Women's Hoops Finishes Regular Season Home Schedule Against Cowgirls Saturday

Feb. 22, 2001

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THE GAME
The eighth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners conclude its regular season home schedule Saturday against arch rival Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. inside the Lloyd Noble Center. OU boasts a 10-1 record at home this season and has won 18 of its last 20 games in the arena.

The game will be broadcast live by the Sooner Sports Network and air on KSBI Channel 52 in Oklahoma City, KWBT Channel 19 in Tulsa and KOMI-TV 24 in Woodward. Mick Cornett (play-by-play) and Laura Reece (color analyst) will call the game. All Oklahoma womens basketball games are broadcast on KOMA-AM (1520) radio station with Ed Murray (play-by-play) and Jenny Bramer (color analyst) on the headsets. This live broadcast also is available through OUs athletic department web site at www.SoonerSports.com.

A victory over the Cowgirls Saturday would clinch the Big 12 Conference regular season title for the Sooners, marking the first time in school history that OU has won the Big 12 regular season crown out right. Oklahoma tied Iowa State and Texas Tech for top honors a year ago. The only other year that OU won a regular season conference title was as a member of the Big Eight in 1985-86.

The Sooners enter Saturday's contest with the nation's fifth-longest winning streak of 13 games. OU also sports a 22-4 overall record and tops the Big 12 with an 13-1 mark. Oklahoma has a two-game lead over second place Iowa State and Texas Tech while Oklahoma State stands at 13-12 overall and 5-9 in league action to rank eighth in the conference standings.

Saturday is also the final home regular season appearance by Oklahoma seniors Sunny Hardeman and Desiree Taylor. A senior ceremony will take place following the game.

Oklahoma is ranked eighth in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN coaches polls while OSU is not ranked.

SERIES RECORD OU vs. Oklahoma StateOSU leads 34-31
Oklahoma needs three more victories over OSU to even out the all-time series record between the two teams. Oklahoma State has a slim 34-31 advantage when playing the Sooners but OU has won three straight games and five of its last six. However when playing in Norman, OU has a 17-11 edge over the Cowgirls.

Earlier this season, OU handed Oklahoma State a 76-47 loss in Stillwater, after a halftime score of 24-18, OU.

The last time OSU defeated the Sooners was when the Cowgirls eliminated, 70-56, OU in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament in 1999. Prior to the 1999 season, Oklahoma State had swept the two-game series for three years. The last time the Cowgirls left Norman with a win was in 1998, 69-52.

DEJAVU
It was in 1985-86 and 1999-2000 that Oklahoma needed a win over Oklahoma State to earn a piece of the conference regular season title. The 1985-86 team clinch the Big Eight title out right with an 86-67 win in Stillwater while last years team earned a three-way share of the Big 12 crown with a 77-68 victory in Norman.

This year's team can become the first to win a conference title out right on its home court.

OKLAHOMA (22-4, 13-1 BIG 12)
Oklahoma sports the nation's fourth best scoring average of 83.8 points per game. The Sooners are also ranked sixth in field goal percentage (49.1%) and fifth in three-point percentage (39.4%) plus 11th in the NCAA with the best won-lost percentage of 84.6 (22-4).

During OU's 13-0 run, the Sooners are averaging 86.0 points, 40.9 rebounds, shooting 51.8 percent from the field, 41.2 percent from the arc and 75.7 percent from the foul line. Oklahoma is also beating its opponents by an average margin of victory of 16.5 ppg.

Three of Oklahoma's starters average double figures in scoring and the Sooners are led by two of the best players in the country. Junior All-America and Big 12 Player of the Year candidates LaNeishea Caufield (Ada, Okla.) and Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario) lead the team and rank among the NCAA best in scoring, steals and assists. Caufield tops the nation in thefts with 4.4 steals per game and leads the team with 17.0 points per game. Caufield's free throw percentage of 85.3 percent (116-of-136) ranks first in the league. She also ranks second on the team in assists (3.5 apg) and fourth in rebounds (4.5 rpg).

Dales stands sixth in the country in assists (7.8) and has scored or assisted on 46.0 percent of Oklahoma's 802 field goals. The Nancy Lieberman-Cline Step Up Award finalist (the award is for the top point guard in the nation) has scored 20 points in three of the last five games and follows Caufield in scoring with 16.4 points per game. She also ranks second on the team in steals (2.7 spg) and third in rebounds (5.1 rpg).

Sophomore Caton Hill (Ada, Okla.) leads the team and ranks fourth in the conference in rebounds with 9.2 boards per game. Not only is she effective in the paint but the 6-1 power forward is the conference's most consistent 3-point shooter in league games, hitting 60.6 percent of her treys (20-of-33). Hill also averages 13.3 points and shoots 83.3 percent from the foul line to rank third best on the team. In addition, she has supplied the Sooners with 10 double-doubles (10+ rebounds, 10+ points) this season, pushing her career total to 16.

OKLAHOMA STATE (13-12, 5-9 BIG 12)
Oklahoma State defeated Texas A&M, 83-63, but lost to Texas, 73-69, in overtime and Missouri, 65-62, since losing to OU on Feb. 10. The Cowgirls are 13-12 on the season and 5-9 in league action. OSU ranks eighth in the league's standings.

OSU is led by senior Kara Faulk who averages 11.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. She also shoots 81.3 percent from the foul line and 38.4 percent from the field. Jessica Bates ranks second on the team with 9.7 ppg and 5.1 rpg.

As a team, the Cowgirls score 62.8 ppg and average 39.9 rebounds. OSU shots 37.4 percent from the field, 28.5 percent from the arc and 67.1 percent from the foul line.

UP NEXT
The Sooners will close the 2000-2001 regular season at Texas on Feb. 28, in a game that will be televise live by Fox Sports Network at 6:30 p.m.

BEDLAM BELL HISTORY
If Oklahoma wins on Saturday, a Bank of Oklahoma Bedlam Series Victory Bell will be presented to Head Coach Sherri Coale and Sooners at the conclusion of game. This award will stay with OU until next year's two-game series is concluded.

The Victory Bell is custom-made, mouth-blown, hand-cut Ruckl crystal, the finest bohemian lead crystal made and sits atop a granite base that will be engraved with the score of the game. The award is a traveling trophy that will reside with the winner until the following year.

BEDLAM BATTLE
The following is a list of all of the OU-OSU Bedlam winners of games that have been played and future games.

COALE FINALIST FOR NAISMITH COLLEGE BASKETBALL COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD
Oklahoma's Head Coach Sherri Coale is one of the top 20 women's collegiate basketball coaches that are finalist for the Naismith College Basketball Coach of the Year Award. The winner of the Naismith Award, the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball, will be honored in Atlanta, Ga., on April 7, 2001 at the Cobb Galleria Centre.

Coale is one of five women's coaches from the Big 12 Conference up for this honor. In addition, OU's Kelvin Sampson is a finalist for the men's Naismith College Basketball Coach of the Year Award. Oklahoma's coaches is one of five sets of men's and women's basketball coaches that are finalist for this award. OU and Iowa State are the only two pairs that are from the same conference. Other schools with both coaches nominated are Notre Dame, Florida and Duke.

DALES EARNS SECOND BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR
All-America candidate Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario) was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week by a vote of a media panel on Monday. Dales assisted Oklahoma to a 2-0 record last week with wins against Kansas State, 79-60, and at Texas Tech, 80-75, pushing the Sooners' winning streak to 12-straight games. Dales led the team with a double-double of 21.0 points and 10.0 assists per game. She also averaged 7.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and shot 56.7 percent (17-of-30) from the field plus 80.0 percent from the foul line (8-of-10). In addition, Dales was responsible for over half of Oklahoma's field goals last week. She topped the team with 17 field goals made and assisted on 20 other field goals which account for 62.7 percent of OU's 59 field goals against K-State and Tech.

Dales had game-highs of 22 points and eight assists against a tough Texas Tech team in Lubbock. She also had eight rebounds and shot 57.1 percent from the field (8-of-14) and 75 percent from the foul line (6-of-8). Dales scored seven of OU's final nine points for the win.

Against Kansas State, Dales had her third double-double of the season with game highs of 20 points and 12 assists. She also grabbed eight rebounds, pocketed three steals and shot 56.3 percent from the field (9-of-16).

HILL TIES OWN SINGLE SEASON RECORD
Sophomore Caton Hill (Ada, Okla.) collected 10 defensive rebounds against Baylor Wednesday night to tie her own single season record for most defensive boards with 167. Hill has played and started all 26 games for the Sooners this season. She averages 13.3 ppg and 9.2 rpg. It took Hill 33 games a year ago to set this record. Former teammate and All-American Phylesha Whaley ranks second and third on the single season charts with 164 (1999-00) and 159 (1997-98) defensive rebounds.

11-1 ON T.V.
Oklahoma sports an impressive 11-1 record when playing in a televised game, including a 3-0 record on Sooner Sports Network, a 2-1 mark on FoxSports Network and a 1-0 record on ESPN2.

SOONER ARE PERFECT WHEN . . .
Oklahoma is undefeated when producing a better field goal percentage than its opponent (22-0), when leading at halftime (20-0) and when scoring 80-plus points in a game (18-0).

TALBERT INCREASES PRODUCTIVITY
Junior Jamie Talbert (Elkhart, Kan.) had a career night against Baylor Wednesday. The Seward County Junior College transfer scored a career-high 21 points on a personal-best 9-of-10 shooting, tying the team's individual high for best field goal percentage, 90%. Talbert was perfect from the field until the 10:09 minute mark in the second half. Her previous best was 13 points against SMU and Wisconsin.

Talbert has appeared among the Sooners' starting lineup since junior center Jen Cunningham went out with a torn ACL on Jan. 28 against Texas Tech. Over the past seven games, Talbert has averaged 10.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and shot 68.1 percent from the field. Prior to that, she was averaging 6.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and is shooting 52.1 percent from the field.

For the year, she's contributing 7.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and shoots 58.2 percent from the field.

DALES NAMED TO ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT TEAM
Junior point guard Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario) is one of six student-athletes from District VI to be named to the 2001 Verizon Academic All-District Women's Basketball team. Normally five players are awarded this honor but because of a tie in the voting, six player were chosen to represent the district on the Verizon Academic All-America national ballot.

Dales is a communications major who has an overall grade point average of 3.72. The Canadian averages 16.4 points, 7.8 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game for the 22-4 and eighth-ranked Sooners. Her mark for assists per game ranks first in the Big 12 Conference and sixth in the nation. She was been named the Big 12 Player of the Week twice (Jan. 14 and Feb. 19) and is one of 10 finalist for the Conseco/Nancy Lieberman-Cline Step Up and ESPN.com Point Guard of the Year Awards. She also competed on the Candadian Olympic team this past summer in Sydney, Australia.

District VI is comprised of schools from the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. To be eligible for the team student-athletes must be a starter or front line reserve and must have at least a 3.20 overall grade point average. The team is selected by members of the College Sports information Directors of America from District VI. The Verizon Academic All-America Team for women's basketball will be announced on Thursday, March 10.

SOONERS CONTINUES TO CLIMB THE POLLS
Oklahoma made the Top 10 list in the women's basketball AP and USA Today/ESPN Coaches Polls for the first time earlier this season. Since that appearance, the Sooners recently climbed two spots in both polls this week with its impressive win over Texas Tech in Lubbock Saturday.

OU first appeared among the AP Top 10 for the time in school history on Jan. 28, after defeating Texas Tech in Norman on Jan. 28. The Sooners' highest ranking previously had been 11th for the week of Jan. 12, 1986.

Oklahoma has been ranked in all 16 AP and USA Today/ESPN coaches' polls this year and 26-straight dating back to Jan. 17, 2000, OU's first appearance under Sooner coach Sherri Coale.

OU CONTINUES TO SET RECORDS
The Sooners have set the school record for most road wins in a single season with 12 to date. OU also established a new record for most consecutive road wins with nine. The previous record was seven, which OU matched against Nebraska on Feb. 7 and set at Oklahoma State on Feb. 10.

The record for most home wins is 13. OU is 10-1 inside the Lloyd Noble Center this season and has one more home game (Saturday vs. OSU) on its regular season schedule to play. A year ago, Oklahoma established a school record for most wins in a single season with 25. This year OU already has 22 victories with two games remaining in regular season action.

SEEING DOUBLE
All-Big 12 Conference candidate Caton Hill (Ada, Okla.) recorded her 10th double-double of the season when she scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds against Baylor Wednesday. Oklahoma has tallied 17 double-doubles in 26 games by four different players. Other double-double performances for the Sooners this season include junior Stacey Dales (vs. Baylor - 10 points, 13 assists, vs. K-State - 20 points, 12 assists, at OSU - 18 points, 10 rebounds, vs. SMU - 14 points, 14 assists), junior LaNeishea Caufield (at ORU - 22 points, 10 rebounds and vs. Iowa State - 13 points, 12 assists) and junior Jen Cunningham (vs. Texas - 18 points, 12 rebounds).

CAUFIELD CLAIMS THIRD SCHOOL RECORD
Junior All-America candidate LaNeishea Caufield (Ada, Okla.) has become Oklahoma's all-time record holder in career steals, most steals in a single season and for most consecutive free throws made.

RECORD ONE:
Caufield first set the record for most consecutive free throws made at 23 but better that mark two weeks later to 29-straight. The Ada High graduate has been perfect at the charity stripe in 12 different games this season. More impressive is that nine of the 12 games that Caufield has been flawless in have occurred on the road.

RECORD TWO:
Caufield became OU's all-time steals leader with four against Texas Tech Saturday in Lubbock. She picked the pocket of Tech's Katrisa O'Neal at the 5:21 minute mark in the first half to claim this title. Caufield now has 284 career steals and currently leads the nation in thefts with 4.5 per outing.

RECORD THREE:
With four steals against Texas Tech Caufield became OU's single season steals leader with 114 to date. She also ranks fourth with 96 last season and 10th with 74 as a freshman in 1998-99.

DALES CONTINUES TO ACCOUNT FOR MORE AND MORE
All-America candidate Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario) continues to increase her importance to this Oklahoma women's basketball team. Dales now accounts for 46.0 percent of all the Sooners field goals made this year. She ranks sixth in the NCAA at 7.8 assists/game and tops the team with 167 field goals. She also has assisted on 202 of OU's 802 field goals made. Of Dales' 167 FGs, 20 have been three-pointers. Dales, the soon-to-be school recordholder in assists, moved into Oklahoma's top-15 career scoring list this season and currently has 1,193 points. Dales also became the only player in school history to score 1,000-plus points and dish out over 500 assists.

SOONERS CLIMB HIGHER IN LATEST RPI POLLS
Oklahoma is ranked fourth in the latest WBCA/ Summerville RPI rankings and sixth in the Collegiate Basketball News. Oklahoma has played 11 top-25 teams this year, producing a 7-4 record against the nation's best.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Women's Hoops Finishes Regular Season Home Schedule Against Cowgirls Saturday

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