No. 3 Oklahoma 77, No. 21 UCLA 68

11/22/2006 12:09 AM

By ANDREW DALTON
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -No. 3 Oklahoma proved it had a perimeter game to go with its All-American center.

Courtney Paris had her usual big night with 24 points and 17 rebounds, but the Sooners also used torrid outside shooting to beat No. 21 UCLA 77-68 on Tuesday.

Oklahoma went 9-for-16 from behind the 3-point line to win its 18th-straight regular season game and beat its first ranked team of the season.

Leah Rush scored 15 points going 3-for-3 from behind the arc and Chelsi Welch scored 13 points going 3-for-5.

Paris, who went 10-for-14 from the field, sat on the bench for more than seven minutes with two fouls late the first half, and that's when Rush and Welch got hot and Oklahoma took control.

``I wish those guys had taken those shots early in the game, and it might not have ever been close,'' said Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale. ``That's the strength of our team. We're not one-dimensional.''

UCLA coach Kathy Oliver agreed.

``That's why they're the No. 3 team in the country,'' she said. ``They've got a dominating center and great perimeter shooters to go with her.''

Noelle Quinn led UCLA (2-2) with 22 points and seven assists. The Bruins two losses have both come to top 5 teams. They lost to No. 5 Tennessee last Thursday.

After a frustrating first half on the bench, Paris took over in the second, leading the Sooners on a 26-12 run to open the half.

``When it's close, you want to be out there,'' she said. ``But you've got to do a job of adjusting to any type of officiating.''

She scored the Sooners first four points of the half and later used a rebound and free throw to give them their biggest lead 62-41 with 10:07 to play.

UCLA pulled within seven 73-66 after a three-point play from Quinn with 1:47 to play.

``I'm glad she kept us in the game,'' Oliver said of Quinn. ``They've got they're Courtney, but we've got a player like that, too.''

A rebound and layup from Rush put the Sooners up nine, and a free throw from Britney Brown put the lead back in double digits.

Brown had six assists.

Oklahoma beat UCLA for the second straight year.

Coale said she was glad her team finally got a bit of a challenge late, after three double-digit wins.

``It was so good for us to be in that situation,'' she said. ``We've played three games and we've been clearing the bench. So we haven't had to manage the clock or hit key free throws.''

Oklahoma shot 50.9 percent from the field to UCLA's 38.7 percent.

The Sooners went 4-for-6 from 3-point range in the first half.

After six early lead changes, Oklahoma used an 11-2 run capped by a 3-pointer from Rush to take a 34-25 lead with 3:27 to play in the half.