Women's Basketball Takes On No. 13 Southwest Missouri State

Nov. 29, 2000

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The No. 19/18-ranked Oklahoma women's basketball team (2-2) will meet No. 13 Southwest Missouri State (2-1) in a 7 p.m. game on Friday, Dec. 1, inside the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

Friday's game will be the first of a two-game series between the two teams.

The game will be broadcast live on KOMA-AM (1520) and on the Internet at www.soonersports.com. Ed Murray will provide the play-by-play and Jenny Bramer will be the color analyst for the women's basketball radio network. SMS will also broadcast the game on KTXR-FM (101.3) in Springfield and surrounding counties in Missouri.

OKLAHOMA (2-2)
The Sooners enter the game with a 2-2 record. Oklahoma won its first two games of the season by a margin of 31 points, while losing its following two games by 22-point margins. OU has outscored its opponents by a combined 27 points in the second half but is being outscored by nine points in the opening 20 minutes of action.

OU is led by juniors Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario) and LaNeishea Caufield (Ada, Okla.). Dales has team highs of 17.5 points, 7.0 assists and is tied for first with 6.5 rebounds per game. Caufield is the team leader in steals with 4.25 and ranks second in scoring with 15.5 points per game. She also averages 6.5 boards per game. Dales and Caufield leads the Big 12 Conference in assists and steals per game, respectively.

As a team, Oklahoma is scoring 78.5 points and averaging a league-best 15.00 steals per game. The Sooners also hold a 40.8 to 38.5 rebounding edge vs. their opponents.

SOUTHWEST MISSOURI STATE (2-1)
Southwest Missouri State (2-1) is sparked by the play of senior All-American Jackie Stiles. Stiles leads the Lady Bears with an impressive 37.7 points per game. She dropped 42 points against No. 10 LSU in the opening game of the St. Thomas Paradise Jam, then scored 38 points against No. 13 Texas Tech in the championship game of that tournament. Stiles opened the season with 33 points against Arkansas-Little Rock in 28 minutes of action.

In addition to Stiles being a scoring threat, she is shooting 65.2 percent from the field (43-for-66), 60.0 from behind the arc (6-for-10) and 99.9 percent from the foul line (21-for-22). She also has seven assists, four steals and averages 4.3 boards per game. The only other Lady Bear in double figure scoring is senior guard Tara Mitchem. Mitchem is averaging 10.3 ppg. Senior forward Carly Deer leads the team in rebounds with 9.3 per game.

The Lady Bears have defeated UALR (97-34) and LSU (85-75) and lost to TTU (81-77). SMS is averaging 86.3 points, while shooting 47.2 percent from the field. The Lady Bears are also grabbing 43.3 rebounds to their opponents 33.0 boards per game.

Southwest Missouri State plays host to Oklahoma State on Wednesday, Nov. 29, before heading to Norman to face the Sooners on Friday.

SERIES RECORDS
OU vs. Southwest Missouri StateSMS leads 2-1
This will be the fourth meeting between the Sooners and Lady Bears. The first game was a 68-66 victory for Oklahoma in 1980 in Springfield. The two teams would meet again in Springfield in 1997 which resulted in an 81-58 win for SMS, followed by an 81-65 victory for the Bears in Noman in 1998.

This year marks the first time the two teams will face each other twice in one season.

Oklahoma is 15-12 when playing schools from the Missouri Valley Conference. OU Head Coach Sherri Coale is 0-2 against the Cheryl Burnett of SMS.

OKLAHOMA IN HOME SEASON OPENERS
OU is 17-6 in home season openers. The Sooners have won their last two home openers against ORU, 83-66, and TCU, 78-66. SMS defeated OU, 81-65, to kick off the 1997-98 home campaign.

CAUFIELD REACHES 1,000-POINT PLATEAU
Junior guard LaNeishea Caufield (Ada, Okla.) scored her 1,000th career point on a free throw at the 7:35 minute mark in the first half against Georgia on Nov. 22, in Madison, Wis., to surpass the 1,000-point milestone in her career. She joined the list of 14 other Sooner players who have scored at least 1,000 points. Caufield scored 457 points, including a career-high 32 against Missouri, as a freshman, followed by recording 506 points as a sophomore. She has scored in double digits 50 times and has had 20-plus performances in 19 games.

Caufield now has 1,025 career points to her credit. To become the school's all-time leading scorer, Caufield needs to average 21.5 points per game for the next two years (a total of 52 games).

STILES - CAUFIELD CONNECTION
Oklahoma junior LaNeishea Caufield (Ada, Okla.) and Southwest Missouri State senior Jackie Stiles are familiar with each other as both were invited to participate in the 2000 USA Basketball R. William Jones Cup and 1999 World University Games trails in Colorado.

SOONERS INK TWO IN EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
Head Coach Sherri Coale has received commitments from Dionnah Jackson (St. Louis, Mo.) and Antoinette Wadsworth (Grand Prairie, Texas) to attend OU and join Oklahoma's women's basketball program for the 2000-2001 season.

Jackson, a 5-9 guard from Parkway West High School, averages 13 points, four assists and five steals per game. According to the All-Star Girls Report, she is the sixth best point guard in the country and ranks 37th nationally. The four-year letterwinner is a three-time all-conference and a two-time all-district pick in the St. Louis Metro area. In addition, she's the school's record holder for most career steals.

"I can't believe that I am going to be an Oklahoma Sooner," said Jackson. "Coach Coale is such a great coach and all the girls on the team seem so great. I believe that Oklahoma will be the next team to become a great team in college basketball. I can't wait to wear an Oklahoma uniform."

"Dionnah is an outstanding athletic guard who can do it all," stated Coale. "People ask me, 'Is she a shooter or a penetrator or a playermaker?' Yes. The answer is yes, she's all those things. She's a talented athlete who understands how to play this game. That's a nice combination."

Wadsworth, a 5-11 guard-forward from South Grand Prairie High School, is currently averaging 18.0 points and eight rebounds and is shooting 55 percent from the field. She is a first team All-District 5-5A selection and was a member of the gold medal Texas Junior Olympic team from a year ago.

"Oklahoma is one of the top 10 to 12 teams in the country and was really an easy choice for me," said Wadsworth. "Coach Coale is recruiting great players every year and I feel honored that she felt I was good enough this year. I need to become a better all-around player to really help them when I get to Norman. That will be my goal and I will be ready next season."

"Antoinette is an extremely talented athlete," Coale said. "She's a scorer. She's the kind of player who very simply finds a way to get the ball in the basket. Though she has experienced great success at South Grand Prairie High School, I believe her best days are ahead of her. She has a chance to develop into an excellent Division I basketball player."

JUCOS STEP UP FOR SOONERS
Junior college transfers Rosalind Ross (Milwaukee, Wis.) and Jamie Talbert (Elkhart, Kan.) have both been coming off the bench to provide valuable time and experience to the Sooners' success.

Ross, a 5-9 guard, is averaging nine points, two rebounds and shooting 48.0 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from three-point land as a Sooner. She also has six assists and four steals to her credit in OU's first four games.

In her home state of Wisconsin, Ross produced career highs in nearly every staticial category against Wisconsin, including points (19), rebounds (3), field goals made (6) and attempted (12), three pointers made (2) and attempted (5), plus free throws made (5) and attempted (7). She also played a career-high 31 minutes against the Badgers.

Talbert, a 6-2 forward, also had a good game against Wisconsin where she scored a career-high 13 points and had four steals in 21 mintues of play. She also hit a career-high five field goals on a personal-best eight attempts. She also hit a personal-best three of five attempted free throws.

Both players started the second half against Wisconsin.

Ross and Talbert earned National Junior College All-American first team accolades a year ago.

SEASON TICKETS SALES ON THE RISE
Since the 1998-99 season ticket drive, Oklahoma has more than tripled its sales for home games. This year's the Sooners have already sold over 690 season tickets compared to 220 sold in 1998-99.

Oklahoma has also improved its home attendance over the past three years. OU's average home attendance has jumped from a per-game figure of 1,558 in 1997-98 and 1998-99 and finally to a 2,659 total in 1999-2000. That figure ranked 37th best in the nation.

OU women's basketball season tickets remain on sale and can be purchased by contacting the Sooner Ticket Office at 405-325-2424.

DALES SECOND IN ALL-TIME ASSISTS
Junior guard Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario) has dished out 24 assists this season to claim the No. 2 spot on Oklahoma's all-time assists list. She started the season ranked third with 340 assists. Dales needs 233 assists to become OU's all-time leader in this category.

She also only needs 189 points to reach the 1,000-point milestone.

Dales also ranks among the school's all-time best in three-pointers made and attempted, offensive and defensive rebounds, blocked shots and steals.

HARDEMAN'S ON THE VERGE
Senior guard Sunny Hardeman (Norman, Okla.) is just six assists shy of breaking into OU's all-time top-15 assists chart. Hardeman currently has 197 career assists.

SHOT BLOCKER
Junior center Jen Cunningham (Kingston, Ontario, Canada) blocked three shots against Tulsa in the season opener to break into the all-time record list at No. 13 in career blocks. Cunningham now has 21 blocked shots to her credit and will be expected to continue to move up the chart.

She is averaging 6.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and shooting 46.2 percent from the field this season.

ESPN TAKES NOTICE OF DALES AND CAUFIELD
ESPN play-by-play announcer Beth Mowins selected juniors Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario) and LaNeishea Caufield (Ada, Okla.) as two of the top guards in the nation. Mowins believes with Dales' stint with the Canadian national team and her consistent, smart and a proven leadership abilities that she will be one of the top five point guards in the nation this season. In the off-guard slot, Mowins selected Caufield as a player to check out this season due to her strong NCAA performance last year.

CAUFIELD TABBED AS THIRD TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
Junior guard LaNeishea Caufield (Ada, Okla.) was named a preseason third team All-American by the Women's Basketball News Service. Caufield caught the attention of the WBNS as a freshman when she was selected to the first team Freshman All-America squad. The 5-9 Ada, Okla., native is the team's top returning scorer averaging 15.9 points per game. She also paced the Sooners in the NCAA Tournament with a team-best 23.7 points per game. In addition, Caufield shot an impressive 60.5 percent from the field and 81.8 percent from the free throw line during postseason action.

DALES SELECTED PRESEASON ALL-BIG 12
Junior point guard Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario) was one of five players named to the 2000-2001 All-Big 12 preseason team. Dales averaged 12.7 points, 5.8 assists and 5.1 rebounds for the Sooners a year ago.

This past summer, the Brockville, Ontario, native contributed 11.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 31 minutes of action as a member of the 2000 Canadian Olympic Team.

Other preseason All-Big 12 selections include Iowa State's Angie Welle and Megan Taylor, Texas Tech's Plenette Pierson, and Missouri's Amanda Lassiter. Dales was a member of the 2000 All-Big 12 second team while Taylor and Lassiter were on the third team. Pierson was the 2000 Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Welle was chosen the preseason Big 12 Player of the Year.

HARDEMAN AND DALES SHARE LEADERSHIP ROLE
This year's 2000-2001 team captains will be senior Sunny Hardeman (Norman, Okla.) and junior Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario). Dales is a three-time team co-captain, while Hardeman will serve her first season as a team co-captain.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Women's Basketball Takes On No. 13 Southwest Missouri State

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