Nov. 22, 2007
CANCUN, Mexico (AP) - Courtney Paris had 16 points and 19 rebounds, and sister Ashley scored 21 points to help No. 10 Oklahoma win for the first time this season, 69-57 over No. 14 Arizona State on Thursday in the Caribbean Challenge.
"I think people pay a lot of attention to Courtney (Paris) and when that happens, then Ashley (Paris) draws the lesser of the two defenders," Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale said. "She took that as a challenge tonight and took it right at them. I think (Arizona State) had to redraw their game plan on the interior. A lot of the credit goes to our guards for getting the basketball to the right place at the right time."
Danielle Robinson added 18 points for Oklahoma (1-2), which opened the season with losses to No. 3 Maryland and No. 1 Tennessee.
Briann January and Dymond Simon scored 16 points each for the Sun Devils (2-2).
"We're disappointed in how we played. We were sloppy in the first half, the turnovers did not allow us to get into our defense, in the second half we shot better and put up a fight," Arizona State coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "Credit Oklahoma, but honestly a lot of it was us not playing well. We need to settle down and play hard tomorrow."
Oklahoma shot 60.6 percent from the floor and took a 40-18 lead with 2:58 left in the first half on Courtney Paris' basket, and held the Sun Devils without a field goal for nine minutes until Sybil Dosty scored with 1:34 remaining.
Arizona State closed the first 20 minutes on a 8-4 run to left the score 44-24.
The Sun Devils continued their strong defense in the second half and held Oklahoma without a field goal for nearly 4 minutes to close to 67-54. Robinson scored to end the drought and Oklahoma held on for the 69-57 win.
Arizona State will play Friday against Iowa.