NORMAN – Four Sooner players scored in double figures, including
Taylor Robertson with a team-high 20 points, as the Oklahoma women's basketball team defeated Prairie View A&M 94-48 in the opening round of the Preseason WNIT on Friday night at Lloyd Noble Center.
With the season-opening win, OU improved to 36-7 all-time in home openers and has won 21 of its last 22 such games dating back to the 1999-00 season. OU's 46-point margin of victory stands as the third-largest in a home opener in program history.
"It was nice to start the season with a win," said OU head coach
Sherri Coale. "I thought we did a lot of really good things, lots of things we can work on. For me, the theme coming away from this is the coachability of these kids and this team. They listen, learn and want to get better. They are all about improvement. Early in the first quarter, it was 13-14 and there was no panic; we were about the next play. I am really enjoying coaching this team. They pay attention, focus and are disciplined. They want to be good and that's a coach's dream."
The Sooners pulled down 57 rebounds on the night, their most dating back to Nov. 15, 2018, when OU tallied 63 against Northwestern State at Lloyd Noble Center. All 11 of the OU players who saw action in the contest grabbed at least one rebound.
Robertson's 20 points came with the help of 6-for-11 shooting from behind the arc.
Ana Llanusa added 12 points and freshman
Gabby Gregory chipped in 10 in her collegiate debut.
Sophomore
Madi Williams posted a game-high 13 boards for OU. The Fort Worth, Texas, product was just three rebounds shy of matching her career high of 16, and added 14 points for a double-double.
"I think at the end of the day, we were just all hungry to come in here and play, and that just kind of fed into how aggressive we were on offense, on defense and getting rebounds," said Williams. "We smelled blood from the jump because they weren't doing a very good job of rebounding or boxing out. We were like, 'Oh yeah. This is what we want. We love this.'"
Tatyana Perez finished with 20 points for Prairie View A&M as the Panthers fell to 1-1 on the season. They will play two more WNIT games in the consolation bracket.
Oklahoma will host UAB on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. CT in the Preseason WNIT second round after the Blazers knocked off South Alabama 77-61. UAB defeated the Sooners 89-84 last year in the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas.