It was one of my favorite years. We had no real post, although Beky was a sophomore. We started two seniors, Caton Hill and Maria Villarriel, a junior, Dionnah Jackson, and a couple of freshmen in Leah Rush and Erin Higgins, although Laura Andrews and Lauren Shoush, both sophomores, might have claimed the other spots. Chelsi Welch was sitting out the year in rehab. Although Beky Preston was on the bench, we had little height. Caton was 6-1, and Maria led in scoring and rebounding at 5-9. Caton, Dionnah (5-8), and Maria did everything.
Since we played #19 Utah (winning 73-65) and #2 Tennessee (losing 55-71) before entering conference play, we had a rough schedule. We finished fifth because the conference included #3 Texas, #7 Texas Tech, #12 Kansas State, #13 Colorado, and #19 Baylor. A 9-7 record with no height seemed pretty good. We were 19-8 at the start of the Big Twelve tournament. That began one of the best runs of coaching in OU history.
We watched the guard-oriented coach turn her guards loose on the Big Twelve. Everyone had talent. Everyone had size. OU had guards. We won the first round game against A&M rather easily, 60-47. Then, the fun began.
#13 Colorado had been a power under Ceal Berry for a while. But, we won 63-56 in a game that wasn't particularly startling. We had beaten them in Norman, 78-58.
#8 Kansas State was a different matter. They had beaten us 74-65 in Manhattan, and they had some interior strength. This is a game in which Maria and Dionnah showed what they could do, OU 78- Kansas State 66.
We had just beaten two powerful opponents. But, now we faced one of the favorites for the national title, #2 Texas in the finals. They had size. They could dominate the interior. They could shoot and rebound.
They had no answer for Maria and Dionnah. They stole the ball and streaked down the court. They harassed the Texas guards into mere clutter, destroying Texas 66-47. They ran. They pressed. They looked like the team that should win the title.
Of course, they did lose to Stanford in the round of 32, 43-68. It would have helped to have a rebounding post, a defensive post.
But, I saw a little of that team against Kansas. They didn't look to the post to score until they had fifty points. They ran. They tipped balls. They passed and got open looks. Then, they shot. When open, they can shoot. Frankly, I prefer the team that uses Vivi as a defensive stopper rather than as a scorer. I prefer to rotate the offense rather than go through a center, unless you have a Paris, and even then I want a shooting guard or two.
I would love it if we ran the rest of the year. Run, press, and shoot. Let Vivi play defense and, hopefully, avoid travels and fouls.
