Hook Duel in the Desert MVP
Morgan Hook was the Big 12 Player of the Week for games played Dec. 19-26 after averaging 16.0 points, 4.5 assists and hitting 67 percent of her field goals to lead Oklahoma to back-to-back victories and a sweep of the field at the Duel in the Desert tournament at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion. She was named the tournament MVP after scoring 15.3 points per game and carrying a .727 field goal shooting percentage for the tournament.
Out of their league
Oklahoma finished tied for second in the Big 12 standings. The Sooners were ranked fourth in the Preseason Big 12 Coaches’ Poll. OU has finished at or above its Big 12 preseason rank in each of the past seven seasons and 12 of 16 total. (There was no preseason poll in the league’s first year, 1996-97).
500 Victories Coale Reaches Milestone as a Head Coach Sherri Coale recorded her 500th head coaching win, at any level, against Kansas State on Feb. 15. She guided Norman High School to two state championships and a 147-40 record in seven years before becoming the OU’s head coach where she has 357 victories in 16 seasons for 504 total.
CRASHING the block Party Griffin Among Sooners’ Best Swatters Sophomore Nicole Griffin moved into OU’s top 10 in both single-season and career blocks. The 6-6 center had 56 blocks last year (after just 26 her freshman season), which was the seventh best year in program history. LaNae Jones (1992-96) and Courtney Paris (2005-09) combine to own the other eight top seasons. Griffin’s 82 career blocks also ranks eighth in OU’s annals, matching Ashley Paris. Griffin’s nine blocks versus Texas (Jan. 21) were the most by a Sooner since Courtney Paris had 10 against Texas Tech on March 1, 2006.
Lady Luck found her Groove “Vegas” Busts Shooting Slump Aaryn Ellenberg busted a seven-game shooting slump with an 11-point second half to rally OU past Kansas State on Feb. 15. Ellenberg was 16-of-75 (.213) and 4-for-30 (.133) from beyond the arc during the span, and then missed her first four shots against Kansas State before turning it around in the second half by making four of her last five, including two straight 3-pointers, to help the Sooners erase a nine-point deficit. Part of her resurgence began with defense. In seven games prior to her slump, the sophomore averaged 3.1 steals. During her shooting woes, she totaled five. Three second-half steals against Kansas State helped turn things around.
Big 12 Road Mark Set
Oklahoma’s 8-point margin of victory over No. 23 Kansas State (65-57) was its largest as an unranked team on the road versus a ranked Big 12 Conference opponent.
SWING SET Oklahoma Turns the Tables on Iowa State Iowa State led OU by 7 with 11:36 remaining in the first half and the Sooners won by the game’s largest lead of 29. The 36-point swing was the largest by OU against an opponent that held at least a 7-point lead since the Sooners set the NCAA record for a comeback. The then-No. 5 Sooners trailed No. 9 California by 26 at a December 2008 tournament in San Jose, Calif., and won 86-75 -- a 37-point swing.
Poll Streak ENDS Sooners Fall Out of AP, Coaches’ Polls Following a loss to Fresno State, the Sooners dropped from the polls for the first time since the 2004-05 season. OU had been listed in a program record 118 consecutive AP polls (including preseason) over the last six-plus seasons, a streak among Big 12 teams topped only by Baylor. That streak began with a No. 25 ranking in the Preseason AP Poll in 2005-06, the freshman year of Ashley and Courtney Paris.
3-POINT THREATS Ellenberg, Hand Rising Up Charts Redshirt-junior Whitney Hand and sophomore Aaryn Ellenberg are closing on Oklahoma’s top 10 career 3-point records. Ellenberg is No. 3 all-time with 169 career 3-pointers, trailing No. 2 Etta Maytubby by five. Hand has 148 career 3-pointers and sits fifth, four behind Carin Stites (1991-92).
92 // University of Oklahoma Women’s Basketball
No. 3’s Threes
Sophomore Aaryn Ellenberg is rewriting Oklahoma’s record book at a blistering pace when it comes to volume and accuracy shooting from beyond the arc. Ellenberg set her first OU record by becoming the program’s first player to begin a career making at least two 3-pointers in nine consecutive games. She added to that feat by setting Oklahoma’s single-season 3-point record with 94 makes as a freshman with a .397 percentage, the second best ever for Sooners with more than 200 attempts. Ellenberg has only seven career games in which she did not make a 3, allowing her to set an OU record by making a trey in 29 consecutive games. Aaryn Ellenberg’s 3-Point Plan
Date Opponent W/L 3FG-A PCT 11/3/10 at Milwaukee W 3-8 .375 11/19/10 Western Illinois W 3-6 .500 11/22/10 Fresno State W 3-3 1.000 11/26/10 Texas-Pan American W 4-6 .667 11/27/10 Gardner- Webb W 3-9 .333 11/28/10 Prairie View W 2-3 .667 12/1/10 Sam Houston State W 2-9 .222 12/5/10 at Ohio State L 5-9 .556 12/8/10 Stephen F. Austin W 2-7 .286 12/12/10 New Mexico W 1-3 .333 12/19/10 at Arkansas L 2-5 .400 12/29/10 Arkansas Pine-Bluff W 6-9 .667 1/2/11 at TCU L 1-2 .500 1/8/11 at Nebraska W 2-5 .400 1/12/11 Kansas State W 0-2 .000 1/16/11 at Texas W 2-9 .222 1/19/11 Texas Tech W 4-9 .444 1/23/11 at Kansas W 6-10 .600 1/26/11 Texas A&M L 2-7 .286 1/29/11 at Oklahoma State W 4-9 .444 2/2/11 at Baylor L 7-17 .412 2/5/11 Iowa State W 2-7 .286 2/9/11 at Texas A&M L 3-8 .375 2/12/11 Missouri W 1-2 .500 2/14/11 at Connecticut L 1-8 .125 2/19/11 Texas W 3-5 .600 2/23/11 at Colorado L 1-2 .500 2/27/11 Baylor L 1-4 .250 3/2/11 Oklahoma State W 5-10 .500 3/5/11 at Texas Tech L 4-11 .364 3/9/11 vs. Texas Tech W 1-7 .143 3/11/11 vs. Texas A&M L 1-4 .250 3/20/11 vs. James Madison W 2-6 .333 3/22/11 vs. Miami W 4-12 .333 3/26/11 vs. Notre Dame L 1-4 .250 2010-11 SEASON 94-237 .397 11/13/11 Sacramento State W 5-8 .625 11/19/11 at New Mexico W 1-6 .167 11/25/11 vs. Liberty W 4-8 .500 11/26/11 at Vanderbilt L 4-9 .444 12/4/11 Ohio State L 2-6 .333 12/8/11 at Fresno State L 8-16 .500 12/11/11 Milwaukee W 2-9 .333 12/18/11 vs. Ohio W 1-8 .125 12/19/11 vs. Syracuse W 3-4 .750 12/20/11 vs. Xavier W 0-1 .000 12/28/11 TCU W 4-7 .571 1/4/12 Iowa State W 4-7 .571 1/8/12 at Texas A&M L 2-4 .500 1/11/12 Texas Tech W 2-4 .500 1/14/12 at Oklahoma State L 1-3 .333 1/17/12 at Kansas State W 5-8 .625 1/21/12 Texas W 3-3 1.000 1/26/12 Baylor L 0-6 .000 1/28/12 at Missouri W 0-5 .000 1/31/12 at Kansas W 0-2 .000 2/4/12 Oklahoma State W 2-6 .333 2/6/12 at Baylor L 1-5 .200 2/11/12 Missouri W 0-2 .000 2/13/12 Connecticut L 1-4 .250 2/15/12 Kansas State W 2-6 .333 2/18/12 at Iowa State L 3-9 .333 2/21/12 Texas A&M W 2-5 .400 2/25/12 at Texas L 3-5 .600 2/29/12 at Texas Tech W 2-8 .250 3/4/12 Kansas L 1-6 .167 3/8/12 vs. Missouri W 1-5 .200 3/9/12 vs. Texas A&M L 1-4 .250 3/18/12 Michigan W 5-11 .455 3/20/12 St. John’s L 0-4 .000 2011-12 SEASON 75-204 .368 CAREER 169-441 .383