No. 15 Oklahoma 71, Texas 67
Any loss to Oklahoma hurts the Texas Longhorns.
When it comes after a big second half rally and drops the program to a historic low, well, that feels even worse.
Danielle Robinson overcame early shooting struggles to score 30 points, including five in overtime, as the No. 15 Sooners beat the Longhorns 71-67 on Sunday, sending Texas to its worst start in the Big 12.
The Sooners (13-3, 3-0 Big 12) have won four in a row in Austin. The Longhorns have two overtime defeats and a loss to No. 1 Baylor in their three-game skid. Texas had never been 0-3 in conference play, even dating back to the old Southwest Conference.
''I'm just extremely disappointed,'' Texas coach Gail Goestenkors said. ''We have to start playing smarter basketball.''
Statistically, little would have suggested Oklahoma would win this one.
The Sooners blew an 11-point leade in the second half, shot just 31 percent, went 3 of 21 on 3-pointers and were outrebounded 56-45. But they also forced 23 Texas turnovers, went 20 of 25 from the free throw line and kept going to Robinson, who eventually shook off the bad start to carry her team.
Robinson missed 13 of her first 16 shots with a couple of blown layups but kept firing away. She also made 8 of 10 free throws.
The Longhorns were even worse on offense, shooting 30 percent and just 22 of 35 from the free throw line.
''We feel very fortunate to shoot the way we did and come out of Austin, Texas with a win,'' Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale said. ''Maybe it speaks volumes for our defense.''
Texas had none of its turnovers in the final 10 minutes of regulation as the Longhorns rallied from a 49-38 deficit.
Kathleen Nash scored 20 for the Longhorns (11-6, 0-3). Chassidy Fussell, who scored 10 points in the final six minutes of regulation, forced overtime with her tough layup with 27 seconds left that tied it at 59-59.
The Sooners had to play overtime without centers Joanna McFarland and Jelena Cerina, who both fouled out. Oklahoma opened the extra period with Ellenberg's 3-pointer. Whitney Hand and Robinson made four free throws to quickly push Oklahoma to a 66-59 lead.
Robinson said she never lost confidence in her shot, even when she couldn't get anything to fall in early.
''You can miss a couple, but that shouldn't stop you from shooting,'' Robinson said.
Texas got back within three on Fussell's jumper before Oklahoma's Carlee Roethlisberger got an easy put-back layup and Robinson followed it with a floating jumper to make it 70-63.
''We were undersized and I think they battled valiantly,'' Coale said. ''And then we had Danielle Robinson.''