Ana Llanusa/Women's Basketball | University of Oklahoma
Ana Llanusa/Women's Basketball | University of Oklahoma
A 3-point barrage and overwhelming second-half performance pushed No. 20 Oklahoma past West Virginia, 98-77, in Morgantown in the team's Big 12 Conference opener Saturday afternoon.
Ana Llanusa, playing her first conference game in over 1,000 days, scored a season-high 28 points on 11-of-13 shooting. The Sooners (11-1, 1-0 Big 12) buried 14 3-pointers to score 98 points vs. a Mountaineer defense that entered the day with the nation's fourth-best scoring defense. The Sooners have now won eight straight games this season, and Saturday's win marked the team's sixth straight victory in Morgantown.
Oklahoma jumped out to a big first-quarter lead after sinking seven of its first eight shots, including its first four treys. The Sooners opened up an 11-point advantage after the first period. But West Virginia (9-3, 0-1 Big 12) wouldn't go away easily, outscoring the Sooners 28-14 in the second frame to take a 47-44 lead into the break. After a pair of lead changes, OU closed the third quarter with an 8-0 run to reclaim a 69-62 lead. The Sooners turned on the jets in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Mountaineers 29-15 in the frame to punctuate the 98-77 win.
The Sooners' 98 points set a program record for a conference road game, narrowly breaking last year's 97-point output at Texas Tech. Oklahoma's field goal percentage of 56.7% (38-67) was the most efficient performance in conference play since it shot 58.3% at TCU in 2015. The 14 3-pointers made by Oklahoma tied a season-high.
Llanusa's 28 points led the Sooners and matched WVU's J.J. Quinerly for a game-high in points. Madi Williams added 24 points, 18 of which came in the second half. Taylor Robertson buried six 3-pointers for the second game in a row, extending her NCAA record of five-plus 3-point games to 41 as the sharpshooter now sits 15 treys away from tying the all-time NCAA 3-point record of 497.
The Sooners return to Norman for their Big 12 home opener Tuesday, Jan. 3, when No. 23 Baylor comes to Lloyd Noble Center. Tip is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+
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