Five Things to Watch: Big 12 Tournament

March 7, 2012

By Andrew Gilman | SoonerSports.com

NORMAN, Okla. -- Here are five things to watch as Oklahoma women's basketball begins play in the Big 12 Championship tournament Thursday at 5 p.m.

1. Every Game is the Last
It's not too late for Oklahoma to figure out what kind of team it is. Will it get on another roll in the madness that is March, or will its struggles for consistency continue? OU hasn't won back-to-back games since mid-January, but that doesn't mean the Sooners can't get on a roll. It has played the eighth-toughest schedule in the country and is ranked No. 22 in the RPI -- proving OU is been battle-tested and prepared for a postseason run. From this point forward, games are single elimination in the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments.

2. Confidence is Key
The Sooners have seen their Thursday opponent twice already; there's not much scouting left to do. Oklahoma swept Missouri in the regular season, winning 62-59 in Columbia and 64-60 in Norman. Every game in the Big 12 tournament will be about how well Oklahoma players work together, not how they react to how their opponent is playing. And, if OU doesn't think it has something to play for against Missouri, Sherri Coale will just need to remind her team that the Tigers still have payback coming from when they knocked out the Sooners in first-round 70-64 overtime decision in 2008.

(2) Oklahoma vs. (10) Missouri | Big 12 Championship Second Round | Thursday, March 8
Preview | Gameday Central | Big 12 Championship

3. Building the Resume
OU is a certain lock to get to the NCAA Tournament after tying for second in the Big 12, going 11-7. However, a loss to Missouri or Oklahoma State Thursday could be detrimental for seeding purposes. Meanwhile, if OU can play itself into the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament, it could really help. Currently, ESPN has OU projected as a No. 8 seed in the Fresno Region. The Sooners would do good to get off that 8-9 line so they would be able to avoid playing a No. 1-seed in the second round. The Sooners will play in Norman for the first and second rounds and would like to extend their path as easily as possible.

4. Fast Start
OU has gotten into trouble with slow starts out of the locker room. Those initial minutes proved detrimental in each of the Sooners' past four losses (Connecticut, Iowa State, Texas and Kansas) where they were outscored a combined 43-20 through the first five minutes of each game. In their last four wins, the Sooners have outscored their opponents 40-16 in the first five minutes.

5. Ellenberg is Energy
When guard Aaryn Ellenberg plays well, the Sooners are in good shape. Take for example OU's last four games: She missed 14 of 25 shots in a loss to Kansas on March 4 and she was just 3-of-8 in a loss to Texas. Meanwhile, she was 7-of-14 against Texas Tech (win) and 8-of-16 against Texas A&M (win). Ellenberg is at her best when she can create off the dribble and when she does that it also ends up giving her space on 3-pointers. Ellenberg has picked up her scoring, too. In the past five games, she has scored 19 or more points four times.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Five Things to Watch: Big 12 Tournament

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