Women’s basketball: Bedlam game notes
No. 11/10 Oklahoma (19-5, 9-3 Big 12) seeks revenge in the Bedlam rematch with No. 16/17 Oklahoma State (21-4, 9-3 Big 12) at the Lloyd Noble Center Saturday, Feb. 23.
The game will broadcast on Fox Sports Net with Kevin Eschenfelder on play-by-play and Brenda Van Lengen on color analysis. Listen on the radio (KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City) as Brian Brinkley and Tara Pogue have the call.
Tip-off is 1:05 p.m. Central.
PREVIEWING OKLAHOMA STATE No. 11/10 Oklahoma (19-5, 9-3) hosts No. 16/17 Oklahoma State (21-4, 9-3) for round two of the Bedlam Series at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla.
The game will be played with both teams ranked in the Top 25 for just the second time in series history. The first was the Jan. 12, 2008, meeting in Stillwater when OU was ranked No. 6 in both polls and OSU was No. 25 in the AP and No. 24 in the Coaches’.
The game features the Big 12’s top two scorers — Oklahoma State’s Andrea Riley (22.5) and Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris (18.0) — and top two scoring offenses — Oklahoma State (77.8) and Oklahoma (74.8).
Conference championship implications are paramount with the winner remaining third place in the Big 12 standings.
The Cowgirls ended the Sooners’ 17-game winning streak in Stillwater in January. A state record crowd for women’s basketball of 13,611 watched OSU defeat OU, 82-63.
In the January Bedlam game, OSU’s Andrea Riley scored 45 points, the most ever by an individual against Oklahoma.
Oklahoma State Projected Starters
G 10 Andrea Riley 5-5 So. 22.5 ppg, 4.2 apg, 3.0 steals
G 31 Danielle Green 5-8 Sr. 13.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 2.8 apg
C 24 Maria Cordero 6-3 Sr. 10.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 78.7 FT%
F 32 Shaunte Smith 6-0 Jr. 8.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 49.4 FG%
G 13 Taylor Hardeman 5-10 Jr. 7.2 ppg, 1.6 apg, 38.5 3FG%
Oklahoma Projected Starters
C 3 Courtney Paris 6-4 Jr. 18.0 ppg, 14.8 rpg, 3.2 blocks
F 5 Ashley Paris 6-3 Jr. 12.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 58.0 FG%
F 21 Amanda Thompson 6-0 So. 8.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.2 apg.
G 11 Jenna Plumley 5-4 So. 7.3 ppg, 3.4 apg, 90.5 FT%
G 13 Danielle Robinson 5-9 Fr. 12.7 ppg, 4.2 apg, 2.4 steals
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.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES Oklahoma leads the series with Oklahoma State 45-35. The last time the Sooners and Cowgirls met was Jan. 12, 2008, in Stillwater, an 82-63 decision for Oklahoma State.
In Norman, the Sooners reign supreme with 24 victories to 11 for the Cowgirls. Under Sherri Coale, OU lost its first four meetings against Oklahoma State, but since have fallen just twice in the last 20 meetings.
Coale, who has coached the Sooners since the inception of the Big 12 Conference, is 18-6 against Oklahoma State. Her first win against OSU came Jan. 13, 1999, in her third season.
This, the 81st meeting between the two teams marks just the second time both have played each other when ranked in the Top 25.
PARIS WONDERFUL IN FEBRUARYTournament time must be near because the Paris twins have turned it on. In six February games the duo of Ashley and Courtney Paris has averaged 37.8 points and 23.2 rebounds.
Ashley Paris is contributing 14.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. She is shooting 56.7 percent from the field and has three of her 10 career double-doubles this month.
Courtney Paris averages 23.2 points and 13.5 rebounds while shooting 68.2 percent.
AMANDA THOMPSON SOONER OF THE MONTHAmanda 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-DISTRICTAshley 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, candidates must have a 3.20 cumulative GPA or better and at least one year of academic residency.
Read more…
COALE’S 250TH VICTORY Sherri Coale earned her 250th victory in her 12th year as the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners defeated Texas A&M, 68-56, on Tuesday, Feb. 12, for the milestone win. Coale’s is OU’s all-time leader in coaching victories and winning percentage.
1,000TH GAME IN SOONER HISTORY Oklahoma started its women’s basketball program for the 1974-75 season and is approaching its 1,000th game. To date, the Sooners are eight games shy of 1,000 in program history. There are five games left in the regular season, which would mean that if OU failed to get a first-round bye for the Big 12 Tournament, the first opportunity to play 1,000 would be in the Championship Game. OU’s all-time record is 574-417 (.579).
TOUGH FINISHOklahoma opened the season with the toughest schedule in the nation as its first three games — Maryland, Tennessee and Arizona State — featured Top 25 ranked opponents.
Starting with Texas A&M, the seven-game end to the Sooners’ regular season features five opponents ranked in the Top 20 of both the media and coaches’ polls.
ROBINSON ON PACE FOR 400 OU freshman guard Danielle Robinson is on pace to pass the 400-point scoring benchmark.
Only four other Sooners have achieved the feat in their freshman season. They include the program’s No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 9 all-time scorers.
Should Robinson reach 400, she will be just the second guard in OU history (LaNeisha Caufield) to do so her freshman season.
PARIS A NAISMITH SEMIFINALISTOklahoma’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.
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
RECAPPING KANSAS STATE Courtney Paris scored 19 of her 27 points in the second half and the Sooners (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 11 AP) rallied from a dismal start to beat No. 15 Kansas State 68-65 Wednesday night.
Oklahoma (19-5, 9-3) saw its 10-game winning streak end with a lopsided loss to Baylor on Sunday — its second to the Bears this season — and the effects seemed to carry over early against Kansas State.
But after a relatively quiet first half, the Paris sisters started to take over in the second, powering their way past the smaller Wildcats.
Ashley hit a pair of shots inside to start the second half, then Courtney went to work, scoring on a pair of putbacks during a 14-3 opening run that cut Kansas State’s lead to 42-41. Jenna Plumley followed with a steal and a pull-up 3-pointer to give Oklahoma its first lead.
Courtney Paris finished 10-of-13 from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds for her 85th straight double-double. Twin sister Ashley had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Danielle Robinson added 12 points for Oklahoma, which shot 51 percent for its 23rd straight win against the Big 12 North and fifth straight against Kansas State.
Kansas State (18-7, 10-2) had all the energy early, jumping out to a 10-point first-half lead by working around the Paris sisters with up-fakes and crisp cuts.
Shalee Lehning did most of the damage, slashing through Oklahoma’s defense while dropping six assists. Ashley Sweat was the biggest beneficiary, scoring 15 points by halftime, hitting 6-of-7 from the free-throw line after getting behind Oklahoma’s big front line.
But after disrupting the Paris twins at both ends early, the Wildcats couldn’t stop them late.
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