Oklahoma basketball: Sooners run to Big 12 Championship falls short
By Chip Rouse
Three Iowa State players combined for 61 points as the No. 4 Cyclones ended the Big 12 Championship run by the No. 2 seed Oklahoma basketball women 82-72 on Saturday.
The Sooners (25-6) will now wait until Sunday night to find out where they are going, what their seed is and who they will play in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship beginning next weekend.
Oklahoma led practically the entire first quarter but took just a 19-18 advantage into the second frame. That’s when Iowa State made its move and took control of the game. The Cyclones took the lead, 23-22, a minute into the second quarter and never looked back.
Iowa State began the third quarter with a three-point advantage, 42-39 and midway through the quarter had increased the lead to 61-45. The Sooners got no closer than six points over the remaining 15 minutes.
Senior Madi Williams returned to action after missing the Sooners’ quarterfinal win with an injury and led Oklahoma with 19 points. Senior teammate Taylor Robertson added 13 and junior Skyar Vann contributed 13, but that was not enough to overcome an Iowa State offensive attack that featured 22 points and eight rebounds by Big 12 scoring leader Ashley Joens, 20 from Lexi Donarski and 19 off the by Nyamer Diew.
The Sooners have had trouble getting defensive stops all season, allowing a Big 12-worst 75.4 points per game. The Cyclones shot 45 percent from the field and 41 percent from long range (11 of 27), including four of six by Diew.
Ana Llanusa, who averages 12 points a game for the Sooners, suffered a leg injury during warmups prior to the game and had to be helped off the court. She did play in the game but was limited because of the injury and scored just four points.
Iowa State advances to the Big 12 Tournament championship game against No. 1 seed Texas on Sunday.