Oklahoma Holds Off UCLA Women, 83-78

A school-record-setting performance by freshman Courtney Paris helped Oklahoma overcome UCLA’s trio of guards in women’s basketball.

Paris scored 24 points and set an Oklahoma freshman record with 22 rebounds, leading the No. 16-ranked Sooners to an 83-78 victory over No. 22 UCLA on Monday night at Norman, Okla.

“They’re a very good basketball team,” said UCLA Coach Kathy Olivier, whose team trailed, 40-28, at halftime. “They have great size inside, and we just didn’t have an answer for Courtney.”

UCLA rallied from a 19-point, second-half deficit, closing to within one, at 78-77, on Noelle Quinn’s three-point shot from the right wing with 1:14 left.

Paris answered with a field goal inside and, after UCLA’s Nikki Blue missed a driving shot, the Sooners’ Leah Rush made two free throws to give Oklahoma an 82-77 lead with 29.7 seconds left.

Blue made the first of two free throws, and Quinn got the rebound and missed a jump shot with 16 seconds left. Then Ashley Paris made one of two free throws to seal the win for Oklahoma (8-1).

The previous Oklahoma record for rebounds by a freshman was 21, set by Molly McGuire in a 75-62 win at Wichita State on Dec. 10, 1979.

Blue scored 20 of her 23 points in the second half for UCLA. Quinn finished with 18 and Lisa Willis 13 for the Bruins. The trio combined to score 43 of UCLA’s 50 second-half points.

“Huge effort by UCLA’s guards in the second half. That was exactly what we were prepared for and what we’d seen pieces of on film,” Oklahoma Coach Sherri Coale said. “Fortunately, they weren’t able to sustain it for the whole night or we might have had trouble beating them.”

In another women’s top 25 game:

No. 7 North Carolina 77, No. 8 Connecticut 54 -- Ivory Latta had 21 points and five assists at Hartford, Conn., as the Tar Heels (8-0) dealt the Huskies (6-1) their worst home loss since a 20-point defeat to Villanova in 1986.

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SOUTHLAND MEN

Cal State Sacramento 106, Long Beach State 94 -- Jason Harris scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half to lead the Hornets (5-3) over the 49ers (2-4), who are 0-4 on the road. Sacramento opened up the game after taking a 79-78 lead with eight minutes left.