2008-09 Game Summaries GAME 33 (25-8, 12-4 BIG EAST) MARCH 29, 2009 #4 OKLAHOMA 70 ■ #15 PITT 59 FORD CENTER OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA. (AP) — Whitney Hand couldn’t quite remember her teammate’s buzzer-beating 3pointer that started Oklahoma’s big run. And it took a few moments for her to remember the wild scoop shot that she contributed to that surge. Looking back, the game seemed to be as much of a blur for her as she made it for Pittsburgh. Hand set new career highs with 22 points and eight rebounds, and the top-seeded Sooners rolled to a 70-59 win over Pitt on Sunday night to reach the regional finals of the NCAA tournament for only the second time in school history. Oklahoma (31-4) put the game away with a 20-2 second-half surge that included Hand’s crazy shot that bounded its way into the basket. The Sooners were hardly bothered by foul trouble that kept Courtney Paris off the court much of the game, getting double-digit scoring from all five starters. Paris, the Sooners’ All-American center, made waves on her senior night earlier this month when she promised that Oklahoma would win its first national title or she’d pay back her scholarship money. So far, it has been Hand — who missed the last four games of the regular season with a broken left index finger — that’s been Oklahoma’s go-to girl in the NCAA tournament. And while she won’t take the credit, her coach is ready to give it to her. Shavonte Zellous scored 18 points on 7-for-20 shooting to lead Pitt, which lost in the round of 16 for the second straight year. Oklahoma, which made its only other regional final appearance in 2002 on its way to the national championship game, advances to face sixth-seeded Purdue (25-10) on Tuesday night. Hand hit three 3-pointers and scored 15 points in the second round against Georgia Tech to shake the rust off after three miserable games in which she went a combined 2-for-22 and got shut out twice. As it turned out, that was just a preview of what was to come. She hit four 3-pointers and scored 17 of the Sooners’ first 32 points as Oklahoma shrugged off Paris’ early foul trouble. After Paris went to the bench with her second foul, the Sooners outscored Pitt 15-7 over the next 3 1/2 minutes and stretched their lead to 39-25 on Nyeshia Stevenson’s 3-pointer with 3:03 left before halftime. Then, after Paris went to the bench with her fourth foul early in the second half, Hand came through with her circus shot in the lane. Hand gave an open-mouthed grin and got a few pats on her backside from her teammates before stepping to the line to complete her three-point play and make it 60-37 with 13:18 remaining. Oklahoma’s lead grew to 27 on Jasmine Hartman’s free throw shortly thereafter, and Pitt only made a dent in the lead by closing the game on a 12-0 run.
94
■
2009 -10 Pitt Women’s Basketball
Ashley Paris, Courtney’s twin sister, had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Oklahoma while her sister narrowly missed out on her 127th career double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Danielle Robinson and Stevenson, making her third straight start in place of the injured Amanda Thompson, scored 10 apiece. Thompson, who played only 3 minutes total in the first two rounds because of an injured left foot, logged another 3 minutes after the game was out of hand in the second half. Pitt went just 23-for-74 from the field — including a 1-for-12 stretch to start the second half. It got bad enough for the Panthers that even in the middle of their 10-2 run to get the lead below 20 points, freshman Kate Popovec fell into the lane before Zellous could attempt the front end of a one-and-one and Pitt lost possession. The Panthers already had to overcome a raucous home crowd for the Sooners, who were playing less than a half-hour from their campus. More than an hour before the game, the crowd was already showing its favoritism. When an image of Paris and two teammates walking down a hallway was flashed on the big screen in the second half of the PurdueRutgers game, fans applauded and yelled. The Sooners then got one standing ovation when they first stepped into the arena, huddling and jumping up and down near the unoccupied Pitt bench, and another as they ran back off the court after warmups.
Junior Shayla Scott’s versatility will allow her to create many mismatches on the court this coming season.
PITT (59) Player Sallard-F Wilson-C Zellous-G Scott-G Stewart-G Harrison Cole Ogoke Nwude Popovec Team Totals
Min. 20 30 35 22 37 19 15 9 6 7 200
FG- 3FGFGA FGA 2-7 0-0 3-11 0-0 7-20 2-5 2-10 0-2 4-11 1-2 1-5 0-3 2-2 0-0 1-3 0-1 1-4 0-0 0-1 0-0
FTFTA RB 0-0 2 0-0 8 2-2 9 0-0 4 1-4 3 3-4 4 1-2 2 1-1 4 2-2 3 0-0 3 3 23-74 3-13 10-15 45
PF 1 1 3 3 3 1 1 0 1 0
A TO BLK 1 0 1 0 2 1 2 4 0 2 1 2 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
S 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
PTS 4 6 18 4 10 5 5 3 4 0
14
8
6
8
59
PF 0 0 4 4 3 0 1 0 1 2 0
A TO BLK 0 2 0 3 1 0 1 3 2 5 2 0 3 4 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 1 0
S 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
PTS 10 12 10 10 22 0 3 0 0 3 0
5
70
9
OKLAHOMA (70) Player Stevenson-F Paris, A.-F Paris, C.-C Robinson-G Hand-G Olajuwon Roethlisberger Winchester Thompson Hartman Vining Team Totals
Min. 29 32 23 29 34 3 22 2 3 11 12 200
FG- 3FGFGA FGA 3-9 3-7 5-14 0-0 4-14 0-0 4-6 0-0 7-11 4-8 0-0 0-0 1-6 1-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-3 0-3
FTFTA RB 1-2 0 2-3 12 2-2 9 2-2 6 4-4 8 0-0 0 0-1 6 0-0 0 0-0 0 1-2 1 0-0 1 8 25-64 8-21 12-16 51
15
15
16
3
Halftime-OU 41-32; FG pct. - PITT 38.5, OU 45.9; 3-pt. FG pct. - PITT 20.0, OU 41.7; FT pct. - PITT 50.0, OU 100.0. A -10,343 ; Officials - Tine Napier, Mary Day, Bonita Spence
Sophronia Sallard will be looked upon to lead the Panthers back to the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive year. Sallard is the lone senior on the 2009-10 Panther squad.