Oklahoma Notches Third Win in Europe

St. Etienne, France -- Oklahoma women's basketball team continues to dominate in Europe as the Sooners won their third game in as many days Friday night in St. Etienne, France.

OU wore out a talented St. Etienne Select team for a 100-78 victory, giving OU its second straight game of scoring 100 or more points. The Sooners take their perfect 3-0 record to Montreux, Switzerland, Saturday to play the Vallais Select team at 2:30 p.m., in a game that will celebrate the grand opening of its new arena.

OU freshman Leah Rush dropped 16 of her team-high 24 points in the second half, while junior Dionnah Jackson and Krista Sanchez scored 18 and 13 points, respectively. Rush added to her stat line a team-high tying eight rebounds with Sanchez and freshman Kendra Moore.

Box Score | 2004 OU European Tour

"We were a little sluggish tonight," commented OU head coach Sherri Coale after the game. "We looked at times like we were well traveled and in our third game in three days. Leah Rush was outstanding, however. If she would have converted her free throws she would have had 30. Britney Brown was very aggressive tonight, as was Lauren Shoush. This team we played ran the ball extremely well and they had a couple of very talented, and versatile players. This was good for us. Their tempo offense exposed some of our weaknesses which gives us a chance to teach and our players a chance to learn."

With the score tied at 28 at the 5:08 mark in the second period, Oklahoma went on a 20-9 run to take a 48-37 advantage at half time. Dionnah Jackson scored 13 of her 18 points in the first 20 minutes of play.

Along with Rush, Sanchez erupted for all 13 of her points in the second half. From the 6:17 mark in the fourth quarter, the Springfield, Ark., native scored eight straight points for the Sooners, including back to back three-pointers just seconds apart.

Nora Elgargahl had game highs of 28 points and 10 rebounds for Saint Etienne Select. She also was 10 of 22 from the free throw line. Marion Chost added 17 while Ceylia Pelrol scored 14 points.

For the evening a total of 84 free throws were attempted between the two teams. St. Etienne Select struggled, hitting only 32 of 54 (59.3%), while OU connected on 20 of 30 (66.7%). The Select team was just 22 of 65 from the field for a 33.8 field goal percentage. The Sooners hit 34 of 74 shots (45.9%), including 12 three-pointers. OU controlled the boards, again, out rebounding the Select team, 55-42.

Friday Notes:
The Sooners tour Lyon, France and visited the Basilique Notre-Dame, the church dates back to the 12th century.
The team also tour Le Hameau Du Vin winery outside of Lyon.
Oklahoma is averaging 95.7 points and 55.3 rebounds per game in its European Tour. Dionnah Jackson leads the team with 16.3 points per game, followed by Leah Rush's 12.3 and Kendra Moore's 10.3. Jackson and Beky Preston tops the Sooners with 7.0 rebounds per outing, followed by Moore's 6.3 rpg.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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