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LeeLee Bell's Big-Time Debut Leads Oklahoma to Season-Opening Victory

Sahara Williams' big third quarter helped Sooners put away North Carolina.

Oklahoma forward Sahara Williams, seen here against Idaho in last season's NCAA Tournament, had a big game Monday to help the Sooners open the season with a win over North Carolina in Paris. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Welcome to the LeeLee Bell show.

Oklahoma's highly touted freshman forward announced herself forecefully to the college basketball world, scoring 25 points to lead the No. 21 Sooners to a 91-79 win over No. 12 North Carolina on Monday in Paris.

Bell also had eight rebounds and four assists.

The Sooners dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Tar Heels 31-14 in the frame to grab control for good.

Oklahoma did it by aggressively attacking the basket, going 10 of 13 from the free-throw line in the third while North Carolina was just 1 of 2.

Freshman Kate Harpring led the Tar Heels with 21 points but was just 9 of 26 from the field.

Here are three quick takeaways from the Sooners' win:

Oklahoma Overcomes Early Aaliyah Chavez Foul Trouble

In the opening seconds of the second quarter, Oklahoma sophomore Aaliyah Chavez was guarding a Tar Heels' ballhandler on the defensive end when she was whistled for her third foul.

Just like that, Chavez's first half was over as the foul was Chavez's third.

The Sooners were trailing 19-18 when Chavez left the game and it figured that North Carolina would have the advantage.

But that wasn't the case.

After the Tar Heels scored five quick points to extend their lead to six, Oklahoam went on a 20-7 run and eventually took a one-point lead into the break, 39-38.

Bell scored nine of her points and had a pair of assists in the second.

Chavez ultimately finished with 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting (1 of 5 on 3-pointers).

Sahara Williams Comes up big in Third

While Bell made her debut a memoriable one, the most experienced player on Oklahoma's roster did as well.

Sahara Williams scored 13 of her 22 points during the third, hitting a pair of 3-pointers.

North Carolina was just 6 of 20 from the field and 1 of 8 from beyond the arc in the third.

Sooners Struggle in the Fourth

Oklahoma led by 18 going into the final 10 munutes and seemingly had the game well in hand.

But a flurry of missed shots early in the shot clock helped North Carolina claw back into the game and cut the deficit to just 10 with a little more than a minute remaining.

But the Tar Heels missed four consecutive shots and Chavez's 3-pointer with 20 seconds left put the exlamation mark on the win.

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