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Plumley, Rush shoot Oklahoma into second round

Mar 17, 2007 - 7:06 PM AUSTIN, Texas (Ticker) -- Oklahoma got all it could handle from Southeast Missouri State. Jenna Plumley and Leah Rush were up to the challenge.

Plumley scored 20 points and Rush added 19 as the third-seeded Sooners posted a 74-60 victory over the No. 14 Redhawks in an NCAA Tournament first-round matchup in the Dayton Region.

Oklahoma's best player is center Courtney Paris, who took a back seat to Plumley and Rush as Southeast Missouri paid extra attention to the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year.

Paris scored 13 points and had 11 rebounds for Oklahoma (27-4), which made 10-of-17 3-pointers sparked by Plumley and Rush.

Plumley was 7-of-12 from the field, including 6-of-10 from the arc. The Redhawks held a 22-14 lead with 11:31 left in the first half, but Plumley capped a 12-1 run with a 3-pointer to give the Sooners a 26-23 lead just under five minutes later.

Rush hit three 3-pointers and was 8-of-12 from the field. She gave Oklahoma a 37-34 lead with a 3-pointer just before the half. The Sooners pushed the lead to 48-38 five minutes into the second half on a layup by Chelsi Welch.

Sonya Daugherty scored 25 points and had 10 rebounds for the Redhawks (24-8), who won the regular-season and conference tournament championships in the Ohio Valley Conference.