Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Oklahoma
No. 17 Oklahoma Slips Past Texas Tech, 63-57
January 18, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2006
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Freshman center Courtney Paris had her 10th straight double-double, finishing with 17 points and 19 rebounds as No. 17 Oklahoma beat Texas Tech 63-57 on Wednesday night.
Oklahoma (14-4, 4-0 Big 12) remained the conference's only unbeaten team in league play heading into its game Saturday at defending national champion Baylor.
Texas Tech (7-8, 2-2) was without head coach Marsha Sharp, who was briefly hospitalized earlier in the day after suffering flu-like symptoms during a shootaround at the Lloyd Noble Center.
Sharp, 53, felt nauseous and short of breath and was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure, team spokeswoman Tammi Hoffman said. Sharp was released after tests came back normal.
The medication Sharp took for the nausea caused her to be too sedated to coach the Lady Raiders on Wednesday, Hoffman said. Assistant coach Krista Gerlich ran the bench in the absence of Sharp, who plans to return Saturday, when Texas Tech hosts Nebraska.
The Lady Raiders cut a 13-point second-half deficit to one midway through the period before Oklahoma pulled away again.
Texas Tech simply had no answer for Paris, who had her 15th double-double of the season -- tops in NCAA Division I. She's scored in double figures in each of Oklahoma's 18 games.
The Sooners opened the second half on a 7-2 run to take a 44-31 lead on a basket by Paris with 16:42 left. Texas Tech rallied and pulled within 49-48 on center LaToya Davis' three-point play with 10:12 left.
The Sooners pushed their lead back to 10 points, at 58-48, with 6:34 left. Texas Tech came within five points three times after that, but no closer. The Lady Raiders didn't make a basket during the final four minutes.
The Lady Raiders made just 14-of-25 free throws (56 percent) and shot 29.7 percent from the field. Alesha Robertson led Texas Tech with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Oklahoma, which had a 52-40 rebounding edge, used a 10-0 run to close the first half and take a 37-29 at the break.
