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OU energized by unexpected source in win
There is almost no way senior guard Gileysa Penzo will lead Oklahoma women to a big season or even a good one.
On the other hand, Saturday afternoon at Lloyd Noble Center, a good season may remain on the table entirely because of her.
The last Sooner off the bench last season and to begin this one, Penzo made every hustle play imaginable against 16th-ranked South Florida.
Though she did not attempt a singe shot,*she created extra possessions and got the crowd and her teammates more deeply involved in a game the Sooners, after trailing by seven points in the fourth quarter, eventually claimed 79-74.
“I just feel like it’s been a long time coming,” Penzo said, “and I feel like I’ve been working … I’ve been trying to get the trust from my teammates and coaches to be out there and make the right play.”
Penzo drew four charges in all, created other turnovers via tie-ups or simply hounding the Bulls into them, dished a game-high seven assists and was credited by both her coach and her teammates as OU’s great communicator, keeping everybody on the same page.
Her 38 minutes of court time were a personal high by a whopping 14, and her influence played a role in some other performances that came on line Saturday.
“Any time somebody takes a charge it’s just a burst of energy,” senior shooting guard Gabbi Ortiz said. “The passion that Gilly plays with … I think we fed off her voice. She’s very vocal when she makes big plays like that.”
Ortiz turned in the biggest game of her collegiate life, making 9 of 14 shots and 8 of 12 from 3-point land to finish with 31 points and senior center Vionise Pierre-Louis, after not making the trip to South Dakota State three days earlier, returned to the starting lineup to score 18 on 8 of 9 shooting.
Additionally, freshman guard Ana Llanusa scored 14 of her 15 points after the half and led the Sooners with nine rebounds.
Coale sold the victory as a turning point.
“I have to talk about the finding of a heartbeat, because that is that is what we have been searching for and I thought we found it today,” she said. “It’s crazy, you don’t lift up a rock and find it somewhere. You work and work and work and then it kind of finds you.”
Th at“heartbeat”translated into a second half for the record book, one in which OU shot a historyof- the-program best 75 percent (18 of 24), including 9 of 9 in the fourth quarter.
The Sooners trailed by seven points with 7:02 remaining after a 3-pointer from USF’s Laia Flores, but responded with a 17-3 run that grabbed control of the game.
There were lots of them, but Penzo’s finest moment came in the midst of that run after OU had gone up 69-67 on a single freethrow from Llanusa.
On the next trip down the court for the Bulls, she drew a charge that fouled out Kitija Laksa, one of the nation’s leading scorers, with 3:04 remaining.
On the ensuing Sooner possession, freshman guard Shaina Pellington converted a natural 3-point play that put OU on top 72-67.
The Sooner lead was never less than three points the rest of the game.
Laksa finished with 21 points, a few off her average, for the Bulls. Maria Jespersen added 18 and 12 rebounds. Flores finished with 15 points.
OU (4-5) snapped its four-game losing streak just in time for finals week in which all its basketball will be on the practice court before facing unbeaten New Mexico at 2 p.m. Dec. 16.
The Sooners need to win that one, too, and what happened Saturday ought to help the cause.
“Our execution was just so much better today,” Coale said.
Need to know
Big win: It’s hard to quantify just how big a victory this was for Oklahoma.
The Sooners were coming off four straight losses, the next opponent, New Mexico, has yet to lose,
the next one after that is No. 1 Connecticut away from home and the next one after that is OU’s Big 12 opener, against No. 2 Texas at Lloyd Noble Center. Also, three of the Sooners next four conference games will be on the road.
Yet, not only did OU prevail, but it shot better than 50 percent (28 of 52) for the first time in seven games, it put together three 20-point quarters after having only four in its previous 16 and it beat a ranked team for the first time since topping then eighth-ranked Texas Feb. 18 last season.
Though it may seem impossible, it was the program’s very first win over a ranked team when not ranked. OU is now 1-9 in such games.
Notable
Manning not scoring: Graduate guard Maddie Manning made 2 of 7 shots, missed all three of her 3-point attempts and finished with five points. She grabbed five rebounds and dished six assists, but her confidence as a scorer appears to be at a very low tide. Manning blew at least three layups and did not look for her shot late in the game.
Manning scored 17, 20, 18, 13 and 17 points the first five games of the season, but has scored 2, 11, 10 and 5 since. Over that stretch, she has made 11 of 44 shots.
Coale pulls right strings: Freshman guard Shaina Pellington had led OU in the scorebook three straight games entering Saturday. However, Coale did not start her against USF and played her only 10 minutes.
Her usual minutes — Pellington entered averaging 26 — were mostly swallowed up by Gileysa Penzo, who played a career-high 38.
OU doesn’t win without Penzo’s four drawn charges and seven assists and Pellington, in limited time, was effective, scoring eight points, including a huge natural three-point play in the fourth quarter.
Tip-ins
LaNesia Williams, who started the first seven games of the season, only played seven minutes at South Dakota State and did not play at all against USF … OU hit 15 of 25 freethrow attempts: 9 of 18 over the first 37:04 and 6 of 7 over the last 2:56 … The Sooners committed six turnovers in seven possessions to begin the second quarter, yet only 13 the entire game … OU was out rebounded 35 to 33
There is almost no way senior guard Gileysa Penzo will lead Oklahoma women to a big season or even a good one.
On the other hand, Saturday afternoon at Lloyd Noble Center, a good season may remain on the table entirely because of her.
The last Sooner off the bench last season and to begin this one, Penzo made every hustle play imaginable against 16th-ranked South Florida.
Though she did not attempt a singe shot,*she created extra possessions and got the crowd and her teammates more deeply involved in a game the Sooners, after trailing by seven points in the fourth quarter, eventually claimed 79-74.
“I just feel like it’s been a long time coming,” Penzo said, “and I feel like I’ve been working … I’ve been trying to get the trust from my teammates and coaches to be out there and make the right play.”
Penzo drew four charges in all, created other turnovers via tie-ups or simply hounding the Bulls into them, dished a game-high seven assists and was credited by both her coach and her teammates as OU’s great communicator, keeping everybody on the same page.
Her 38 minutes of court time were a personal high by a whopping 14, and her influence played a role in some other performances that came on line Saturday.
“Any time somebody takes a charge it’s just a burst of energy,” senior shooting guard Gabbi Ortiz said. “The passion that Gilly plays with … I think we fed off her voice. She’s very vocal when she makes big plays like that.”
Ortiz turned in the biggest game of her collegiate life, making 9 of 14 shots and 8 of 12 from 3-point land to finish with 31 points and senior center Vionise Pierre-Louis, after not making the trip to South Dakota State three days earlier, returned to the starting lineup to score 18 on 8 of 9 shooting.
Additionally, freshman guard Ana Llanusa scored 14 of her 15 points after the half and led the Sooners with nine rebounds.
Coale sold the victory as a turning point.
“I have to talk about the finding of a heartbeat, because that is that is what we have been searching for and I thought we found it today,” she said. “It’s crazy, you don’t lift up a rock and find it somewhere. You work and work and work and then it kind of finds you.”
Th at“heartbeat”translated into a second half for the record book, one in which OU shot a historyof- the-program best 75 percent (18 of 24), including 9 of 9 in the fourth quarter.
The Sooners trailed by seven points with 7:02 remaining after a 3-pointer from USF’s Laia Flores, but responded with a 17-3 run that grabbed control of the game.
There were lots of them, but Penzo’s finest moment came in the midst of that run after OU had gone up 69-67 on a single freethrow from Llanusa.
On the next trip down the court for the Bulls, she drew a charge that fouled out Kitija Laksa, one of the nation’s leading scorers, with 3:04 remaining.
On the ensuing Sooner possession, freshman guard Shaina Pellington converted a natural 3-point play that put OU on top 72-67.
The Sooner lead was never less than three points the rest of the game.
Laksa finished with 21 points, a few off her average, for the Bulls. Maria Jespersen added 18 and 12 rebounds. Flores finished with 15 points.
OU (4-5) snapped its four-game losing streak just in time for finals week in which all its basketball will be on the practice court before facing unbeaten New Mexico at 2 p.m. Dec. 16.
The Sooners need to win that one, too, and what happened Saturday ought to help the cause.
“Our execution was just so much better today,” Coale said.
Need to know
Big win: It’s hard to quantify just how big a victory this was for Oklahoma.
The Sooners were coming off four straight losses, the next opponent, New Mexico, has yet to lose,
the next one after that is No. 1 Connecticut away from home and the next one after that is OU’s Big 12 opener, against No. 2 Texas at Lloyd Noble Center. Also, three of the Sooners next four conference games will be on the road.
Yet, not only did OU prevail, but it shot better than 50 percent (28 of 52) for the first time in seven games, it put together three 20-point quarters after having only four in its previous 16 and it beat a ranked team for the first time since topping then eighth-ranked Texas Feb. 18 last season.
Though it may seem impossible, it was the program’s very first win over a ranked team when not ranked. OU is now 1-9 in such games.
Notable
Manning not scoring: Graduate guard Maddie Manning made 2 of 7 shots, missed all three of her 3-point attempts and finished with five points. She grabbed five rebounds and dished six assists, but her confidence as a scorer appears to be at a very low tide. Manning blew at least three layups and did not look for her shot late in the game.
Manning scored 17, 20, 18, 13 and 17 points the first five games of the season, but has scored 2, 11, 10 and 5 since. Over that stretch, she has made 11 of 44 shots.
Coale pulls right strings: Freshman guard Shaina Pellington had led OU in the scorebook three straight games entering Saturday. However, Coale did not start her against USF and played her only 10 minutes.
Her usual minutes — Pellington entered averaging 26 — were mostly swallowed up by Gileysa Penzo, who played a career-high 38.
OU doesn’t win without Penzo’s four drawn charges and seven assists and Pellington, in limited time, was effective, scoring eight points, including a huge natural three-point play in the fourth quarter.
Tip-ins
LaNesia Williams, who started the first seven games of the season, only played seven minutes at South Dakota State and did not play at all against USF … OU hit 15 of 25 freethrow attempts: 9 of 18 over the first 37:04 and 6 of 7 over the last 2:56 … The Sooners committed six turnovers in seven possessions to begin the second quarter, yet only 13 the entire game … OU was out rebounded 35 to 33