Photo by Clark McCaskill

OU forward Amanda Thompson during Saturday's win over University of California-Riverside. Clark McCaskill/The Daily.

The University of California-Riverside threw the kitchen sink at the Paris sisters each time they received the ball in the post on Saturday afternoon, but it only created opportunities for the rest of the offense.

Finishing the day with a team-high 18 points, senior center Courtney Paris highlighted a balanced offensive attack, as the OU women’s basketball team (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No. 4 AP) steamrolled UCR 88-57 at the Lloyd Noble Center in the opening round of the Preseason Women’s NIT.

Six Sooners finished in double figures, including 14 points off the bench from junior guard Nyeshia Stevenson, and head coach Sherri Coale liked the way her team responded to the improved opposition after a pair of lopsided exhibition victories.

“I was really pleased with our effort,” Coale said. “Obviously I’m pleased with the balanced scoring … [UC-Riverside] is very, very difficult to guard. I appreciate our guys’ effort in the challenge of trying to defend them.”

Paris, whose 18-point effort moved the Piedmont, Calif., native into second place on OU’s career scoring list, matched her sister Ashley on the glass with 14 rebounds a piece. Together, the two Sooners out-rebounded the Highlanders 28-24.

“We do have a size advantage, so we should out-rebound them,” Coale said. “They spent most of the night running their offense above the free throw line, which is effective and difficult to defend, but if you can get them to miss, then you have a good shot at getting the rebound.”

The Sooners’ efficiency on offense told the story early on, as they built a 48-29 lead and closed out the first half shooting 55 percent from the field.

Despite a slight drop off in shooting in the second frame (44 percent), OU maintained its near-30-point cushion through physical and opportunistic defense, picking off UCR passes left-and-right for eight second-half steals and converting 18 points off of turnovers.

The Sooners return to action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. for second-round tournament action, when they host the winner of Middle Tennessee-Lafayette, which tips off at tonight at 7.