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The Oklahoma Sooners (15-11, 6-7 Big 12) opportunity of sweeping #12 Oklahoma State Cowgirls (20-4, 9-4 Big 12) fell really short on Sunday afternoon at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Oklahoma State jumped out early on the Sooners at 23-13 and never looked back, even with Oklahoma cutting the deficit to just a single point in the first half.
Nicole Kornet led Oklahoma in scoring with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor and 4-of-8 from three-point range. However, she was the only Sooner who scored in double figures.
"I went with the mind set of a clean slate and just played my game, " Kornet said on her improved three-point shooting. "I made some shots but so much needs to be done."
The lack of free throws in the first half, ultimately put the Sooners in a big hole to start the game with the Cowgirls getting eight attempts, draining six. Oklahoma St. took a seven point lead into halftime, despite The Sooners shooting better all around.
OSU opened the second half on a 14-4 run that put the Sooners on their heels at 48-31 with 16:00 to go in the game.
"I never felt as inept to push their buttons," head coach Sherri Coale said. "I cannot seem to get them continually ready. It's a challenge."
Oklahoma's bench though, was very productive, scoring 30 points as no starters were able to reach double figures.
"The subs that came in did a fantastic job, put us back in it," Coale said. "Why does that happen, why are we in that situation."
A lot of the lack of scoring was contributed to senior Aaryn Ellenberg missing, even though she was on the floor. She didn't score her first points of the game until 15:37 mark in the second half after going 0-of-2 in the first.
The Sooners cut the lead to 62-50 with 7:51 left when Ellenberg hit a lay up. She had eight points in the second half. However, the 12 point deficit was the closest Oklahoma would get in the second half.
Ellenberg would leave the game with eight points on 3-of-10 shooting after getting leveled on a big screen at half court. Oklahoma's assistant coach carried her to the locker room.
Oklahoma's final score of 57 points is a season low for the Sooners. Their previous low was 61 points in a win over Kansas State back on January 11.
Kornet was key in the Sooners making a come back from their first double digit deficit. She hit the three that cut the Cowgirls lead to 23-22 with 4:29 left in the first half.
As mentioned earlier, free throws were a determining factor just not int he first half. After attempting zero free throws in the second half, Oklahoma would get to the line 15 times in the second half. However, that would be erased as the Sooners let the Cowgirls get to the line 24 times in the game, 16 of those coming in the second half. The Cowgirls shot 21-of-24 for the game. That's 11 extra points. While it wouldn't change the ending, it could have made a difference in how the game may have been dictated.
Morgan Hook was 1-of-6, as was Nicole Griffin. Hook finished with four and Griffin with three points. T'ona Edwards was the only Sooner who checked in the game and didn't score for the Sooners.
Give Cowboys Ride For Free a look for their recap of today's game.
For the Sooners, this officially might make them an NCAA Tournament bubble team. They're just 6-7 in their last 13 games (All Big 12 games), but they have struggled against NCAA quality teams on the road. Winning their final five games will prove to be imperative for the Sooners. The schedule does get a lot easier. The Texas game will be tough, and you can almost mark down Baylor as a loss. Yet, there are very winnable games against Kansas , TCU, and Texas Tech heading into the Big 12 Tournament.
While the up and down season continues for the Sooners. They'll have to let this one get out of their mind quickly as they host Texas (17-8, 8-5 Big 12) in Norman on Wednesday night, tip is expected around 6:30 p.m.