Feb. 4, 2006
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Freshman center Courtney Paris notched her Big 12 record-tying 20th double-double of the season to lead 11th-ranked Oklahoma to an 88-73 win over Missouri on Saturday at Mizzou Arena. The loss, the Tigers' first of the season here, snaps Mizzou's 11-game home winning streak. With the loss, the Tigers (16-5, 6-3 Big 12) fall into a tie for second with Baylor and the winner of Sunday's matchup in College Station between Texas A&M and Texas Tech.
Paris had 27 points and a game-high 16 rebounds for the Sooners (19-4, 9-0), which ties Angie Welle's record of 20 double-doubles for Iowa State in 2001-02. Her performance overshadowed a game-high 30-point effort from senior guard LaToya Bond (Urbana, Ill. / Urbana HS). Senior center Christelle N'Garsanet (Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire / Illinois Central College) was Mizzou's only other scorer in double figures, with 16.
Chelsi Welch added 16 for OU, with Ashley Paris chipping in 14 points and Kendra Moore 10, all in the first half.
"We played the way we wanted to for 17 out of the 40 minutes today, and that's not the way you can play against a team like Oklahoma," Head Coach Cindy Stein said. "We knew we were going to be able to gauge where we were and what we needed to do in this game, and Oklahoma showed that they're an outstanding basketball team. We fought really hard, and responded really well in the second half, but OU is a heck of a team."
Bond started off the scoring with a 3-pointer at the top of the key just 36 seconds into the game, yet Courtney Paris, Ashley Paris and Chelsi Welch combined to put OU on a 15-2 run for a 15-5 lead with 12:11 left. When she went to the bench with 10:01 left in the half, Paris had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Junior forward Carlynn Savant (Euless, Texas / Trinity HS) hit a 3-pointer and Bond a layup, but the Sooners then threw another 9-0 run for a 14-point lead (24-10) with 7:39 to go.
Oklahoma slowly built up to an 18-point lead before a quick 6-0 run on a Bond 3-point play and a 3-pointer from freshman guard Alyssa Hollins (Mesquite, Texas / John Horn HS) pulled the Tigers within 12 with 1:18 remaining. Yet the Sooners scored the final eight points of the half, punctuated by a 40-footer at the buzzer from Kendra Moore, to take a 47-27 lead at the break.
The Sooners also scored the first seven points of the second half, including four on a Courtney Paris layup followed by a pair of Chelsi Welch free throws after a technical foul was called on the Mizzou bench. Welch then sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around an N'Garsanet free throw to push OU's lead to 29 points (57-28) with 16:42 to play.
As they did at Kansas State on Wednesday, Mizzou slowly began to chip away at the Sooner lead. Then midway through the second half, four straight N'Garsanet free throws and another Hollins 3-pointer started a 12-2 run in which the Tigers converted 7-of-7 free throws. Yet OU would not let the Tigers get closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
The Tigers hit the road Wednesday night for a game at Iowa State; Mizzou's next home game is next Saturday, Feb. 11, for the Border Showdown with Kansas, presented by the Midwest Ford Dealers. Tipoff for that game is set for 3 p.m. in a game that will be televised state-wide over the Mizzou Sports Network. Tickets are on sale at the Mizzou Arena Box Office, or by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS (884-PAWS in mid-Missouri) or going online to www.mutigers.com.