Oklahoma Sooners at DePaul Blue Demons

DePaul beats Oklahoma in highest-scoring regulation tourney game

The Blue Demons managed to scrape together the one defensive stop they needed to win it.

And they got some help from the sideline.

Megan Rogowski scored 24 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 40.5 seconds left, and DePaul beat the Sooners 104-100 on Saturday in the first round of the tournament.

"'Survive and advance' has become a cliche," DePaul coach Doug Bruno said, explaining that he prefers to have control of his fate and have "something to do with dictating your survival. What are we doing to dictate our survival?"

On this day at least, they were scoring.

Chanise Jenkins added 21 points and Brittany Hrynko had 19 for the seventh-seeded Blue Demons (28-6). They blew a 19-point lead with under 16 minutes left, before rallying to earn a spot in the second round against second-seeded Duke (28-6) on Monday night.

Aaryn Ellenberg had 36 points and seven 3s for the 10th-seeded Sooners (18-15), who set a tournament record for most points by a losing team in a regulation game.

"The most I can take away from it is my effort," Ellenberg said. "I gave all I had for 40 minutes. I don't have anything to hang my head about."

In what Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale called "a great showcase of what women's basketball is all about," her Sooners easily surpassed the previous record of 94 set by Michigan State in 1991.

The overall record is held by Duke, which lost 121-120 to Alabama in four overtimes in 1995.

Oklahoma's Portia Durrett tied it at 97 with a layup with 48.2 seconds left.

Hrynko drove into the lane and found Rogowski in the left corner for an open 3 that put DePaul ahead for good.

"'Rogo' hit the shot," Bruno said, "but Wryngo created the shot."

Rogowski extended the lead to 102-97 with two free throws with 15.7 seconds left before Ellenberg swished a 3 with 7.1 seconds to go to make it a two-point game.

Jenkins hit two free throws with 6 seconds left and Ellenberg missed a 3 as the buzzer sounded.

Jessica January scored 14 points for DePaul, while Podkowa had 13 and Jasmine Penny finished with 11.

The Blue Demons trailed by five points before using a 12-2 run led by guards Hrynko and January to take a five-point lead. Jenkins started the burst with a layup before Hrynko hit back-to-back 3s, and Podkowa's free throw put the Blue Demons up 91-86 with 4:24 left.

Sharane Campbell had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Kaylon Williams had 12 points and Hook finished with 11 points on 3-of-13 shooting for the Sooners.

Ellenberg's big 3 from the corner with 13½ minutes to go made it 69-61.

The Sooners then reeled off 10 straight points during the 20-4 run that gave them their first lead since midway through the first half. They went up 84-79 on Campbell's layup with 6½ minutes left, and scored on 22 of 27 trips downcourt.

"We got that lead," Ellenberg said. "We should have built on it."

How can I watch Sooners vs. Blue Demons?

• TV Channel: Sooners vs Blue Demons 2021 College Basketball, week 1, is broadcasted on ESPN2.
• Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Location: Durham, NC
Attendance: 3,013 | Capacity: