WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Women's basketball: Sooners looking for redemption at Kansas State
Ben Williams, The Oklahoma Daily
Sophomore Aaryn Ellenberg drives on the fast break against Kansas State on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012. The Sooners won, 68-62.
When the OU women’s basketball team lost to West Virginia, 82-63, Sunday in Morgantown, the Sooners appeared to not be themselves, coach Sherri Coale said.
“We just sort of let the physical nature of the game affect us,” she said. “I think that’s what affected our shooting. I think it’s what affected our transition.
“I just think mentally we were a bit too fragile.”
After getting blown out in their last game, the No. 23 Sooners (16-5, 6-3 Big 12) will look to bounce back and redeem themselves at 7 tonight at Kansas State.
“I think everyone really wanted to do it over again, but you can’t do it over again,” Coale said. “So the next best thing is to do it right the next time. So we’re really looking forward to this trip.”
Junior guard Aaryn Ellenberg said she is looking forward to regaining her rhythm after only making one shot from behind the arc against West Virginia.
“There was just a lack of rhythm,” she said. “Maybe I wasn’t 100 percent. I got a lot of shots. They just weren’t falling.”
She might not have been at full strength Sunday, but she says both her ankles are feeling good.
Ellenberger is the Sooners’ top scorer and leads the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage and 3-pointers made.
Another key for the Sooners will be to keep senior forward Joanna McFarland out of foul trouble.
She sparked the Sooners’ offense early Sunday but drew some early fouls that limited her playing time.
“I thought I was playing pretty straight up throughout the game, but sometimes stuff just happens,” she said. “So I guess I’ll just try to be really straight up, not move my feet at all. Just be so they can’t call a foul on me.”
Currently she has double-digit rebounds in 10 of the last 13 games.
More than anything though, McFarland wants to get this team back to where it was before the West Virginia loss.
“We were in a really good position before, but we dropped one,” she said. “So we need to get back into a really good position to win second place in the league.
“We weren’t proud of what we did out there. So we need to come out and show who we really are.”
OU enters tonight’s game placed second in the Big 12 and are 2-3 in its last five games after winning its previous six games.
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