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Home > SECWB News & More! > NCAA Tournament > Recaps > The Price is Right (Ole Miss v. Oklahoma recap)
The Price is Right (Ole Miss v. Oklahoma recap)
by LeAnne Harrington
Posted: March 26th, 2007 @ 4:00am
Tonight’s Dayton regional semifinal coverage of the game between the #7 seed Ole Miss Lady Rebels and the #3 seed Oklahoma Sooners opened with Ole Miss All-America candidate Armintie Price leading her team in song in the locker room prior to the game. They might want to add the theme music to “The Price is Right” to their repertoire since that was certainly the theme that played out in this game. In a highly anticipated battle between two of the premiere players in the women’s game today, Price’s Lady Rebels were the ones humming the winning tune at the end, defeating the Sooners 90-82.
Another appropriate song for this matchup could have been “Hot in Here” -- the gym in Dayton is not air conditioned, and the game time temp hovered between 90 and 92 degrees. One would think the stifling heat would have caused Ole Miss to dial it down a notch on their stifling defense, but that was not the case. The Rebels know only one style of play -- fast and faster -- and they are not going to deviate from it now. And why should they? It’s been quite successful so far in the 2007 NCAAs, helping them knock off a pesky TCU team, and then was the deciding factor in their defeats of the number #2 and #3 seeds in this region.
Oklahoma entered the game with a gaudy 27-5 record behind the play of Courtney Paris, who was on a 60 game double-double streak. She stretched that streak to 61, tallying 31 points and 20 rebounds. Personally, I think Paris’ double-double streak will continue long into her career as long as the officials forget how to count to three. Courtney and her twin Ashley don’t just camp out in the lane -- they set down their tents, start a bonfire and roast marshmallows in the paint.
Ole Miss’ Armintie Price matched Courtney Paris point for point, tallying 31 points of her own, to go with 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. The five steals put her in Cheryl Miller’s elite company: they are the only two players in NCAA history to rack up 2000 points, 1000 rebounds, 400 assists and 400 steals in their collegiate careers.
Looking at the stats for this game, Ole Miss seems to have been beaten in most of the major categories. Oklahoma shot 46.4% for the game to Ole Miss’ 37.8%. Oklahoma outrebounded Ole Miss 46-41. So what were the deciding factors? The Sooners beat the Rebels from the charity stripe percentage-wise, but the Sooners only went to the line 14 times, making 11 of them, compared to the Rebels’ astounding 41 free throw attempts, where they connected 29 times. The game was ultimately decided by the two categories that Ole Miss’ defense contributes to most directly: steals and turnovers. Ole Miss had 16 steals compared to Oklahoma’s 5, and the Rebs forced the Sooners into 26 turnovers, scoring 29 points off those turnovers, while only turning the ball over 11 times themselves. Ole Miss dictated the pace of the game from start to finish and Oklahoma is not used to being dictated to.
Ole Miss coach Carol Ross cannot say enough good things about Armintie Price. She said it’s like having a cheerleader, a coach and an All-American all wrapped up into one. Ross said Price has the wisdom of a wise old soul but plays with the exuberance of a little kid, and that she feels the responsibility to keep winning so more fans can get to know what a special player Armintie Price is. You can bet Pat Summitt and the Lady Vols already know who she is. And I’d be willing to bet Candace Parker and company are hoping the theme to “The Price is Right” doesn’t drown out “Rocky Top” when these two teams face one another in the Elite Eight Tuesday night.
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