territory for the OU women, they knew there was another half to play.

Behind career performances by four OU starters, the Lady Sooners erased 16 of the 22-point deficit with a 29-point third quarter and added 19 more in the fourth to send the game to overtime deadlocked at 75-all. The Lady Jayhawks were held to just 26 total second-half points after putting up almost twice that in the first half.

The Sooners’ continued the hot hand in the overtime session, outscoring KU 19-7 to turn a 22-point halftime deficit into a 12-point, 94-82 victory.

The win was made even more special because it represented the 500th in the 24-year OU coaching career of Sherri Coale.

"“It was a tale of two halves,” Coale told reporters in her postgame interview session. “For us, we have to understand which is the real us. I know who it is; it’s the second-half team.”"

Oklahoma’s leading scorer on the season, sophomore Taylor Robertson, a native of McPherson, Kansas, tied her career high with 31 points, 25 of which came in the second half on the strength of five three-pointers. Fellow sophomore Madi Williams also achieved a career high with 26 points, and freshman Gabby Gregory contributed 18.

Sooner junior Mandy Simpson had a double-double with 10 rebounds and 12 assists.

The Lady Sooners are back in action on Wednesday night, playing host to West Virginia and looking for the season sweep over the Lady Mountaineers.

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