Dec. 2, 2004

NORMAN, Okla. - Lamar senior Demela Lowe scored a team-high 11 points and freshman Chelsea Gugliotta grabbed nine rebounds, but the Lady Cardinals upset bid of the University of Oklahoma came up short on Thursday night, as the Sooners escaped with a 60-42 non-conference victory at the Lloyd Noble Center.

In front of a crowd of 4,349 Sooner fans, the Lady Cardinals (3-1) dropped their first game of the year, while OU improved to 4-1. It was Lamar's first-ever meeting with the Sooners, who will now travel to Beaumont next season in the return game of the home-and-home series.

"I definitely think we could have won this game," head coach Leonard Drake said following the loss. "We were in the game the whole time and I'm looking forward to them (Oklahoma's) coming to our place (the Montagne Center) next year."

The game began with an 8-0 Sooner run during the first 2:38 of the opening half. OU's Dionnah Jackson scored five of her game-high 24 points during that span, helping Oklahoma grab the early lead.

After shaking off their early jitters, the Lady Cardinals began to settle down and Lowe helped the situation with back-to-back jumpers, which cut the deficit to 8-4. Oklahoma pushed its advantage to 13 points (20-7) after a three-pointer by Chelsi Welch, but LU countered with a 7-0 run to trim the lead to six with 8:22 remaining in the half. Minutes later, Oklahoma used a 5-0 run of its own to expand the lead to 14 (32-18) with 2:24 on the clock.

Three Lady Cardinal free throws in the final 1:20 trimmed the OU lead to 11 as the teams entered their respective locker rooms with a halftime score of 32-21. Lamar forced the Sooners into13 first-half turnovers, but the Lady Cardinals were only able to muster a 23.5 field goal percentage (8-of-34).

In the second half, the Sooners maintained a double-digit lead throughout, but the final outcome was not decided until late in the game. Lamar battled throughout the game and, down by 13 points (44-31), appeared to be on the verge of a run after Alexis Timpone's three-pointer with 10:36 remaining. Unfortunately, a 6:22 scoring drought allowed the Sooners a chance to open a 21-point lead from which the Lady Cardinals were unable to recover.

Lamar trimmed three points off its deficit down the stretch, but with :26 left to play, Krista Sanchez's lay-up concluded the game's scoring and the Sooners emerged with a 60-42 win.

The Lady Cardinals forced OU into 24 turnovers, while committing 22 themselves. The Lady Cardinals made 13-of-23 free throws and grabbed 38 rebounds, compared to an 8-of-18 performance from the charity stripe and 45 rebounds for Oklahoma.

Gugliotta, a 6-0 forward from Bicknell, Indiana, finished the game with six points and one steal in 29 minutes, while Lowe added a team-high three assists and three steals in a return appearance to her home state.

Jackson finished with a double-double for OU, pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds and adding three assists, three blocks and three steals in 35 minutes.

The Lady Cardinals return home for their next game, hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 5 at the Montagne Center.