From The Ford Center
Oklahoma took to the Ford Center floor about 15 minutes ago.
And the cheers were deafening.
The arena definitely isn’t full for tonight’s regional semifinals in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. The curtain is pulled on about two-thirds of the upper deck, and the seats that are open upstairs aren’t full. The lower bowl, though, is almost at capacity.
Honestly, I thought there might be more folks than this.
Considering the paltry crowds at some of the other regionals, this is a fantastic turnout. But the advance sale numbers were big — nearly 10,000. It’ll be interesting to see what the attendance number ends up being tonight.
Might not break the all-time record for NCAA women’s basketball regionals, but I suspect it will easily be the biggest regional this year.
Stay tuned for more from The FC.
Live in Iowa City
Amanda Thompson looks good in warm-ups for Oklahoma’s game against Georgia Tech.
The Sooner forward has been battling a foot injury, but she seems to be running and jumping well. She might be in a lot of pain, but if she is, she doing a good job hiding it.
She could be big for OU tonight against Georgia Tech’s athleticism.
Couple other items:
* The crowd is paltry tonight. No surprise there. Once the hometown team, Iowa, got knocked out, numbers were expected to decline from Sunday’s games. And while the crowd count might struggle to get over 1,000, I thought it might actually be worse than it is.
* Georgia Tech has an interesting drill in warm-ups. The players toss high passes into the air to each other to simulate rebounds coming off the rim. I’ve seen teams do similar drills at the rim, but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen many do it at half court before a game. Tells you how much the Yellow Jackets value rebounding.
OU’s Final Four road well-paved
Oklahoma might not have a yellow-brick road to the Final Four, but for Sherri Coale and Co., the path looks more and more golden.
Already, the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds have been knocked out of the Sooners’ regional. Second-seeded Auburn got the heave-ho Monday night, losing to Rutgers, and third-seeded North Carolina lost to Purdue. The Tigers had the look of a team that could give the Sooners problem with their up-and-down style, and the Tar Heels were a team that had already given the Sooners problems, beating them earlier this season.
But now, neither will stand between OU and the Final Four.
And remember, this was a path that was already slated to take the Sooners through Oklahoma City.
(Also, the No. 4 seed, Pittsburgh, is locked in a battle with 12th-seeded Gonzaga. We’ll keep you posted, but if Pitt goes down, OU could be in a regional with the No. 6. No. 7 and No. 12 seeds remaining.)
There is the little matter, though, of the Sooners making to the Ford Center themselves. They still have to beat Georgia Tech tomorrow in Iowa City, and while this seems like a good thing — playing the Yellow Jackets instead of the hometown Iowa Hawkeyes — the Rambling Wreck has the potential to run the Sooners off their Final Four road.
The Yellow Jackets are athletic, lacking great shooters but beating teams with their ability to get to the basket as well as rebound and put back their misses.
Think of a poor man’s Texas A&M.
And everyone knows how the Sooners have struggled against the Aggies.
If the Sooners can survive the Yellow Jackets, their road looks straight and narrow. It’s up to them as to how well they navigate it.
Next up for Sooners: Texas A&M Lite
Georgia Tech is next up for the Oklahoma women’s basketball team, and after watching the Yellow Jackets last night, they definitely have a familiar look.
They play a bit like Texas A&M.
Georgia Tech is quick and athletic, playing a maddening style of basketball that frustrates opponents. Or least that’s what it did Sunday night against Iowa. The Hawkeyes could never get into a flow against the Yellow Jackets, losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on their home floor.
Next up for Ga Tech: Oklahoma.
The Sooners have had their struggles against athletic squads like this. A couple years ago, it was Mississippi in the NCAA Tournament. This season, it was Texas A&M, which beat OU twice the past month.
The good news for the Sooners is that the Yellow Jackets aren’t quite as talented as the Aggies. They aren’t as polished or refined, but they could cause problems.
We’ll have more from Carver-Hawkeye Arena, so stay with NewsOK.com, then be sure to check out all of our coverage Tuesday in The Oklahoman.
Thompson in uniform
Amanda Thompson appeared on the court a few minutes ago in her warm-ups, but I still don’t expect Oklahoma’s junior forward to play tonight against Prairie View A&M.
When the Sooners ran off the court after the National Anthem, Thompson walked off. If she’s not jogging to the locker room, it’s hard to think she’ll be running up and down the court later this evening.
Rest sounds like it’s been the best thing for her ailing foot. If the Sooners get into a dire situation, she could play, but I don’t see that happening against the 16th-seeded Panthers. I’m sure Sherri Coale is just making sure she has all her players available should she have need of them.
Thompson not warming up
The Oklahoma women’s basketball team is doing its pregame warm-ups on the floor of Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and Amanda Thompson is nowhere to be seen.
Looks like the junior forward will not play tonight against Prairie View A&M.
She has been sidelined since last weekend with a tendon injury in her left. Tests revealed that she had a malformation, the possible result of an aggravation of an old injury.
If Thompson pulls a Willis Reed and runs onto the court at tipoff, we’ll let you know, but chances are good, the Sooners are going to sit her tonight. No need to risk her health against 16th-seeded Prairie View A&M.
From the floor of Carver-Hawkeye
It’s practice-and-press-conference day in Iowa City.
Oklahoma has already come and gone, being first up as the No. 1 seed here in this NCAA Tournament regional. Sherri Coale and her Sooners will take on Prairie View A&M in their tournament opener at 6 p.m. Sunday.
I’ll have some highlights from the Oklahoma and Prairie View press conferences a little later this evening, but Iowa is practicing on the Carver-Hawkeye Arena floor right now. Watching the Hawkeyes got me thinking about a couple things.
* There is actually a decent smattering of people here watching the Hawkeyes. That bodes well for tomorrow’s crowd, considering it’s a beautiful spring day here in Iowa and they’re predicting rain for the next couple days. That folks would decide to come and sit inside to watch the Hawkeyes practice tells me that there will be a decent crowd Sunday evening.
* Officials here have said that 4,000 tickets have already sold for Sunday’s games. That would fall well short of the attendance numbers the last time the Sooners played an NCAA Tournament regional at the Lloyd Noble Center, but after seeing some of the crowds at the women’s games being played today, a crowd of 4,000-plus would look mighty good. No team wants a sterile environment for its NCAA Tournament opener.
* Don’t think the Hawkeyes are aware of the opportunity they’ve been given as the No. 8 seed playing on their home court? Iowa coach Lisa Bluder hollered to her players early in their practice, “This is our house, Hawks! Take advantage of it.”
Greetings from Iowa City
The Oklahoma women’s basketball team has arrived in Iowa City.
And so have we!
Yes, “we.” Along on the trip are photographer Steve Sisney and videographer Tim Money. We are here to cover the Sooners opening round game(s) in the NCAA Tournament.
We’ll head to press conferences and open practices later this morning. The Sooners are schedule to be at the press-room podium at 11:20 a.m., then hit the Carver-Hawkeye Arena floor at noon. They’ll have an hour-long practice that is open to the public.
It’ll be interesting to see if folks show up.
After all, Iowa has long been a hotbed for girls and women’s basketball. The state was among the pioneers in starting girls basketball in the high schools, and the sport remains strong here. While the hometown Iowa Hawkeyes haven’t been great of late, Iowa State is always good in the Big 12 and Drake has flexed its muscle every now and then.
Also interesting will be the crowds for the games. The Sooners won’t mind too much how many Hawkeye fans are in the stands Sunday for first-round games, but if Iowa wins, it could be an interested set-up come Tuesday. It is sure to be a partisan crowd, though bigger trouble for the Sooners might be if Georgia Tech, the No. 9 seed, beats Iowa, the No. 8 seed. The Yellowjackets are a poor man’s Texas A&M.
And we know how much trouble Texas A&M has given OU.
Stay tuned for more from Iowa City.
Sooners must make good on senioritis
Sooners fair well on Selection Monday
Thoughts after Oklahoma landed the No. 1 seed in the Oklahoma City Regional in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
(By the way, that’s every bit as good as it sounds for the Sooners.)
* OU is headed to Iowa City, which is a bit of a surprise.
“We weren’t thinking that,” Sooner coach Sherri Coale said after her team watched the selection show at her Norman home. “We were thinking somewhere south, maybe Albuquerque or Lubbock, but it doesn’t matter.”
That’s true. But with temperatures expected in the 70s and 80s in this part of the world, it would’ve been nice to stay south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Temperatures in Iowa City are expected to be in the 50s and 60s over the weekend, with lows in the 30s.
Got to pull those sweaters out one last time.
* The Sooners need to put the woes from their Big 12 Tournament loss to Texas A&M behind them, and it sounds as though they’re working on it.
“We tried to exercise some demons these last couple of days,” Coale said. “Contrary to popular belief, Connecticut wasn’t the only team that practiced today.”
That was a total dig at the Huskies, and Coale knew it. She and UConn coach Geno Auriemma are long time buddies, so her comment was meant in fun.
Still, the national love for the Huskies is too sugary sweet. In its selection show, ESPN fawned over the fact that everybody’s No. 1 was practicing right before the selection show. The network had a live look-in at the practice, and the announcers sounded in awe over what they were seeing.
It’s almost too much to stomach.
Speaking of that …
* Auriemma said during the selection show that hearing all the praise for his team was almost enough to make him sick.
We know the feeling.
“Geno hit it on the head — anybody who’s watching anywhere in America is so sick of Connecticut they could throw up,” Coale said. “He said it himself; he’s almost sick enough to vomit.”
The Huskies are great, maybe even a team for the ages, but all the praise is a bit much.
“If you’ve got to beat them five times, you might be in trouble,” Coale admitted. “But basketball is a really special sport. That’s why this tournament is a focal point for everybody in America. Every office in America is paying attention to what happens in March because anything can happen.”
* Coale didn’t seem the least bit upset about the Sooners potentially have to play Iowa on its home court in the second round. That is due, in part, to the fact that she got a behind-the-scenes look at the process earlier this year.
“I had the opportunity to go through the (NCAA) mock bracketing process back in February,” she explained. “At that particular time, it looked like we could end up in Duluth (Ga.) and maybe Georgia would be there. We talked about that scenario … and I understand that there is a dual purpose to what we’re trying to do here.”
The first purpose is to stage a fair and equitable championship.
The second, Coale said, is to grow the sport of women’s basketball.
“I don’t have a problem with it,” she said of her team being sent to Iowa City. “I don’t think it’s unfair. I don’t think it’s inequitable. I think it’s part of the process, and I think the committee’s doing a wonderful job of trying to grow our game.”
* Courtney Paris and her guarantee of a national championship were front and center during the selection show.
Her father, Bubba, also made an appearance. During a recent interview with ESPN, he said that this was OU’s year and that if the Sooners didn’t win, it was on Coale. (I suspect he got revved up and said what he did in fun, but still, it’s a soundbite, and we’re all going to hear it throughout the tournament.)
“My dad is crazy,” Courtney Paris said. “He’s a funny guy.”
Let the madness begin.
