Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale knows what she has in all-world talent Courtney Paris. True to form, Kansas University found out first-hand in a Senior Night loss Wednesday to the No. 13 Sooners, 76-70.

For the 6-foot-4 sophomore forward, it was pretty much another night in the paint, with 32 points and 12 rebounds. KU held close, keeping the game tied as late as the 4:56 mark in the second half. But no matter how many bodies and fouls the Jayhawks threw at Paris, she couldn’t be completely contained.

“She’s just a dominant force,” Coale said. “What I liked most about her performance tonight was that when push came to shove, and we had to have a basket, there wasn’t one soul in this gym who had a wrong impression about where we were going with the ball.

“We all knew, KU’s players all knew, you (reporters) all knew, the people in the stands knew, the cheerleaders, the girl who’s having her 10th birthday on the baseline, she knew – everybody knew and we were still able to get the ball to Courtney.”

One factor which kept KU in the game so long was porous free throw shooting on the Sooners’ part. The visitors went 18-of-32, including an 8-of-16 showing from Courtney Paris.

The Jayhawks were also able to match OU’s frenetic pace to start the game. Twin sister Ashley Paris scored OU’s first eight points, but behind an early three from freshman Kelly Kohn and multiple slashes to the rim by senior guard Shaquina Mosley, KU held tight.

Mosley had a team-high 20 points, while Kohn for the second straight game hit a trio of treys and scored 16. Freshman Sade Morris had 13, and senior Sharita Smith accounted for nine in her final game in Allen Fieldhouse. Freshman Danielle McCray, coming off of a career-high 25 points against K-State, fouled out in 13 minutes of play, scoring eight points on 4-of-9 shooting.

The difference for Oklahoma was senior point guard Britney Brown, who scored 14 points – 10 above her season average of 3.7. Ashley Paris scored 16.

“Someone said to me it’s too much Paris, but it’s too much Britney Brown,” KU coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “Courtney did about what we thought Courtney would probably be capable of doing, but we needed to step up and guard the complimentary players better and we didn’t do that. But I thought we competed and had opportunities to take advantage and we did.”

For more on this story, read tomorrow’s Lawrence Journal-World.