WBB | Tough defense leads Sooners to 63-52 victory

It wasn't pretty, but the Sooners got the victory. TCU gave a little scare, but there was a win tonight.

Oklahoma (13-7, 4-3 Big 12) fought off a really stingy Horned Frogs (12-7, 3-4 Big 12) in what is considered a typical Big 12 basketball game. The game was a contest of floor diving and tough, hard fouls with some clutch shooting that helped put the game away.

The Sooners jumped on the Horned Frogs early, grabbing their first double digit lead when Kaylon Williams hit the lay up to give the Sooners the 17-6 lead. they would push it to as much as 21-9 before the Horned Frogs would finally start to make a charge in the game.

Senior, Aaryn Ellenberg continued her scoring streak, she finished with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting. She hit three 3-pointers that moved her closer to the NCAA record 391 three-pointers. She is 48 away from the record.

After the Sooners grabbed the 21-9 lead, The already tough Horned Frog defense held the Sooners to just eight points over the final 6:58 of the half.

While the Sooners played decently in the first half, shooting 52.6 percent on 10-of-19 shooting. It was the turnovers that hurt Oklahoma. They committed 12 turnovers, which limited to their offensive opportunities. Most of those turnovers came when Morgan Hook had to sit with two fouls. She only played seven minutes in the first half.

"I think we controlled the game better." Hook on taking care of the ball in the second half. "We pushed it when we wanted to push it. I don't feel anything was forced."

After shooting just 2-of-6 from three-point range, the Sooners were very impressive in the second half from beyond the arc. They were 6-of-12 in the second half. It was part of how Oklahoma was able to build their lead to as much as 20 points in the second half.

TCU didn't give up. Give those Horned Frogs credit. They fought hard. It was very sloppy, but hard. They were able to cut the Sooners lead to as low as nine late in the second half when Donielle Breaux drained a three-pointer. They held the Sooners to no field goals in the final 5:45 of the game. They forced bad shots by the Sooners, but Oklahoma was able to hit their free throws which put the game away.

Oklahoma's ability to change up their defense. They changed it from zone to man-to-man and then back to zone. Really pushing up the contested shots.

"I credit Aaryn [Ellenberg] she just had that look in her eye from the get go," head coach Sherri Coale said. "She limited their touches and they got deep into the shot clock several times and forced somethings. Our attention to detail was really significant."

Ellenberg responded by hitting a some free throws and a jumper to close out the victory.

For the Sooners, they'll now travel to Manhattan, Kan. to take on the Kansas St. Wildcats in their second match up of the season. Oklahoma won their previous game 61-50 back on January 11th.

It's the first time Oklahoma has won back-to-back game since Oklahoma beat Samford and Texas Tech around New Year's Day.