Women advance to WNIT final

[Ruuuuuufus]

#22 OU beats New Mexico in the Pit, which is not an easy thing to do. Final score 74-63.

Courtney with 26 points, 11-15 from the floor, 18 rebounds breaking the WNIT tournament record in rebounds with a game to go, in only 30 minutes
Leah with 14 points in 21 minutes, 2 rebounds, 3 assists
Erin Higgins 12 points all in the first half on 4 three-pointers
Britney Brown 7 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, played 32 minutes
Chelsi Welch 6 points
Ashley Paris 5 points, 7 rebounds

OU 44 to UNM's 22 points in paint

[Ruuuuuufus]

We started off well going out to a 16-3 lead. The Lobos came back tough and got it to 35-34 at the end of the half. We came back strong w/ an 11-3 run in the 2nd half. Our widest lead was 17 points in the 2nd half.

[nmsoonergirl]

Was a nice game, had a great time and there were quite a few Sooners there. I was the loudest, though!

[OklahomaTrombone]

Good....God....

[AllAboutThe'O']

I would love to get another shot at UConn. Would be a good measuring stick to see if we're the real deal this year.

[jdsooner]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Freshman Courtney Paris scored 26 points and had 18 rebounds for her third straight double-double of the season and No. 25 Oklahoma pulled away in the second half for a 74-63 win over New Mexico in the semifinals of the Preseason WNIT on Wednesday night.

The Sooners (3-0) will play the winner of Thursday's semifinal between No. 9 Connecticut and Boston College for the preseason tournament title.

Paris, who came into the game averaging 21.5 points and 15 rebounds, hit 11 of 15 shots, most of them lay-ups and repeatedly grabbed rebounds off New Mexico missed shots.

New Mexico (2-1) got 23 points from Dionne Marsh, who missed her first five shots before leading a late first-half rally that got the Lobos within 35-34 at the break.

However, New Mexico, which had its 16-game home-court winning streak snapped, never led.

Oklahoma, with Leah Rush scoring six points went on an 11-3 run to start the second half and the Lobos got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Paris scored six points and her twin sister Ashley added a free throw to put the Sooners up 56-42 with just over 13 minutes left.

Rush scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half and Erin Higgins finished with 12 points on 4 3-pointers.

Oklahoma scored the game's first 10 points. Paris hit a layup 11 seconds into the game, Higgins followed with back-to-back 3s and Rush got her only points of the first half with a layup.

New Mexico, with Marsh scoring on a variety of shots in the lane and Katie Montgomery and Abbie Letz hitting 3s, steadily chipped away at Oklahoma's lead.

A turnaround 12-foot jumper and two free throws by Marsh got New Mexico within 33-30. Oklahoma's Krista Sanchez hit a layup before Marsh finished the half with a pair of baskets in the lane.

Montgomery scored 11 points and Letz 9. The two combined to hit six of New Mexico's seven 3s in the game.

[Jimminy Crimson]

I think this might be a pretty decent team

[OklahomaTrombone]

RAWR!!!!

[ouradu]

Looks like UConn is goign to hold off BC. I'm surprisingly excited about this Uconn OU matchup. Kinda exciting in the early season. If we win this, watch out.

[soonerbuc]

I'm oddly interested in women's basketball right now

[OUGreg723]

Women's Basketball is Awesome!! I went to the first game and had an awesome time! Sherri has done so many great things for OU. Booooomer!

[AllAboutThe'O']

BRING ON UCONN!!!

LITTLE GENO, COME OUT AND GET YOUR WHIPPIN'!!!!

[ouflak]

The last time these two teams played, it was the most watched basketball game on ESPN up until that point (NCAA Championship Final). I wonder if this one will be a similar draw. It ought to be a good one!

[OKC-SLC]

I assume this game is Saturday?

[OklahomaTrombone]

Sunday

[Mjcpr]

I don't follow women's basketball closely but I am aware that C. Paris was a huge signing by OU. And I've been watching her stat lines so far this year and she obviously is already and will be a great player.

My question is...do we have other highly touted players on the team? I know we have recently but not sure about this year.