UC Riverside Women's Basketball Drops Season Opener to #4 Oklahoma in WNIT First Round

Saturday, November 15

Norman, Ok

12:00 PM

UC Riverside

Oklahoma

Kemie Nkele scored a career-high 31 points at #4 Oklahoma.

UC Riverside Women's Basketball Drops Season Opener to #4 Oklahoma in WNIT First Round

11/15/2008 2:44:35 PM | Women's Basketball

Kemie Nkele Scores a Career-High 31 Points

Box Score

(Norman, OK) - The UC Riverside women’s basketball team (0-1) traveled to Oklahoma to face the #4 Sooners (1-0) in the first round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) on Saturday afternoon at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, OK. Senior Kemie Nkele (San Diego, CA) shot 12-of-24 from the field for a career-high 31 points as UCR fell 88-57 in the first game of the season.

UCR got on the board first as Nkele drained a three-pointer at the 19:10 mark to give the Highlanders a 3-0 lead. After trading points with the Sooners, consecutive baskets by Tainoisouti Lott (Moreno Valley, CA) and Ronéy Friend (Los Angeles, CA) gave UCR a 9-7 lead with three minutes gone by in the first. OU’s Amanda Thompson then countered with a three-pointer 10 seconds later to give the Sooners a 10-9 lead – a lead in which they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.

Oklahoma started to pull ahead and took a 37-18 lead off a Danielle Robinson free throw with about five minutes remaining in the half. The Highlanders then scored six consecutive points and cut the lead to 13, 37-24, off a Friend layup at the 2:49 mark. However, UCR was not able to capitalize any further as Oklahoma closed out the half strong and went into the locker room with a 48-29 lead.

Nkele started the second half strong by scoring four consecutive baskets for the Highlanders. However, her 20-point second half performance was not enough for UCR as Oklahoma showed why they’re the number four team in the nation by extending their lead to as many as 35 points down the stretch.

Six different OU players scored in double digits, led by the 2007 AP National Player of the Year Courtney Paris’ 16 points and 14 rebounds, which kept her current NCAA-leading consecutive career double-double streak alive at 93. Oklahoma shot 50% from the field (36-of-72) including 32% (8-of-25) from beyond the arc.

UCR was led by Nkele’s 31 points and five boards. Friend added 11 points while Lott scored six points and grabbed five rebounds. The Highlanders shot 41.4% (24-of-58) from the field and 40.0% (4-of-10) from three-point range.

The Highlanders move on to the consolation bracket in the WNIT as they travel to Cullowhee, NC for a Friday, Nov. 21 game against Liberty at 5:00 pm EST. UCR will then play either Western Carolina or Lafayette on Saturday, Nov. 22 to conclude the WNIT.