Paris leads Oklahoma past ASU
December 2, 2007
By Van Provence
ASU Sports Information
NORMAN, OK - Oklahoma's Courtney Paris showed early why she was named the Associated Press 2007 National Player of the Year, leading the ninth-ranked Sooners to a 93-36 victory over the Arkansas State Lady Indians (4-4)Sunday afternoon at Lloyd Noble Arena in Norman, OK.
Paris finished the afternoon with 22 points and 15 rebounds, and by halftime, the 6'4" had 16 points and 10 rebounds to chalk up her 67th consecutive career double-double.
The Sooners went inside to Paris on their first four possessions, and came away with points each time as Oklahoma jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, then pulled away for a 47-18 advantage at the break.
"This was obviously tough," said ASU head coach Brian Boyer. "We've played some good teams in the past, and this team was as good as any of them. Our whole idea was to pressure because if you pack things in on them, they will just throw it over you. We had some stretches where we did that pretty well...we forced them into 25 turnovers, which is more than their average. It just wasn't enough."
Oklahoma went on a 23-2 run to open the second half, stretching the lead to 70-20 as the Sooners improved to 4-3 on the season.
Junior Caroline Starr, along with sophomores Ebonie Jefferson and Veronica Smith, led ASU with six points each, followed by freshman Rachel Baker with five. Junior Brittney Hiles and freshmen Makala McNair and Angie Criner added three points each. Junior Ashley Anderson finished with two points, while sophomore Jazmine Taylor and freshman Shay Scott scored a single point each.
For Oklahoma, Nyeshia Stevenson added 17 points, Jenna Plumley hit five 3-pointers to finish with 15, and Ashley Paris added 12.
The Lady Indians will concentrate on final exams next week before returning to action Dec. 13 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a 7:05 p.m. non-conference game at the ASU Convocation Center.