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NORMAN — Vionise Pierre-Louis posted up on a low block early in Oklahoma’s 68-49 win against Kansas State.
She expected an extra Wildcat defender in the 2-3 zone to collapse on her and free up one of the Sooner guards for an open look.
Instead, the KSU players stayed where they were, leaving Pierre-Louis in a one-on-one battle with a much smaller opponent.
“Posting up in the middle of the zone, the heart of the zone, I was thinking that would open it up for my shooters,” she said. “I wasn’t thinking that it would open up for the shot for me.”
She struck quickly, nailing a shot just 10 seconds into the game. Then, she added two more buckets from the low block in the next three minutes to give her team a 6-2 lead in front of 7,000 screaming elementary school kids on hand for the Sooner Jr. Fan Field Trip day.
With 26 points and 13 rebounds, Pierre-Louis’ post presence was the key to Oklahoma’s 19-point win — and 800th program victory.
“Obviously, she’s a load at the block and their post players are much more space post players than low-block pounders,” coach Sherri Coale said. “We felt like if we could get her the ball that she could be successful.”
In the first match with Kansas State (12-10, 4-7 Big 12), Pierre-Louis scored an efficient 18 points, connecting on 7 of 8 field-goal attempts.
This time around, the Sooners (11-11, 6-5) went to her even more often once Kansas State proved that it wasn’t willing to give up open looks to OU’s guards.. She went 9 of 15 from the floor, and helped the Sooners grab a 32-14 edge in points scored in the paint.
“I just thought she handled herself really well,” Coale said of Pierre-Louis.
“You’ve got to make concessions with her. If you don’t have a body as big a hers, you’ve got to come with other people. Maybe they weren’t quite as willing to give Gabbi (Ortiz) a look or give Maddie (Manning) any space.”
By halftime, Pierre-Louis had 15 points, scoring seven of the Sooners’ 10 first-quarter points.
Though she was making major contributions to the scoreboard, Pierre-Louis’ early performance didn’t make a splash with Coale.
“I thought her first half points were really quiet,” Coale said. “I looked down and she had 15. I didn’t even feel like that had occurred.”
Coale challenged her center to make her presence really known in the second half, to play with a purpose.
With an adjustment to her footwork and a couple shifts in technique, Pierre-Louis grabbed her coach’s attention with 11 points and eight rebounds.
“I came out and did my part and the game shows the results,” she said.
With her performance Wednesday morning, Pierre-Louis has 18 career double-doubles, moving her up to 10th alltime in the program.
Since January, Pierre-Louis has been one of Oklahoma’s most consistent offensive weapons, averaging 16.8 points per game in that nine-game stretch.
She expected an extra Wildcat defender in the 2-3 zone to collapse on her and free up one of the Sooner guards for an open look.
Instead, the KSU players stayed where they were, leaving Pierre-Louis in a one-on-one battle with a much smaller opponent.
“Posting up in the middle of the zone, the heart of the zone, I was thinking that would open it up for my shooters,” she said. “I wasn’t thinking that it would open up for the shot for me.”
She struck quickly, nailing a shot just 10 seconds into the game. Then, she added two more buckets from the low block in the next three minutes to give her team a 6-2 lead in front of 7,000 screaming elementary school kids on hand for the Sooner Jr. Fan Field Trip day.
With 26 points and 13 rebounds, Pierre-Louis’ post presence was the key to Oklahoma’s 19-point win — and 800th program victory.
“Obviously, she’s a load at the block and their post players are much more space post players than low-block pounders,” coach Sherri Coale said. “We felt like if we could get her the ball that she could be successful.”
In the first match with Kansas State (12-10, 4-7 Big 12), Pierre-Louis scored an efficient 18 points, connecting on 7 of 8 field-goal attempts.
This time around, the Sooners (11-11, 6-5) went to her even more often once Kansas State proved that it wasn’t willing to give up open looks to OU’s guards.. She went 9 of 15 from the floor, and helped the Sooners grab a 32-14 edge in points scored in the paint.
“I just thought she handled herself really well,” Coale said of Pierre-Louis.
“You’ve got to make concessions with her. If you don’t have a body as big a hers, you’ve got to come with other people. Maybe they weren’t quite as willing to give Gabbi (Ortiz) a look or give Maddie (Manning) any space.”
By halftime, Pierre-Louis had 15 points, scoring seven of the Sooners’ 10 first-quarter points.
Though she was making major contributions to the scoreboard, Pierre-Louis’ early performance didn’t make a splash with Coale.
“I thought her first half points were really quiet,” Coale said. “I looked down and she had 15. I didn’t even feel like that had occurred.”
Coale challenged her center to make her presence really known in the second half, to play with a purpose.
With an adjustment to her footwork and a couple shifts in technique, Pierre-Louis grabbed her coach’s attention with 11 points and eight rebounds.
“I came out and did my part and the game shows the results,” she said.
With her performance Wednesday morning, Pierre-Louis has 18 career double-doubles, moving her up to 10th alltime in the program.
Since January, Pierre-Louis has been one of Oklahoma’s most consistent offensive weapons, averaging 16.8 points per game in that nine-game stretch.