FanPost

#18 Sooners roll over Bluejays 80-52

Brendan Maloney-US PRESSWIRE


Sharane Campbell had been struggling throughout the season, shooting just 38.5 percent on the season heading into today's game versus Creighton.

Oh boy did she break out today.

Campbell had a career high 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting. She also grabbed five rebounds and committed no turnovers. Her previous career high was 23 points as a freshman in an overtime win at Kansas.

"I think we passed the defensive test today and that was really the objective, Coale said. "Obviously, rebounding was a huge point of emphasis as well. We did some good things and go some people coming back in the groove, maybe in terms of being on the floor longer and keeping some lineups together for a bit without all the crazy foul stuff called."

Campbell's efficient shooting combined with a tenacious defense helped the #18 ranked Oklahoma Sooners (5-2) beat the Creighton Bluejays in front of the Sooner faithful. Oklahoma jumped out to a 10-0 lead within the first three minutes of the game before Creighton finally scored.

Now it was a game for a few minutes, Creighton (4-3) outscored the Sooners 8-4 over the next five minutes to cut the Sooners lead to 14-8 with 12:43 remaining in the half. After that, Oklahoma's defense stood tall and the offense found their rhythm. The Sooners went on a 15-0 run, while holding the Bluejays to 0-of-6 shooting and forced four turnovers during the run.

With the starters heading to the bench for a rest, Creighton made their move, they were able to cut the lead down to as little as 14 in the first half before the Sooners inserted their starters once more and watched the swell back to normal numbers.

Aaryn Ellenberg contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds, it was her second double-double this season and the third in her career.

While Nicole Griffin was a beast in the paint, scoring 17 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Griffin was a huge contributor to why Oklahoma was able to dominate the paint and outscore the Bluejays 44-8 in the paint. Griffin's 17 points were just two shy of her career high of 19 points.

In the second half, the defense was Final Four caliber for the Sooners. They shut down the vaunted Creighton three-point attack by taking out their best shooter. Creighton guard, Fujan Mckenzie, who was shooting 39.8 percent from behind the arc coming into the game was held to just 1-of-6 from deep. While doing this, Creighton really struggled to scoring the second half. Oklahoma limited the Bluejays to just six field goals in the second half. four of those were scored in the final four minutes, once the Sooners had put their reserves in.

Creighton shot just 11-of-41 from three-point range and was limited to 15-of-71 overall for an amazing 21.1 percent. Creighton's 41 three-point attempts were an Oklahoma opponent record and were just four shy of breaking the single game Creighton record.

Oklahoma's largest lead reached 31 points late in the second half when bench reserve Gioya Carter hit a free throw, giving the Sooners a 78-47 lead with 1:55 remaining.

With the victory, the Sooners now turn their attention to the Western Illinois Leathernecks. They're coming off a surprising come from behind win in overtime over St. Louis 87-85. Then they'll take on #2 ranked Duke on Sunday, Dec. 8.

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