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NORMAN — Oklahoma guard Shaina Pellington could see the pain in Ana Llanusa’s face during Friday’s Oklahoma season opener against Western Kentucky.
“Are you OK?” Pellington asked Llanusa.
Llanusa quickly answered that it would be her last game before having surgery on a stress fracture in her foot but that she’d give it her all as long as she could.
“You do that but be careful.” Pellington told her.
The improved defense Llanusa worked hard on over the offseason wasn’t apparent and her shot was off, too, as she missed all six shots she took from the floor.
Llanusa underwent surgery Monday to fix a stress fracture in her foot that has been bothering her recently.
Llanusa, a Choctaw product, is expected back sometime around the start of Big 12 play Jan. 2.
“It’ll just be a waitand-see kind of thing but we expect her back,” Sooners coach Sherri Coale said Wednesday as her team prepares to play their first game without Llanusa on Thursday when they host Northwestern State.
Llanusa averaged 12.6 points and 4.0 rebounds as a freshman last season, starting 22 of the 30 games she appeared in. In Llanusa’s absence, freshman Taylor Robertson is expected to make her first career start.
“Every experience, if you handle it the right way and approach it the right way, is a good test and helps you get better,” Coale said.
Robertson scored 24 points in the seasonopener, hitting eight 3-pointers, earning Big 12 Co-Freshman of the Week honors.
Coale said the entire roster will have to help replace the production Llanusa gave Oklahoma, but she said Robertson was ready for the increased role with her strong shooting.
“She doesn’t play too fast for herself,” Coale said. “Every time it comes out of her hand it’s the same. That’s usually what differentiates good shooters from great shooters — that and a really short memory. She just has unbelievable confidence that she has honed through hours in the gym.”
Pellington said Llanusa, who was at practice Wednesday watching from the side of the court, was handling her first major injury well.
“It’s a minor glitch in the road by we’re all confident that she’ll come back stronger,” Pellington said.
Three things to know
•Sophomore Shaina Pellington, who spent the offseason polishing her outside shot, scored a career-high 33 points in the Sooners’ opener — the most by a Sooner in a season opener in program history.
•Madi Williams joined Courtney Paris as the only freshmen in school history with a performance of at least 15 points and 15 rebounds with four assists and three blocks. Paris had 17 points, 19 rebounds, seven blocks and four assists in her 18th game, vs. Texas Tech in 2006.
•The teams have met once before, with Oklahoma winning 96-31 in Norman on Nov. 29, 2012.
RYAN ABER, STAFF WRITER
“Are you OK?” Pellington asked Llanusa.
Llanusa quickly answered that it would be her last game before having surgery on a stress fracture in her foot but that she’d give it her all as long as she could.
“You do that but be careful.” Pellington told her.
The improved defense Llanusa worked hard on over the offseason wasn’t apparent and her shot was off, too, as she missed all six shots she took from the floor.
Llanusa underwent surgery Monday to fix a stress fracture in her foot that has been bothering her recently.
Llanusa, a Choctaw product, is expected back sometime around the start of Big 12 play Jan. 2.
“It’ll just be a waitand-see kind of thing but we expect her back,” Sooners coach Sherri Coale said Wednesday as her team prepares to play their first game without Llanusa on Thursday when they host Northwestern State.
Llanusa averaged 12.6 points and 4.0 rebounds as a freshman last season, starting 22 of the 30 games she appeared in. In Llanusa’s absence, freshman Taylor Robertson is expected to make her first career start.
“Every experience, if you handle it the right way and approach it the right way, is a good test and helps you get better,” Coale said.
Robertson scored 24 points in the seasonopener, hitting eight 3-pointers, earning Big 12 Co-Freshman of the Week honors.
Coale said the entire roster will have to help replace the production Llanusa gave Oklahoma, but she said Robertson was ready for the increased role with her strong shooting.
“She doesn’t play too fast for herself,” Coale said. “Every time it comes out of her hand it’s the same. That’s usually what differentiates good shooters from great shooters — that and a really short memory. She just has unbelievable confidence that she has honed through hours in the gym.”
Pellington said Llanusa, who was at practice Wednesday watching from the side of the court, was handling her first major injury well.
“It’s a minor glitch in the road by we’re all confident that she’ll come back stronger,” Pellington said.
Three things to know
•Sophomore Shaina Pellington, who spent the offseason polishing her outside shot, scored a career-high 33 points in the Sooners’ opener — the most by a Sooner in a season opener in program history.
•Madi Williams joined Courtney Paris as the only freshmen in school history with a performance of at least 15 points and 15 rebounds with four assists and three blocks. Paris had 17 points, 19 rebounds, seven blocks and four assists in her 18th game, vs. Texas Tech in 2006.
•The teams have met once before, with Oklahoma winning 96-31 in Norman on Nov. 29, 2012.
RYAN ABER, STAFF WRITER