OU Women's Basketball Takes On North Texas Monday Night

Dec. 17, 2000

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THE GAME
The No. 17/15-ranked Oklahoma women's basketball team (5-3) returns to the Lloyd Noble Center aiming to end North Texas perfect season opening run of 8-0. OU host the Lady Eagles Monday night, Dec. 18, in a 7 p.m. game after suffering a disappointing 69-61 loss to No. 21/18 Southwest Missouri State in Springfield, Mo., Saturday.

The game will be carried live on KOMA-AM (1520), OU's radio station, and on the Internet at www.soonersports.com. Ed Murray returns to courtside to call the action with color analyst Jenny Bramer assisting.

Following Monday night's game, the Sooners leave for San Diego on Tuesday, Dec. 19, at 11:45 a.m. OU will face San Diego on Thursday, Dec. 21, before the Christmas break.

SERIES RECORD
OU vs. North Texas - OU leads 16-2

Monday's game will be the 19th meeting between the two teams. Oklahoma holds an all-time

16-2 series advantage over North Texas. Oklahoma has won the last six games between the two programs, including an 86-63 victory over the Lady Eagles a year ago.

UNT won the first ever game, 80-62, in 1979, and collected its second win, 91-85, over OU in 1990.

Oklahoma is 20-5 against teams from the Big West Conference while OU Head Coach Sherri Coale is 2-0 against teams from that league (North Texas).

OKLAHOMA (5-3)
Oklahoma looks to shake off an eight point road loss, 69-61, to Southwest Missouri State on Monday night when OU host North Texas inside the Lloyd Noble Center at 7 p.m.

OU's schedule has not been easy for the Sooners as half of Oklahoma's first eight games have been against the nation's top 25 teams [Georgia, Wisconsin, SMS, twice].

On the season, Oklahoma is led by juniors Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario) and LaNeishea Caufield (Ada, Okla.). The duo average 16.6 and 16.4 points per game, respectively, and are given the assignments to guard the opponent's top players. Dales is also the team, NCAA and Big 12 Conference leader in assists with 8.1 per game. She is shooting 44.7 percent from the field and pockets 3.9 steals per game, second on the team and among the nation's top 10.

Caufield is currently leading the nation in thefts with 4.5 steals per game. She's also shooting a solid 50.5 percent from the field (46-for-91) and 84.4 percent from the free throw line (38-for-45). Caufield is also OU's top defender.

Leading the team defensively is sophomore Caton Hill (Ada, Okla.) who's averaging a team-best 6.6 boards per game. Hill also ranks third on the team in scoring with 9.5 ppg. Junior Jen Cunningham (Kingston, Ontario) also contributes defensively with 5.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

As a team, OU scores 81.4 points and gets 41.8 rebounds per game compared to its opponents' 70.4 points and 36.8 rebounds.

Oklahoma opened its season with victories over Tulsa, 80-49, and host Oral Roberts, 87-56, at the Bertha Teague Classic in Tulsa, Okla. OU then traveled to Madison, Wis., to compete in the Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge where OU lost to Georgia, 94-70, and host Wisconsin, 97-77. Dales was named to both all-tournament teams, while teammate Caufield was voted to the all-tournament team and was MVP of the Bertha Teague Classic.

NORTH TEXAS (8-0)
The Lady Eagles are off to their best start ever with a perfect 8-0 record and longest winning streak in UNT history. North Texas has won two tournaments: Central Florida Tournament [defeated Maryland-Baltimore County (56-46) and Central Florida (81-66] and Air Force Tournament [victories over Alabama-Birmingham (67-54), who advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 last year, and Air Force (66-43)]. The Lady Eagles also defeated Yale (94-50), TCU (63-59), Missouri-Kansas City (98-55) and Texas A&M Corpus Christi (62-50). UNT margin of victory is an impressive 20.5 points per game. The Lady Eagles have won all but one game this season by 10 or more points.

Against TAM Corpus-Christi, Sahley Roberson scored 14 points and had seven rebounds, while Karen Lee had 10 points. The Lady Eagles only shot 36.4 percent from the field (20-for-55) and outrebounded TAM Corpus-Christi, 39-32. UNT also shot 86.4 percent from the arc, hitting three of eight treys.

For the year, UNT is lead by Jalie Mitchell's 11.9 points per game, followed by Kristin Tramonte's 9.6 and Heather Trout's 8.8 ppg. Defensively, Tramonte and Angel Lewis leads the team with 5.8 and 5.3 boards per game, respectively. In addition, Roberson averages 4.9 rpg.

Tina Slinker (Wayland Baptist, 1978) is in her 12th year as the head coach for the women's basketball program. She sports an overall UNT record of 130-172.

LAST GAME - SMS, 69-61
Jackie Stiles scored 14 of Southwest Missouri State's last 19 points Saturday to lead the No. 21 SMS to a 69-61 win over No. 18 Oklahoma in front of 8,198 fans inside the Hammons Student Center in Springfield, Mo.

Stiles, the nation's leading scorer, finished with 25 points to help avenge an 89-82 loss to OU on Dec. 1. The Sooners defended Stiles well in the first half, holding the All-America to just seven first-half points. Stacey Dales and LaNeishea Caufield drew the assignment of guarding Stiles and did a credible job. Dales also led OU with 18 points and seven assists.

SMS grabbed a 32-20 halftime lead, including a 3-for-3 shooting performance by point guard Melody Campbell. OU's 30 percent shooting also helped SMS in the first half.

In the second half, OU put together a torrid comeback after finding itself behind 56-37 with 8:03 left. The Sooners opened up a 16-2 run led by Dales and Caufield, who combined for 10 points during the run to cut Southwest Missouri's lead to 58-53 with 3:37 left. After an OU time-out with 2:58 left, the Sooners drew to within two at 62-60 with 1:22 left on a Jadrea Seeley shot underneath the basket. Stiles responded with a jumper with 55 seconds left and two free throws with 29 seconds to play. OU turned the ball over on its next possession and was forced to foul Stiles on a transition play where she connected on her two free throws to give the Lady Bears a 66-61 lead with less than 20 seconds remaining.

OU had several chances to tie but did not convert, which was the case most of the game.

The Sooners found itself as cold as the 30-below wind chill outside the arena. The Sooners shot 38 percent and committed 24 turnovers for the game. The Sooners fought back with their rebounding, winning that battle 42-31 after it was 17-17 at halftime.

LaNeishea Caufield had 14 points, including 10-for-10 from the free throw line, eight of those as the Sooners rallied late. Caton Hill added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Dales, who's known for her passing, also made 11 turnovers.

NCAA LEADERS (AS OF DEC. 11)
Junior guard LaNeishea Caufield (Ada, Okla.) currently leads the nation in steals with an average of 4.9 thefts per outing. Ranking second in thefts per game is Grambling's Chovanique Kibble who averages 4.5 spg.

In addition, junior point guard Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario) ranks third in the NCAA in assists per game, dishing out 8.3 per contest. She also ranks sixth in thefts with 4.1 per game.

OU'S 60-GAME STREAK WITH A TREY SNAPPED
Nearly a year to the date, Oklahoma saw its 60-consecutive game with a made three-pointer snapped as the Lady Bears held OU scoreless from beyond the arc. Oklahoma was 0-9 from three-point land against SMS. The last time the Sooners failed to make a trey during a game was against Denver in Colorado on Dec. 16, 1999. OU was 0-8 against the Pioneers but won the game, 80-52.

SOONER SUBS PLAY A VITAL ROLE
Oklahoma reserves are contributing 35 percent of the team's total points compared to its opponents' 23 percent. In five of the team's eight games, the subs have contributed more than 30 percent of OU's total points, including 55 percent (42-of-77 points) against Wisconsin.

COUNT THEM!
Junior LaNeishea Caufield (Ada, Okla.) has hit 34 of her last 36 attempted free throws (94.4 percent) after starting the season 2-for-6 at the Bertha Teague Classic. She has been perfect at the charity stripe in three different games (10-for-10 at Southwest Missouri State, 8-for-8 vs. Wisconsin and 5-5 vs. Arkansas-Little Rock) this season.

TOPPING THE CONFERENCE (AS OF DEC. 11)
Juniors Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario) and LaNeishea Caufield (Ada, Okla.) top the Big 12 Conference as the duo leads the league in assists (8.3) and steals (4.9) per game, respectively. In addition, Caufield ranks seventh in scoring, 10th in free throw percentage and 15th in field goal percentage while Dales ranks second in steals and assists/turnover ratio and eighth in scoring.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Women's Basketball Takes On North Texas Monday Night

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