Twice in a six-game stretch, Oklahoma faced the nation’s top-ranked team and wilted quickly after facing adversity.
When No. 2 Connecticut rolled into town and got out to a big lead, at least coach Sherri Coale saw some progress: Her team put up a fight.
Tiffany Hayes scored 23 points, Bria Hartley added 20 and the Huskies beat Oklahoma 73-55 on Monday night for their 12th straight victory.
The Huskies never trailed on their way to moving to 10-0 all-time in the series, which had become an annual tradition around Valentine’s Day but is set to end after this meeting. Connecticut appeared ready to run away with it in the first 7 minutes but then had to withstand a series of rallies by Oklahoma (16-8).
“It’s never OK — never OK — to lose on your home floor but I am proud of the growth that I saw,’’ Coale said. “We found some passion and we found some fighters.’’
The Huskies (24-2) led 19-4 before two-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant even made it to his seat near courtside, just over 7 minutes into the first half. Stefanie Dolson scored with her left hand under the basket soon after to make it a 17-point lead with 11:57 to go before halftime, and the Huskies seemed to be on their way to duplicating last season’s 41-point blowout last season in Hartford.
Instead, Whitney Hand ignited the first in a series of comeback bids. Oklahoma got the lead down to five before halftime, then answered another Connecticut run in the second half by scoring seven straight points.
It wasn’t until after a 10-0 run by the Huskies over the final 5 minutes that the game was out of reach.
“I’m really proud that we didn’t give up and we fought and fought and fought and didn’t stop fighting the whole game,’’ Hand said. “I was really proud of everybody.’’
It wasn’t that way when Baylor played at the Lloyd Noble Center on Jan. 26. The Bears also built a quick 17-point lead, then the Sooners made one charge to get back within six. When Baylor responded, Oklahoma wilted and ended up losing by 31 points.
The Sooners lost to the Bears by 37 in a rematch last week.
“I just really felt like there were times on the court when it was just fun and you didn’t really look at the scoreboard,’’ Hand said. “That was kind of our goal, and we got it to nine and I could have sworn we would have won but obviously we didn’t.’’
Hand played 40 minutes and led Oklahoma with 18 points, but she was the only one of the Sooners who could score with regularity against the nation’s top defense.
Aaryn Ellenberg, once the Sooners’ most dangerous scorer, continued a prolonged slump by missing eight of her first nine shots. She has shot 16 for 75 (21 percent) over the last seven games — a stretch included the two Baylor games.
