Oklahoma basketball: Sooner women down TCU, advance to Big 12 Championship semifinals
By Chip Rouse
Playing their first game in the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City, the top-seeded Oklahoma basketball women jumped out to a 10-point advantage at the end of one quarter and never trailed after that, posting a 69-53 win over No. 9 TCU in the quarterfinal round.
True freshman Sahara Williams led the Sooners with 17 points and eight rebounds but didn't score her first points of the game until the under four-minute mark of the second quarter. OU scored the final 10 points of the first quarter and took a 16-6 lead. The Sooners stretched the lead to 16 points in the first two minutes of the second quarter on consecutive three-pointers by Lexy Keys.
With OU up by 13 at 40-27 early in the third quarter, TCU reeled off 10 straight points to draw within three before the Sooners went on a 7-0 run to close the quarter with a 52-42 advantage. The Sooners stretched the lead to 12 two minutes into the final quarter, and the Lady Horned Frogs were not able to get closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
Madison Conner and Sedona Prince led TCU with 19 and 14 points, respectively. Neither player was available to play in the earlier game in Norman this season between Oklahoma and TCU, won by the Sooners 72-55.
Williams and Keys were the only Oklahoma players scoring in double figures, Keys finished with 11 points. The Sooners shot 42 percent for the game, while holding TCU to just 29 percent from the field.
TCU earned its way into the quarterfinals with a 69-68 win over No. 8 Oklahoma State.
Oklahoma (22-8, 15-3) will play No. 4 Iowa State in the semifinal round on Monday. It will be the third time in as many years the OU women have made it to the semifinal round of the Big 12 Championship. The Sooners and Iowa State played once this season with Oklahoma winning 85-72 in Ames.