Cerina The Latest Sooner Surprise

Feb. 4, 2012

By Andrew Gilman | SoonerSports.com

NORMAN, Okla. -- Jelena Cerina checked in about a minute into the second half Saturday against Oklahoma State.

There was no reason for anyone to really take much notice.

Not the Oklahoma State staff, which hadn't seen Cerina do much against them. Not even the Sooners, or the Sooners staff.

Cerina hadn't scored in double figures but twice this season and, aside from the 31 minutes she played at Kansas last game out, Cerina hadn't played more than half a game at any point this season.

Oklahoma 80, Oklahoma State 71 | Saturday, Feb. 4 at 12 p.m.
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Meanwhile, Cerina's track record against Oklahoma State was pretty much non-existent. She played just six minutes total against the Cowgirls last season. She played just four minutes in the loss at Stillwater earlier this season.

Looks like things might be changing.

"She was fantastic in Lawrence (Kan.) earlier in the week," OU head coach Sherri Coale said. "I felt like that gave her a little bit of confidence to build off of tonight."

Fantastic in Lawrence, but better Saturday against Oklahoma State. Cerina carried the Sooners early in the second half, scoring the team's first eight points, finishing with 16 points and helping OU to an 80-71 victory over the Cowgirls at the Lloyd Noble Center.

"They were putting me in the right place where I just needed to finish," Cerina said. "I just needed to catch it and lay it up."

Well, whatever it was and whatever the reason, Cerina topped her previous career-high of 11 points. She scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half and finished up 8-for-11 shooting in 17 minutes of action.

"I thought she played extremely well," OSU coach Jim Littell said of Cerina. "When she gets 16 on us, it's going to make it difficult for us to win."

Well, the way Cerina played in the second half kept the Sooners in the game. And the message was pretty clear before she checked in just 52 seconds into the second half. OU's first eight points out of halftime were all from Cerina's hands.

"She (Coale) just told me to be confident," Cerina said. "Coach has told me to play with patience. Sometimes I'm in a rush. They were telling me to stop and play patient and everything would come."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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