NORMAN, Okla. — No. 2 Oklahoma kept its distance with four players in double-figure scoring but the Sooners could not stop MTSU's Alysha Clark and her double-double, as Oklahoma tallied an 85-65 victory Wednesday evening in second round action of the Preseason WNIT inside the Lloyd Noble Center.
Clark finished with a game-high of 31 points and 16 rebounds for her first double-double in an MTSU uniform and the 39th of her career. Both were career highs.
Clark was 8-of-18 from the field and 14-of-15 from the foul line, making more trips to the stripe than the entire Sooner squad. Ten of her 16 rebounds came on the defensive glass and she added three assists and three steals in playing the full 40 minutes.
Ashley Paris led Oklahoma with 21 points, while Thompson poured in 20 to go along with her nine boards. Roethlisberger added 11 points on 5-of-6 field goals.
MTSU will return home to play host to Indiana at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Murphy Center in another Preseason WNIT game.
MTSU jumped out in front early on the strength of a pair of 3-pointers, one each by Chelsia Lymon and Brandi Brown, and claimed an 8-4 edge at 17:38. However, the Sooners kept returning to Ashley Paris on their offensive possessions, as the senior converted six of the team's first eight points and the teams entered the first media timeout knotted at eight apiece.
The Lady Raiders hung tough through the next four minutes and used a short 5-0 run to take a 14-12 lead. The spurt was highlighted by a triple from Jackie Pickel and capped by a backcourt steal by Lymon off an inbound pass and open dish to Clark at 12:34 forcing a timeout to be called. Oklahoma (2-0) responded on its next possession by feeding Carlee Roethlisberger for a driving baseline layup and the teams went to the under-12 minute timeout tied again, 14-14.
The basket by Roethlisberger ignited a 13-0 streak by the Sooners, as the hosts raced out to a 25-14 advantage over the next six-and-a-half minutes before Clark halted the run with a jumper at 6:10. She then rattled home a trey from the top of the arc to bring the Lady Raiders within 10, 29-19. Clark added her first set of free throws at 3:49 to again cut the deficit to 11, but Oklahoma pushed its lead to 15, 36-21, which included the only field goal of the half by first team All-American Courtney Paris at 3:13.
Clark added two more from the charity stripe at 2:09, but the Sooners ended the half on a 7-0 run, including a 3-pointer from Whitney Hand at the 1:25 mark, to take a 43-26 lead into the locker rooms.
After Clark and Emily Queen scored for MT early in the second half as the Lady Raiders netted four of the stanza's first six points, Oklahoma countered with a 12-5 run to build its lead to 22, 57-35, with 14:24 remaining.
Clark nearly put the team on her back over the next minute-and-a-half, making a pair of free throws coming out of the under-16 timeout, adding consecutive field goals and chipping in another set of charity tosses at 13:21. Anne Marie Lanning then drilled a 3-pointer with just over 13 minutes left bringing MTSU (1-1) back within 12, 57-45, and forcing another Sooner timeout to be called.
Oklahoma, however, went back to Courtney Paris for the start of an 8-3 run with Lymon nailing her second 3-pointer of the contest at 11:50 for a 65-48 edge as the teams passed the 10-minute mark.
Lanning connected on another trey with just over five minutes left and Clark made two free throws at the 4:06 mark to pull the Raiders within 21, 78-57. Clark then drew the fifth foul on Courtney Paris at 3:20, removing her from the game with 13 points and 13 rebounds in 28 minutes.
Clark's two points from the foul line were part of the team's final eight markers, six of which were made from the charity stripe.
Pickel joined her in double figures with 11 points on the strength of three 3-pointers. The Lady Raiders converted nine overall from 3-point territory.
