The OU women’s basketball team was back in action without the services of sophomore guard Whitney Hand Thursday night, but the Sooners didn’t need her.

The Sooners were able to put down the University of Texas-Arlington 100-67.

Junior forward Carlee Roethlisberger started in place of the injured Hand and had the best game of her career. Roethlisberger came out shooting and was lights-out from the 3-point line.

She finished the game with a career high and led all scorers with 29 points. She also pulled down seven rebounds.

“When you are making shots it helps make your game flow,” said Roethlisberger, “I was not having to think about adjusting my shot, it helped me move around and do more things.”

The Mavericks did give the Sooners a run for their money in the first half. UTA played a zone that forced the Sooners to take outside jump shots, and took away the post presence of senior center Abi Olajuwon. Olajuwon was held scoreless for the entire first half and only attempted one shot.

“Communication,” said head coach Sherri Coale, “We did not talk in the first half and that was our biggest problem.”

The Sooners also struggled with rebounding on the defensive end of the floor. UTA was able to record eight offensive rebounds that resulted in 12 second-chance points.

One bright spot in the first half for the Sooners was the play of junior guard Nyeshia Stevenson. She was 5-of-8 from the field and finished with 13 points in the first half, and finished the game with a career high 21 points.

The Sooners were trailing late in the first half but put together a 5-0 run and went into halftime up one, 42-41.

At the start of the second half the Sooners came out strong with a 12-2 run that put them up by double digits. Olajuwon finally got involved in the game and scored five points during the run. Olajuwon came alive in the second half and scored all of 12 of her points in the second half.

“We made a few adjustments at halftime,” said Coale, “Offensively we needed to use our post, we had an advantage down there, and obviously Abi came out and was the difference I thought.”

In the second half the Sooners turned up the heat and put pressure on the Mavericks offense.

The Sooners were able to force turnovers using both full and half-court traps to take UTA out of their rhythm. Midway through the second half the Sooners increased their lead to as much as 25.

The Sooners were much more accurate in the second half and shot like a different team compared to the first half.

They shot 64 percent from the field and were on fire from the 3-point line making 5-of-7 three’s for 71 percent.

After the Sooners increased their lead to 30 late in the second half they were able to cruise to the victory.

The Sooners will be back in action this weekend when they take on the University of Arkansas on Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center.