STILLWATER, Okla. – Aaryn Ellenberg scored 23 points in her Bedlam rivalry debut, Danielle Robinson added 20 points and seven assists and No. 13 Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State 82-77 for its seventh straight win in the series.
Ellenberg put the Sooners (16-4, 6-1 Big 12) ahead to stay with a jumper from the right elbow with 5:11 to play, Robinson followed with a left-handed basket in the lane to make it 76-72 and Oklahoma held on with free throws the rest of the way.
Vicky McIntyre scored 16 points to lead the Cowgirls (13-6, 1-5), who scored 19 points more than they had in any other conference game so far this season. But McIntyre was forced to the bench with four fouls midway through the second half, and Oklahoma State couldn't keep up its torrid 3-point shooting down the stretch.
The Cowgirls, last in the Big 12 at 28 percent on the season, started out 7-for-13 from 3-point range before missing their last four attempts.
Oklahoma finished 12-for-24 and then were able to hold on after Whitney Hand's airball on the Sooners' final attempt of the game. Ellenberg grabbed the rebound and was fouled, hitting her first free throw to make it 77-75 before missing the second.
The Sooners' Joanna McFarland came away with that miss, and also went 1-for-2 at the line. Precious Robinson and McIntyre missed at the other end for Oklahoma State, and Danielle Robinson hit a pair of free throws to push Oklahoma's lead to five with 41.6 seconds left.
The Sooners have won 24 of the last 25 in the series, with the only loss coming at Gallagher-Iba Arena in 2008 — when this year's seniors were freshmen.
Oklahoma surged into the lead with a run of nine straight points that featured back-to-back 3-pointers from Carlee Roethlisberger. Lyndsey Cloman's free throw put the Sooners up 57-52 with 11:44 remaining, only for the Cowgirls to answer right back with an 8-0 spurt.
Jenni Bryan followed Tiffany Bias' 3-pointer with one of her own from the left wing to put Oklahoma State back ahead 60-57.
Ellenberg's runner evened the score at 60, forging the first of six ties down the stretch.
Young and McIntyre established Oklahoma State's inside presence early, helping the Cowgirls score the first eight points of the game. Oklahoma was the first to snap out of a drought in which both teams failed to score for over 4 minutes, then put together a 9-0 run sparked by Morgan Hook's 3-pointer from the left wing.
Cloman's basket inside finished a 4-for-4 run by the Sooners and made it 18-15 Oklahoma.
But the Cowgirls kept finding success inside, racking up a 22-10 advantage in points in the paint and outrebounding the Sooners 20-10 to start the game.
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