OU sophomore guard Pellington overhauls shot

NORMAN — A year ago, Oklahoma’s Shaina Pellington turned heads in the Big 12 as a freshman, averaging 13.1 points and 2.2 assists per game.

Over the offseason, Pellington turned her attention toward becoming a better pull-up shooter after averaging 49.2 percent from the floor a year ago.

During Monday’s Sooners Media Day, Pellington spoke to The Oklahoman about her shooting overhaul and other topics. Oklahoma hosts an exhibition game next Monday against Northeastern State before opening the season at home Nov. 9 against Western Kentucky.

Q: What was the process of changing your shot like?

A: “I had to change my form over the summer because I didn’t have the greatest of mechanics and that caused me to miss a lot of my shots. It was very frustrating because you’re telling me to change the way I’ve been taught to play basketball. It was frustrating but it’s all worth it because now I’m hitting my shots consistently.”

How much do you think that will affect the way you’re defended?

“Honestly, I just need a little bit of room. It can be a huge gap or anything. You give me space and I’m going to take advantage of it. You watch last season, people would stand five feet away from me and I’d still get to the basket. I know how to exploit my defenders because I knew that that was my weakness, so I had to work around that and find ways to still be able to do me while exploiting the defense. Now that I can shoot and they’re forced to guard me, it makes things so much easier.”

What are the expectations for this team this year?

“We’re trying to get back to a Final Four. That’s always what we want to achieve every year. We see those banners in the gym and we’re like, ‘We need to get back there.’ We want to be the team to do it.”