Ana Llanusa leads No. 20 Oklahoma Sooners past West Virginia Mountaineers
No. 20 Oklahoma women sink W. Virginia 98-77 behind Llanusa
Ana Llanusa scored 28 points, shooting 11 for 13, Madi Williams scored 24 and No. 20 Oklahoma pulled away from West Virginia for a 98-77 road win on Saturday in a Big 12 opener for both teams.
Taylor Robertson scored 18 for the Sooners shooting 6 for 10 from behind the arc. It marked the 41st game of her career that the redshirt senior has made at least five 3s in a game.
Oklahoma posted an 8-0 run in the final 1:45 of the third quarter in what had been a back-and-forth period and led 69-62 at the end of it. The Sooners continued their flurry outscoring West Virginia 11-3 to start the fourth for an 80-65 advantage and cruised from there.
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The Sooners shot 11 for 19 in the first quarter including 6 for 8 from beyond the 3-point line. Robertson made all three of her 3s in the quarter, Oklahoma (11-1) built an 18-7 lead and finished up 30-19 after one.
West Virginia countered and seized control of the second and outscored the Sooners 28-14 as JJ Quinerly scored 15 in the quarter making 5 of 7 baskets. Madisen Smith made three foul shots with 1:45 before halftime and the Mountaineers took their first lead at 44-42. West Virginia closed the half up 47-44.
Quinerly finished with a career-high 28 points shooting 10 for 15 and Madisen Smith scored 23 for the Mountaineers (9-3).
Oklahoma hosts No. 23 Baylor on Tuesday. West Virginia travels to 15th-ranked Iowa State on Wednesday.
Young throws for 5 TDs, Alabama tops K-State in Sugar Bowl
Bryce Young passed for 321 yards and five touchdowns in a game that other top NFL prospects might have skipped, and No. 5 Alabama responded to an early two-score deficit with 35 straight points to defeat 11th-ranked Kansas State 45-20 in the Sugar Bowl on Saturday.
While a number of pro-bound college stars sat out bowl games that were not part of the College Football Playoff, the Crimson Tide and Wildcats had their best prospects on the field and making a number of memorable plays — from Young's pivotal passes, to Kansas State running back Deuce Vaughn's 88-yard touchdown run to interceptions by Alabama's Jordan Battle and Brian Branch.
Young was substituted out during a series in the fourth quarter, raising his right hand to Alabama fans who loudly rose to their feet as the former Heisman Trophy winner trotted to the sideline.
Jermaine Burton caught three passes for 87 yards and a touchdown for Alabama (11-2). Tide running back Jahmyr Gibbs had 142 yards from scrimmage — 76 rushing and 66 receiving. Young's other touchdowns went to Isaiah Bond (6 yards), Cameron Latu (1 yard), Ja'Corey Brooks (32 yards) and Kobe Prentice (47 yards). Jase McClelland added a 17-yard scoring run.
Kansas State (10-4) entered its first Sugar Bowl on a four-game winning streak and was riding high after knocking off No. 3 TCU — a CFP team — in the Big 12 title game.
MUSIC CITY BOWL: Joe Labas threw for 139 yards and a touchdown in his first start and the Iowa Hawkeyes posted the first shutout in the Music City Bowl’s 24 years by beating Kentucky 21-0 on Saturday. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz capped his 24th season by matching the late Joe Paterno for the most bowl victories among Big Ten coaches with his 10th. Iowa got a bit of payback for last season's loss to Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl. The Hawkeyes defense outscored its offense, returning two interceptions for TDs in the second quarter. Kentucky finished the season losing for the third time in four games.
ORANGE BOWL: Joe Milton passed for 251 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 6 Tennessee finished off its best season in more than two decades by topping No. 10 Clemson 31-14 in the Orange Bowl. Squirrel White, Bru McCoy and Ramel Keyton had the scoring catches for the 11-2 Volunteers, who matched their best record since 2001. Cade Klubnik, in his first start for Clemson, completed 30 of 54 passes for 320 yards for the 11-3 Tigers. But Clemson just kept coming up empty on chances. The Tigers got into Tennessee territory on nine of their first 10 possessions. They turned those trips into only two field goals.
Falcons practice squad WR Cameron Batson arrested after police chase
An NFL wide receiver currently on the Atlanta Falcons practice squad was arrested on Saturday following a traffic stop.
Atlanta police said former Millwood standout Cameron Batson, 27, was stopped on an interstate highway about 2 a.m. Saturday for failing to maintain his lane and speeding, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
After a field sobriety test was conducted, police say that Batson was drunk and attempted to arrest him. An altercation then took place causing an officer on the scene to fire his weapon.
Batson re-entered his vehicle and crashed a short time later at which time, he fled the vehicle and was later captured.
Batson and an officer were taken to the hospital to treat unspecified injuries.
Batson went undrafted in the 2018 NFL draft after playing at Texas Tech. He signed with the Tennessee Titans and spent four season, appearing 27 games, catching 22 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns.
—Staff and wire reports
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU vs. West Virginia: Ana Llanusa leads Sooners past Mountaineers
