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Sooner women in Windy City to face Blue Demons
Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale’s most recent memory of facing a Doug Bruno squad wasn’t too pleasant.
DePaul beat the Sooners 104-100 three seasons ago in the highest-scoring game in NCAA women’s tournament history. No. 22 OU can right some of those defensive wrongs when facing the No. 25 Blue Demons on Monday in Chicago.
The Sooners appear capable of doing that after limiting Belmont to 35.7 percent shooting and scoring 19 points off 13 turnovers in a 96-73 season-opening win.
“I think that comes from effort, I really do. Just selling out and playing with abandon. We had
several post tips, both [Ijeoma Odimgbe] and [Vionise Pierre-Louis] and just scrambling to come up with the ball,” Coale said.
Coale said earlier in the week players were further along defensively than at this point last year, which had been a preseason focus.
It’s a small sample size, but the Sooners (1-0) are also valuing the ball better.
“Ana struggled a little bit. Just looked a little nervous. She fumbled some passes she usually doesn’t and sped up her shot a little bit.”
On Sooner freshman Ana Llanusa
They committed just nine turnovers against Belmont after averaging more than 16 in 2016-17.
“[Defensive pressure] coupled with ball security at other end was probably the difference in game, and what I’m most pleased with, creating offense out of defense and not giving them the ball at the other end,” Coale said.
That will be critical Monday against what has become known as “DePaul Ball,” which is Bruno’s wallto- wall swarming defense and fast-pace offense that has keyed 15 straight NCAA tournament appearances.
The Blue Demons (0-1) struggled in a 94-88 loss to Northern Colorado, but still forced 20 turnovers.
OU will have a distinct size advantage in the starting lineup against DePaul’s four-guard look. OU senior center Pierre-Louis posted 24 points and 12 rebounds, while freshman forward
Sherri Coale,
Mandy Simpson added 12 points and five rebounds against Belmont.
The Sooners scored 58 points in the paint and cruised.
In a potentially more fast-paced game against DePaul, OU could rely more on freshman guard Ana Llanusa, who scored nine points off the bench against Belmont after leading the team in two exhibition outings, totaling 42 points between them.
“Ana struggled a little bit,” Coale said of the Belmont game. “Just looked a little nervous. She fumbled some passes she usually doesn’t and sped up her shot a little bit, but still had some great moves to the rim and finishes.”
OU’s three freshmen, while contributing, are already navigating ups and downs of the season.
Shaina Pellington had eight points against Belmont but was 2 for 6 from the foul line.
Northern Colorado weaponized the free-throw against DePaul, making 33 charities, a record for opponent makes on the Blue Demons’ court.
“I thought [the freshmen] were great [against Belmont],” Coale said. “[Pellington] was so hard on herself when she was on the bench late in the game. I asked her, ‘How do you feel?’, and I was felling really good about her.
“And she said, ‘I didn’t play very good.’ I said ‘You’re just remembering your freethrow performance.’ Everything else was fantastic.”
Most of that, Coale said, was because of Pellington’s sound defensive play, which will be key against DePaul.
“She just really adapted defensively and covered [Belmont’s Darby] Maggard really well,” Coale said.
Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale’s most recent memory of facing a Doug Bruno squad wasn’t too pleasant.
DePaul beat the Sooners 104-100 three seasons ago in the highest-scoring game in NCAA women’s tournament history. No. 22 OU can right some of those defensive wrongs when facing the No. 25 Blue Demons on Monday in Chicago.
The Sooners appear capable of doing that after limiting Belmont to 35.7 percent shooting and scoring 19 points off 13 turnovers in a 96-73 season-opening win.
“I think that comes from effort, I really do. Just selling out and playing with abandon. We had
several post tips, both [Ijeoma Odimgbe] and [Vionise Pierre-Louis] and just scrambling to come up with the ball,” Coale said.
Coale said earlier in the week players were further along defensively than at this point last year, which had been a preseason focus.
It’s a small sample size, but the Sooners (1-0) are also valuing the ball better.
“Ana struggled a little bit. Just looked a little nervous. She fumbled some passes she usually doesn’t and sped up her shot a little bit.”
On Sooner freshman Ana Llanusa
They committed just nine turnovers against Belmont after averaging more than 16 in 2016-17.
“[Defensive pressure] coupled with ball security at other end was probably the difference in game, and what I’m most pleased with, creating offense out of defense and not giving them the ball at the other end,” Coale said.
That will be critical Monday against what has become known as “DePaul Ball,” which is Bruno’s wallto- wall swarming defense and fast-pace offense that has keyed 15 straight NCAA tournament appearances.
The Blue Demons (0-1) struggled in a 94-88 loss to Northern Colorado, but still forced 20 turnovers.
OU will have a distinct size advantage in the starting lineup against DePaul’s four-guard look. OU senior center Pierre-Louis posted 24 points and 12 rebounds, while freshman forward
Sherri Coale,
Mandy Simpson added 12 points and five rebounds against Belmont.
The Sooners scored 58 points in the paint and cruised.
In a potentially more fast-paced game against DePaul, OU could rely more on freshman guard Ana Llanusa, who scored nine points off the bench against Belmont after leading the team in two exhibition outings, totaling 42 points between them.
“Ana struggled a little bit,” Coale said of the Belmont game. “Just looked a little nervous. She fumbled some passes she usually doesn’t and sped up her shot a little bit, but still had some great moves to the rim and finishes.”
OU’s three freshmen, while contributing, are already navigating ups and downs of the season.
Shaina Pellington had eight points against Belmont but was 2 for 6 from the foul line.
Northern Colorado weaponized the free-throw against DePaul, making 33 charities, a record for opponent makes on the Blue Demons’ court.
“I thought [the freshmen] were great [against Belmont],” Coale said. “[Pellington] was so hard on herself when she was on the bench late in the game. I asked her, ‘How do you feel?’, and I was felling really good about her.
“And she said, ‘I didn’t play very good.’ I said ‘You’re just remembering your freethrow performance.’ Everything else was fantastic.”
Most of that, Coale said, was because of Pellington’s sound defensive play, which will be key against DePaul.
“She just really adapted defensively and covered [Belmont’s Darby] Maggard really well,” Coale said.