Sooners Roll to Second Straight European Win

LYON, France -- After spending the entire day riding a bus from Nice to Lyon, France, the University of Oklahoma women's basketball team was able to shake off Case Basketball for an impressive 104-86 victory Thursday night.

The Sooners are now 2-0 in their 12-day European Tour and will face their third team, St. Etienne Select, in as many day on Friday at 7:45 p.m.

"After halftime we were shooting 58 percent and we were behind, so that tells you how different the game was from the first night," OU head coach Sherri Coale said. "We shot it well and had terrific balance but again we were far too careless with the basketball. Some of our turnovers came from a different rule regarding traveling, but the majority of them came from poor decisions and careless ball handling."

Box Score | Photo Gallery | 2004 OU European Tour Central

Oklahoma's offensive production was sizzling as it scored better than 100 points for the first time since the 2001 team defeated Colorado, 102-93, in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Those 104 points came off of 41 field goals that were assisted 37 times. OU also shot 10 of 14 from the charity stripe (71.4%) and outrebounded its second straight opponent, 54-32.

Sophomore Beky Preston led OU with a double double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. She was 50 percent from the field, hitting 7 of 14 shots in 19 minutes of action. Britney Brown and Casey Walker came off the bench for 15 and 14 points, respectively, while Erin Higgins added 12. Brown, who hit 5 of 7 threes, also grabbed nine defensive rebounds and dished out seven assists to just one turnover. Walker hit 5 of 9 shots and pushed her flawless streak at the free throw line to 10, hitting all four foul shots attempted Thursday.

"We had solid performances from our guards Kendra (Moore) and Britney (Brown) as well as post balance from Beky (Preston) and Casey (Walker)," said Coale.

"I like the improvement I have seen in how our young guys are thinking the game. Thirty-seven assists is a reflection of intelligent movement and unselfish basketball."

Junior Dionnah Jackson continues to be the floor general for the Sooners as she distributed a game-high 11 assists, while battling foul trouble. The St. Louis, Mo., native also had eight points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes.

OU took control of the game until midway through the third period. Oklahoma trailed 52-50 at halftime, saw the game tied four times and the lead change six times. With OU ahead 68-66, the Sooners went on a 25-12 run to secure the victory over a 10 minute span between the third and fourth periods.

K. Dadrowska of Case Basketball led all scored with 32 points, followed by teammates K. Martin's 16 and M. LeMay's 13 points. Case Basketball shot 41.7 percent from the field (30-of-72) and had a stellar night at the free throw line, hitting 21 of 25 shots (84.0%).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Roll to Second Straight European Win

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