No. 10 Oklahoma looks to avenge last year’s losses to Texas A&M
Feb. 11, 2008
NORMAN, Okla. – No. 10 Oklahoma (17-4, 7-2 Big 12) seeks revenge against the only Big 12 team to sweep the Sooners last season when Texas A&M (17-6, 5-4) comes to the Lloyd Noble Center.
The game will broadcast on the Sooner Sports Network. On TV (KAUT-43 in Oklahoma City), Bob Carpenter will call the play-by-play and Kenny Mossman will provide color analysis. Listen on the radio (KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City) as Brian Brinkley and Tara DeGiusti have the call.
Tip off is 7 p.m. Central.
PACK THE PLACE PINK
In conjunction with the WBCA’s “Think Pink” Week, the University of Oklahoma is hosting “Pack the Place Pink Night” at the Lloyd Noble Center. Every seat in the arena will have pink breast cancer awarness T-shirt for fans to wear during the game. The official game ball is embossed with the pink ribbon logo and made by Nike specifically for the game, the Sooners will don a special jersey, the coaches will wear pink shoes, and the officials will have pink whistles — all in support of the promotion of breast cancer awarness and research. Several of these items are available for bidding on OU’s online auction site. For more information on all of OU’s promotions for “Think Pink” week, click here.
PREVIEWING TEXAS A&M
As far as the Sooners are concerned, there is no overlooking No. 20 Texas A&M (17-6, 5-4).
No. 10 Oklahoma (17-4, 7-2 Big 12) suffered defeat twice at the hands of the Aggies, who ended OU’s record 24-game conference winning streak, last season.
The Aggies return all five starters from a team that shared the Big 12 regular season title with the Sooners in 2006-07.
Junior Takia Starks leads Texas A&M in scoring with 17.4 points per game. Oklahoma city native Danielle Gant is the second leading scorer, with an average of 14.8 points, and top rebounder at 7.4 boards per game.
Texas A&M’s has no wins over a currently ranked team this season, but did claim a 62-60 victory over then-No. 14 Auburn on Dec. 15 and 72-68 win against then-No. 25 Colorado on Jan. 16.
Gary Blair is in his fifth season as head coach of Texas A&M. He is 90-56 (.616) as coach of the Aggies and holds a 2-8 record against the Sooners.
OU head coach Sherri Coale is 19-5 versus Texas A&M
COALE SEEKING 250 VICTORIES
Currently Sherri Coale has 249 victories in her 12th year as the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. Tuesday night’s game versus Texas A&M will mark the first opportunity for Coale to achieve the milestone of 250 career coaching wins, all with Oklahoma. This year alone, she has become the program’s all-time leader in coaching victories and winning percentage.
PARIS BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Courtney Paris was named Phillips 66 Big 12 Co-Player of the Week. The award, announced the conference office Monday, was chosen by a media voting panel for performances for games of Feb. 5 through Feb. 11.
Paris averaged 27.5 points and 15.5 rebounds as she powered the Sooners past Missouri and Colorado.
Iowa State’s Alison Lacey, who averaged 23 points, six rebounds and five assists in wins against Texas Tech and Missouri, shared the honor with Paris.
Paris earned player of the week honors for the second time this season and ninth time in her career. She has shared the honor with another player five times.
COALE CHALLENGES OU STUDENTS
Coach Coale is presenting a challenge to University of Oklahoma students.
University of Oklahoma women’s basketball coach Sherri Coale has pledged to donate one dollar to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund for every student in attendance at Oklahoma’s final three home games at the Lloyd Noble Center. Coale will also match the final figure with an equal donation to OU’s Campus Activities Council to disperse among the university’s registered student organizations.
Coale has set a minimum donation of $2,000 for each fund.
“I think it is a great opportunity for OU students to help promote breast cancer awareness,” Coale said. “I know our students want to make a difference, but may not be able to help financially, so this is a way for the Sooner Nation to support the WBCA’s `Think Pink’ initiative.
“Come to our games and you’ll be fighting breast cancer.”
The first game the count will take effect is when No. 10 Oklahoma hosts No.21/20 Texas A&M on “Pack the Place Pink Night” Tuesday, Feb. 12. Tip-off is 7 p.m.
Admission to Oklahoma women’s basketball games is free for OU students.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
Oklahoma meets Texas A&M for the 34th time when they host the Aggies Tuesday night at the Lloyd Noble Center.
The Sooners hold a decisive advantage over the Aggies in the all-time series, but have fallen in the past two meetings — the first of which ended OU’s record 24-game winning streak against Big 12 teams.
The more recent games have been anything but nailbiters, with an average margin of 12 points separating the final score in the last five meetings between the two teams. Of those games, the only one decided by nine or fewer points was A&M’s 54-52 upset win in Norman last season.
The two teams are playing each other as ranked squads for the fourth consecutive meeting.
AMANDA THOMPSON SOONER OF THE MONTH
Amanda Thompson was named the Oklahoma Athletics Department’s Sooner of the Month for February. To qualify a student-athlete must be in good academic standing, be a member of an active sport and participate in community service events. Thompson has started all 20 games for the Sooners this season, averaging 10 points and seven rebounds.
ASHLEY PARIS NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Ashley Paris, a journalism major, was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 6 First Team this week. She will now be eligible for Academic All-America consideration. To qualify, canididates must have a 3.20 cumulative GPA or better and at least one year of academic residency.
Read more…
KAY YOW/WBCA CANCER FUND AUCTION
Fans can bid on several items, including authentic equipment and apparel, that will be used in OU’s “Pack the Place Pink Night” on Tuesday, Feb. 12, when Texas A&M visits during the WBCA’s “Think Pink” Week.
Proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund to promote breast cancer research and awareness. Items can be bid online at SoonerSports.com. Click here…
POINTS IN THE PARIS
Coined by Nancy Lieberman after witnessing OU’s dominating inside game against Georgia, Oklahoma opponents can forget about outscoring the Sooners in the paint thanks to the Paris twins.
OU outscores opponents in the paint by an average of 44 to 21. Courtney supplies 14 per game (32 percent) in the paint while Ashley contributes eight points (18 percent) in the paint per game. Together the sisters average just under 22 points in the paint — as much as the entire opposing roster and half of OU’s total.
CP3′s “D”
Lost in the marvel of Courtney Paris’ double-double streak is her stellar defense. Paris has had an equally remarkable season defending the post as she had held her opposing matchup to an average of 7.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 36 percent field goal shooting.
Of those 21 opposing players, only four have reached their respective season scoring averages and just two their rebounding average against Paris.
Against Paris and the Sooners, Maryland’s Crystal Langhorne, Tennessee’s Nicky Anosike and Georgia’s Tasha Humphrey have made just 5-of-29 (17 percent) field goal attempts.
BEDLAM SOLD OUT
The second edition of Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma women’s basketball has sold out 30 days in advance. The game, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 23, at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla. should provide another 12,000-plus crowd for a game televised by Fox Sports Net.
Only restricted admission tickets remain. Restricted admission tickets are $8 and go on sale when doors open at 11:30 a.m. The ticket provides entry but does not guarantee a seat.
The matchup in Stillwater was attended by 13,611 — the most to watch a women’s basketball game in the state of Oklahoma.
Read more…
PARIS A NAISMITH SEMIFINALIST
Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris remains one of 31 candidates in women’s basketball vying for the 2008 Naismith Trophy, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Tuesday.
This is the third season Paris has been a Naismith semifinalist. The 2007 National Player of the Year was one of four finalists for the award as both a freshman and sophomore.
Read more…
COALE “MOST FUN TO WATCH”
OU head coach Sherri Coale was recently voted by members of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) as the “Most Fun to Watch” head coach in the nation
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D-ROB, MOST VAUABLE FRESHMAN
Oklahoma’s Danielle Robinson is one of only two freshmen (the other is UNC’s Cetera DeGraffenreid) on Top 25 program to lead her team in assists and steals.
Robinson broke out in OU’s win against Illinois, scoring eight of her 14 points during a 16-3 run in the second half, lifting the Sooners to a 70-57 lead with 3:36 remaining. Robinson also had back-to-back steals for layups in the stretch. The Sooners won, 77-67, as Robinson recorded a career high seven steals.
Of her 266 points scored this season, 70 (26 percent) have come by way of the fast break, including 10 of her 18 against Arizona State, six of 12 at Michigan State, eight of 20 versus South Carolina, six of 16 against Baylor and six of 12 versus Georgia.
The following is a look at the production of the nation’s top freshmen guards (through Sunday, Feb. 10).
Production by the Nation’s Top Freshmen Player Team GP Points Assists Steals Angie Bjorklund Tennessee 22 10.2 1.5 1.1 Cetera DeGraffenreid North Carolina 24 12.0 3.3 2.5 Maya Moore Connecticut 23 17.3 3.4 1.6 Angela Puleo Georgia 24 7.9 2.9 1.2 Danielle Robinson Oklahoma 21 12.7 4.3 2.4 Alli Smalley Auburn 23 10.4 2.8 1.2 Marah Strickland Maryland 27 8.8 1.7 0.6
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP FOR STEVENSON
Nyeshia Stevenson may not be starting, but she is one of the Sooners most important contributors.
After shooting 18.2 percent (2-of-11) from beyond the arc all last season, Stevenson is third in the Big 12 Conference in 3-point field goal percentage at 38 percent (23-of-60).
Stevenson broke out with a 4-for-4 3-point effort to spark the Sooners in a victory against Mississippi State and hasn’t looked back since.
The Little Rock, Ark., native averages 8.4 points per game, fifth best on the team and most by a reserve. After starting the season opener, she has the OU’s leading off-the-bench scorer in 17 of the last 20 games. Against Kansas, Stevenson led OU in scoring for the first time in her career with 15 points. She had a Big 12 high of 16 against Colorado.
RECAPPING COLORADO
With no women’s record on the books, one of the few ways to measure Courtney Paris’ remarkable double-doubles streak against history was to see where she stacked up with the best in the men’s game.
Now, no one can claim to have more double-doubles than Oklahoma’s All-American center.
The reigning AP Player of the Year notched her 87th career double-double Saturday night by scoring a season-high 30 points and grabbing 14 rebounds to lead No. 10 Oklahoma to a 82-66 win against Colorado.
While there is no established women’s record, Tim Duncan set the men’s mark with 87 double-doubles at Wake Forest before winning four NBA titles with the San Antonio Spurs.
Paris has reached double figures in points and rebounds in 87 of her 90 career games, and her streak of 82 consecutive double-doubles reached 800 days on Saturday. Her numbers are thought to be records for the women’s game, but the NCAA is still researching old statistics for confirmation.
This one came with a fight — or what looked a lot like one.
Paris was sent sprawling to the floor twice by blows to the face and again when she fell down with no one but herself to blame. Against 6-foot-3 center Jackie McFarland, the Big 12′s second-leading scorer, Paris surpassed 20 points for the third straight game — the first time she’s done that this season.
After scoring 14 points in the first half, Paris pulled down her 10th rebound when she tracked down Nyeshia Stevenson’s missed 3-pointer and put it back to give Oklahoma a 49-39 lead 6 1/2 minutes into the second half.
She grabbed another offensive rebound on Oklahoma’s next possession and set up Stevenson’s 3-pointer from the right wing that gave the Sooners (17-4, 7-2 Big 12) their biggest lead at 13 points and then came out briefly after getting smacked in the face while playing defense.
NO. 3′s COMPANY
Courtney Paris scored a season high 30 points against Colorado, but the scenario of Paris as OU’s leading scorer is becoming less common as the talent around her and the double- and triple-teaming defenses increase.
Danielle Robinson’s 20 points against South Carolina (Dec. 30) marked the fourth consecutive game in which a different Sooner was the team leader in points scored (Courtney Paris, 17 at Tulsa; Amanda Thompson, 14 at Michigan State; and Jenny Vining, 20 vs. Central Arkansas). This came after Ashley and Courtney Paris spent the first eight games of the season splitting games as the team’s leading scorer with Ashley getting the honor three times and Courtney five.
Danielle Robinson was OU’s leading scorer against Iowa State (23) and Nebraska (22) and Amanda Thompson led at OSU with 18.
Until this season, Courtney never missed two games without being her team’s leading scorer until Ashley posted the high number in OU’s two games in Cancun against Arizona State and Mississippi State.
Last season, Courtney Paris was OU’s leading scorer in all but five games. Jenna Plumley, Leah Rush and Chelsi Welch were the others that scored. During her freshman season, C. Paris led in all but five games with Rush, Welch and Erin Higgins also getting leading scoring honors during the year.
The last time four different Sooners were the leading point scorers in consecutive games was during the 2003-04 season when it happened in games 3 through 6.
NO. 4 AND COUNTING
Courtney Paris, who has scored 1,926 points in 90 games as a Sooner, scored 30 points against Colorado (Feb. 9) to move into the No. 4 slot on OU’s career scoring list. Paris passed Stacey Dales (1999-2002), who amassed a career total of 1,920.
Next on the list is LaNeisha Caufield (1999-2002) with 2,125. Given her current rate, Paris should pass Caufield in 10 games, which would be the Big 12 Tournament Championship Game.
Phylesha Whaley (1997-2000), who played 116 games, is the OU career scoring leader with 2,187 points. Should OU once again make a run through the Big 12 Conference Tournament and NCAA Tournament, Paris could pass that mark by the season’s end.
Should Paris finish her career with her current scoring average of 21.4 points, she will destroy the previous record of 18.9 held by Whaley.
BLOCK PARTY
Courtney Paris passed LaNae Jones (1993-96) as OU’s blocks leader versus North Texas (Nov. 26). Paris entered the contest two blocks from Jones’ record of 243 and counted five in the game to move past to 246.
Paris, who has OU’s single-season record with 119 blocks as a freshman (and is No. 2 on the single-season list with 111 blocks as a sophomore) currently has 300 career blocks. She and Jones are the only two Sooners ever to record 100 blocks.
Paris has matched Texas Tech’s Cisti Greenwalt’s (121 games, 2002-05) Big 12 career record for blocks at 300.
With a rate of 3.3 blocks per game and at least 35 games left in her career, Paris could break 400 career blocks by the time she leaves the college game.
TCU’s Sandra Irvin (2002-05) has the NCAA record for career blocks with 480 in 127 games (3.78 per game).
CHAIRWOMAN OF THE BOARD
As a freshman, Courtney Paris set the NCAA single-season record with 539 rebounds and neared the mark as a sophomore with 526.
As a junior, Paris is averaging 15.4 boards, better than a 15.0 rate as a freshman.
Paris has owned OU’s offensive rebounds record since last season and took over as the No. 1 rebounder in the Sooners’ season opener. She passed Caton Hill for No. 1 on OU’s defensive rebounding list with seven defensive boards versus Mississippi State (Nov. 27).
Paris currently has 1,384 career rebounds with 472 coming off the offensive glass and 912 defensively.
Against Georgia (Jan. 27) Paris passed Baylor’s Sophia Young (1,316 during 2002-06) for the Big 12 Conference record for total rebounds.
Young owns the league’s career offensive rebounds (489) record.
Paris claimed Young’s Big 12 career record for defensive rebounds (827) with 10 in the game at Iowa State on Jan. 9.
No other Sooner in history has recorded 400 or more total rebounds in a single season.
A PERFECT ’10′
Courtney Paris’ 10 points against South Carolina (Dec. 30) was a career low, meaning she has never scored outside of double figures in her career. Only two other NCAA Division I players – LaToya Thomas, Mississippi State (1998-2002) and Chandi Jones, Houston (2000-04) – have finished their careers scoring in double figures in every game.
The most double-figure scoring games was accomplished by Sophia Young of Baylor (2003-06), who scored 10 or more points in 130 of her 139 career games.
Paris’ 10 points were 10.5 percent of OU’s total 95 against South Carolina, marking her lowest percent contribution since her career began. However, Paris did manage to grasp 24 rebounds, two from her personal best and the second most in a single game by a Division I player this season.
Paris’ second lowest percentage contribution came one game before against Central Arkansas, when she provided 14 of the team’s program record 121. Paris played only 22 minutes in the game.
Most Consecutive Double-Figure Scoring Games
125, LaToya Thomas, Mississippi State (1998-2002, 125 games)
Most Double-Figure Scoring Games
130, Sophia Young, Baylor (2003-06, 139 games)
Scored in Double Figures Every Game of Career
*130, Denise Curry, UCLA (1977-81)
125, LaToya Thomas, Mississippi State (1998-2002)
114, Chandi Jones, Houston (2000-04)
*Pre-NCAA record.
Big 12 Conference Preseason Poll Rank Team Points 1. Texas A&M (7) 117 2. Oklahoma (5) 115 3. Baylor 97 4. Texas 86 5. Oklahoma State 66 6. Iowa State 64 7. Nebraska 56 8. Kansas State 54 Texas Tech 54 10. Kansas 43 11. Colorado 29 12. Missouri 11
SOONERS PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN BIG 12
The Oklahoma Sooners were picked to finish second in this season’s Big 12 Conference women’s basketball standings in a preseason poll voted by the league’s coaches.
Texas A&M, the 2006-07 Big 12 co-champions with Oklahoma, received seven of 12 first-place votes to edge the Sooners, who received five first-place votes, in a split decision between the two teams. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team.
PARIS PRESEASON BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR
For the second straight season, Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris was named the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year in the coaches’ vote.
The 6-4 center, who averaged 23.5 points and 15.9 rebounds, was last season’s Big 12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year after leading the Sooners to title defenses of the conference’s regular season and tournament championships.
Ashley Paris was an honorable mention for the All-Big 12 team.
SOONERSPORTS.COM BLOG
Courtney has braces? Find out what prompted her sudden dental work by reading the OU Women’s Basketball Blog on SoonerSports.com.
OU head coach Sherri Coale submits regular postings and this season several OU players will enter the cyberspace realm with their own unique contributions.
Source: Sooners Seeking Revenge Tuesday
