Women's basketball: Sooners look to bounce back against TCU
Astrud Reed, The Oklahoma Daily
Freshman guard Buddy Hield looks for an open man in the first half of OU's 73-67 win over Texas on Monday night. Hield finished the game with 12 points, 4 assists, 2 blocked shots, and 2 steals.
The No. 21 OU women’s basketball team looks to rebound from a disappointing loss against the No. 1 Baylor Bears when the TCU Horned Frogs come to town 7 p.m. Wednesday at Lloyd Noble Center.
The Sooners are 5-2 in conference play and are hoping to stay consistent as they enter the final stretch of conference games, starting with a matchup against a struggling TCU team which is 0-7 in the Big 12.
Nonetheless, OU isn’t changing its preparation or work ethic for a struggling team, and coach Sherri Coale is making sure the team stays focused on the ultimate goal: getting a win at home.
“We’re great. We’re in fine shape right now,” Coale said. “We came in ready to work. We watched film, practiced hard and we’re going to carry that over into the game.”
Despite the loss last Saturday, the Sooners have a positive outlook moving forward.
TCU will have to find a way to contain junior guard Aaryn Ellenberg.
Ellenberg has been a scoring machine lately — averaging 23.2 points per game in the Sooners’ last 10 contests — and not even a tough physical defense like Baylor’s squad could slow her down.
She’s currently second in the nation in three-point field goals made per game with 3.68.
Ellenberg has become a dominant force on offense, slashing through defenses and creating her own shot while assuming more of a leadership role on the team.
“We’ve lost four guys, and they were pretty important to our team,” Ellenberg said. “Everybody has to be a little bit better, and it’s just me getting comfortable stepping into a different type of role for us.”
The Sooners also have benefited from the solid play of senior forward Joanna McFarland, who’s assumed more of a leadership role as well.
McFarland is playing tough, physical basketball on both offense and defense, and that’s exactly what the Sooners need moving forward.
“When we lost Whitney we lost a lot of leadership on the team, and a lot of the output that you might not see on the box score,” McFarland said. “So, I guess I just thought about doing as much as I can for my team from here on out.”
The Sooners will be depending on Ellenberg and McFarland to continue their solid play as they hope to keep TCU winless in the Big 12. OU played TCU on Jan. 9 in Fort Worth and won, 85-79.
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