Oklahoma women's basketball: Short-handed Sooners hammer Northwestern State, 96-35

Thursday, Coale did just that; she played all nine Sooners available to her.

Junior guard Aaryn Ellenberg led the Sooners with 22 points; freshman Nicole Kornet, who made her first career start in Manning's place, scored 19 points on 7 of 10 shooting.

“Pretty pumped,” Kornet said of getting her first start. “It's not the way you want to start, with Maddie going down or anything, but you just take what you get.”

Manning had entered the starting lineup during the Sooners' swing through Hawaii, where she started all three of OU's Rainbow Wahine Showdown victories and, in each game, scored in double figures.

Then Wednesday, near the end of practice, she fell to the floor with a torn ACL in her right knee.

“Maddie Manning's gonna be a great player here,” Hand said. “Absolutely. One of the best. And I can say that with full confidence.

“I have every ounce of confidence that this injury is not gonna set her back, and she's gonna be even more of a warrior than she was before.”