This seems as good a place as any to stick in my 2cents.
The Horns had a great shot at pulling off a win in a very hostile arena. Now, they have a chance to provide the hostile arena when attempting to pull off the upset when OU comes to Austin.
In the Sooners, the Horns will face a different challenge from the Lady Bears. The Paris twins provide their team with a premier inside game. Led by Courtney’s double double of 15.2 pts 13.5 rpg, the Sooners have three players in double digit scoring in the Big 12: Danielle Robinson (14.3 ppg) and Amanda Thompson (12.3 ppg) are the other two. For opponents, fouling Courtney and making her earn the pts at the FT line is not as effective this season as in the two past years. Courtney is making 66% of her FTs this season. As a team, OU is second in the league at 76.4 %. A side note, even with that poor effort against Baylor, Texas is at 71.5% on FTs in Big 12 play.
With the addition of Robinson, the Sooners have a PG as quick and fast as any in the league. She, along with Courtney and Amanda Thompson, a Soph F, are ones that will take the most shots. All three are averaging just over 12 shots a game each. That’s over half of the 63.5 shots the Sooners attempt in league play. Jenna Plumley is their 3pt specialist. While others do take and make the 3, Plumley is the one most likely to take it. She has taken 34 of OU’s 96 3pt attempts in league play. That’s 35% of the 3s. For comparison, Kat has taken 23 of the Horns’ 80 3pt attempts (29%). Plumley connects on 32% of her 3s while Kat makes 44%.
OU leads the league in rebounding margin at a plus 13.5. The Paris twins are one (Courtney) and three (Ashley) in rpg at 13.5 and 8.3.
For the Horns, Brittainey (13.7 ppg) and Ashley (12.6 ppg) lead them in scoring. Carla and Kat are tied for third at 8.1 ppg in Big 12 play. Ashley is the top rebounder at 7.7 rpg while Kat is one of the league’s top rebounding Gs at 7.0 ppg. Texas leads the league with 10.7 steals per game. Ebay (2.9), Carla (1.9) and Ashley (1.7) lead the Horns in that category and rank among the Big 12 leaders with Ebay being third. OU is fourth in steals with Thompson (2.3) and Robinson (2.0) at the top.
It will be interesting to see Ashley and Courtney go at each other. Courtney has been more consistent in scoring and defense but Ashley has taken some big steps this season offensively and has always been a tremendous shot blocker. The two are one (Ashley) and two (Courtney) in blocked shots in league play. They are excellent in coming over to block shots with help defense. Points in the paint should be at a premium unless one or both get into foul trouble.
If there is a weakness that the Horns can exploit, it will be the Sooners tendency to turn the ball over. The Sooners are tenth in the league at a negative 1.8 TO margin while the Horns are third at a plus 3.1. The Sooners, on the other hand, will try to take advantage of the Horns in the post area. Three point scoring could be a key to the game. The Horns have had trouble getting Kat looks from BTA. Plumley has had trouble making hers although she has shown signs of coming out that with 5 of 9 3s in the last two league games. Both teams will need to place on overall defense as both are capable of scoring inside and outside. Both teams like to run. I would have to give Ashley the edge over Courtney in being able to get out and lead the fast break. Courtney, though, has at times been the one for the Sooners that makes that layup to finish the fast break. One can’t go to sleep on either post or they will be watching the opposing player make a goal.
It should be a very close game. It’s easy to say that OU is strictly a post play team with the Paris twins there but they are capable of hurting teams from the perimeter. Texas has a reputation for being weak inside with the departure of Tiffany Jackson yet Ashley provides solid offense and defense. And the Horns can certainly score from the perimeter. Both teams have guards that like to penetrate and kick the ball out. Both PGs are able to hit the short jumper although I think Carla is better at that. Both spread the 3pt scoring around although each has a primary threat from BTA (Plumley for OU and Kat for Texas). Both are fast, quick, and athletic.
OU is 4-2 and Texas is 3-4 in Big 12 play. A loss puts the Horns in a precarious situation in regards to at least breaking even in Big 12 play. OU wants to steal a very difficult road game. It should be one heck of a game for everyone involved. With the famous fathers/siblings that various OU players have, there’s always the change that we could catch some of them at the FEC. Among the more well known are: Hakeem Olajuwn, Bubba Paris, and Ben Roethlisberger.
