Pepperdine Falls Short

Courtney Paris raised her hand to come out, then trotted past Oklahoma’s bench and down a tunnel.

It was only a few minutes into the game, so she must have had an injury or an equipment problem, right? Nope.

Told to drink plenty of water to fight the effects of Denver’s mile-high altitude, Paris apparently overdid it.

“Before the game I started feeling like I was gagging,” she said. “I had to throw up. I went to the back, got it taken care of, and when I came out it was gone.”

Paris, a freshman, had her way inside for 27 points and 11 rebounds in just 21 minutes, and the Sooners overcame a sluggish start to open the NCAA tournament with a 78-66 victory over Pepperdine on Saturday in the San Antonio Regional.

Oklahoma (30-4) will play Brigham Young on Monday in the second round.

The Sooners had trouble getting the ball to Paris in the post early against the Waves (14-17), forcing passes and looking away when she was double-teamed. Then came the trip down the tunnel.

Though an inch shorter at 6-foot-3, Paris used her strength to bull past Pepperdine’s Teiosha George inside.

Paris finished 11 for 13 from the field, blocked four shots and passed Texas’ Edwina Brown’s Big 12 single-season record of 722 points before heading to the bench midway through the second half with Oklahoma leading, 59-33.

“I don’t know how much you can say about Courtney that hasn’t been said before,” Pepperdine Coach Julie Rousseau said. “I got a chance to recruit her at Stanford and see her dominate as a high school player. She’s definitely carried that over to the college ranks.”

Pepperdine opened the season 1-6 before winning eight of its final 10 games, including three straight for a surprising title in the West Coast Conference tournament to become the fourth team to qualify for the NCAA tournament with a losing record.

The 15th-seeded Waves seemed to have hope for the upset in the early going, using solid defense to keep the score close in the first 10 minutes, but their miserable shooting from the field helped Oklahoma pull away.

Pepperdine shot eight for 32 in the first half and not much better in the second, finishing at 35% to drop to 0-4 in NCAA tournament games. Daphanie Kennedy led the Waves with 31 points, 23 in the second half as Pepperdine cut into Oklahoma’s 29-point lead against mostly reserves.

Said Rousseau: “I think that everyone got to really enjoy what I’ve had an opportunity to enjoy all year, and that’s just how tough our women really are, how strong they are, strong in character.”