Top-seeded Sooners Begin Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday Afternoon

March 5, 2001

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BIG 12 TOURNAMENT NOTES
For the second consecutive year, the University of Oklahoma women's basketball team earned a first-round bye in the Big 12 Tournament. However, this year marks the first that the Sooners will be the No. 1 seed (see bottom box on page 1 for previous seedings).

Last year, OU was the third seed but tied Iowa State and Texas Tech for regular-season top honors.

For the past four years, the Sooners have been eliminated in the opening round. OU has never faced the same team twice in postseason action but if Oklahoma State wins its opening round game OU will play the Cowgirls for the second time. The Sooners lost, 70-56, to OSU in the first round of the 1999 tournament (see page one for previous Big 12 Tournament results).

OU lost to Kansas State, 81-56, in 1997, Colorado, 71-66, in 1998, and Texas, 71-68, last year.

OU'S POSSIBLE OPPONENTS
Oklahoma will face the winner of Tuesday's first-round game between eighth-seed Oklahoma State (14-13, 6-10) and ninth-seed Kansas (11-16, 5-11).

The Sooners swept the two-game series with Oklahoma State and defeated Kansas in their only meeting of the year. OU produced its largest margin of victory over a Big 12 opponent, 29 points, against OSU in Stillwater and defeated the Cowgirls, 88-83 in overtime, in Norman to clinch the conference regular season crown. Oklahoma also won for the first time under Head Coach Sherri Coale in Lawrence by defeating KU, 88-64.

Against OSU, Oklahoma shot 80.8 percent (21-of-26) from the field in the second half and 54.4 percent for the game. Versus Kansas, the Sooners shot 66.7 precent for the game, hitting 33-50 shots, for the sixth-best single-game performance by a Division I team this season.

Wednesday's winner will advance to Thursday's semifinal, scheduled for 5 p.m.

OU IN MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM
Oklahoma has never played in the Municipal Auditorium outside of Big 12 Tournament games. OU is 0-4 inside the auditorium.

OKLAHOMA (24-4, 15-1 BIG 12)
Oklahoma sports the nation's third-best scoring average at 83.3 points per game. The Sooners are also ranked seventh in field goal percentage (48.7%) and in three-point field goal percentage (39.3%) and eighth in the NCAA with the best win-loss percentage of 85.7 (24-4).

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 candidates LaNeishea Caufield (Ada, Okla.) and Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario) lead the Sooners 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 16.8 points per game. Caufield's free throw percentage of 85.3 percent (128-of-150) tops the league. She also ranks second on the team in assists (3.4 apg) and fourth in rebounds (4.5 rpg).

Dales, the 2001 Big 12 Player of the Year, stands sixth in the country in assists (7.8) and has scored or assisted on 46.3 percent of Oklahoma's 854 field goals. The Nancy Lieberman-Cline Step Up Award finalist (the award is for the top point guard in the nation) follows Caufield in scoring with 16.4 points per game. She also ranks second on the team in steals (2.6 spg) and third in rebounds (5.3 rpg).

Sophomore Caton Hill (Ada, Okla.) leads the team and ranks fourth in the conference in rebounds with 9.0 boards per game. Not only is she effective in the paint, but the 6-1 power forward is the conference's most consistent three-point shooter in league games, hitting 58.8 percent of her treys (20-of-34). Hill also averages 12.6 points and shoots 80.3 percent from the foul line, fourth 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.

SERIES RECORD
OU vs. Oklahoma State - OSU leads 34-32
Oklahoma swept the two-game Bedlam series for the second straight year. However, Oklahoma State took the Sooners into overtime in the last meeting. The Cowgirls hold a slim 34-32 advantage when playing OU but Oklahoma has won six of the last seven games. OSU eliminated the Sooners from the 1999 Big 12 Tournament.

OU vs. Kansas - KU leads 27-16
Oklahoma has won the last two meeting between the two teams. Earlier this season, OU won its first game under Coach Sherri Coale in Lawrence, 88-64, after shooting a season-best 66.7 percent (33-of-50) from the field. However, KU sports an overall record of 27-16 when facing the Sooners. The two programs have never met in Big 12 postseason action.

A WIN WOULD:

give the Sooners their first Big 12 Tournament victory in school history.

allow OU to improve its most consecutive wins record to 16.

allow the Sooners to increase their most consecutive road wins to 11.

improve OU's school record for most road wins in a single season to 14.

strengthen the Sooners' chances of hosting an NCAA First and Second round game and earning a No. 1 seed.

allow the Sooners to finish the season with the fewest losses in school history.

give Head Coach Sherri Coale her first Big 12 Tournament win and her 78th career victory.

13-1 ON TV
Oklahoma sports an impressive 13-1 record when playing in a televised game, including a 4-0 record on Sooner Sports Network, a 3-1 mark on Fox Sports Network and a 1-0 record on ESPN2.

STEAKS AND TRENDS
Oklahoma is undefeated when producing a better field goal percentage than its opponent (24-0) ... when leading at halftime (22-0) ... when scoring 80-plus points in a game (19-0) ... OU is also 9-0 when playing in Wednesday conference games ... OU is 18-1 when collecting more total rebounds than its opponent ... the Sooners are 23-1 when out working its foes on the defensive end but when they are out hustled they are 1-3 ... OU is also 9-2 when they collect more offensive rebounds.

LOSING LEADS
Oklahoma has given up a 10-plus lead and still won the game on seven different occasions this season. The largest lead given up by the Sooners was an 18-point advantage over Baylor on Feb. 21. BU took a two-point lead at the 12:21 minute mark in the second half but OU came back to win 86-76. Oklahoma has never been down by 10 points-or-more and won a game this season. The Sooners have led the entire game in six differnent outing.

48% IN THE PAINT
Junior guard LaNeishea Caufield (Ada, Okla.) has scored 48 percent of her team-leading 471 points this season in the paint. She's netted 220 points either on a layup or by slashing and driving the baseline. (note: This total excludes the game at Southwest Missouri State - a shot chart was not kept at that game.)

DALES ACCOUNTS FOR MORE AND MORE
All-America candidate Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario) continues to increase her contribution to this Oklahoma women's basketball team. Dales accounts for 46.3 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 177 field goals. She also has assisted on 218 of OU's 854 field goals made. Of Dales' 177 FGs, 21 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 1,224 points. Dales also became the only player in school history to score 1,000-plus points and dish out more than 500 assists.

ACADEMIC ALL-BIG 12
Five women's basketball student-athletes were placed on the 2001 Academic All-Big 12 teams. Juniors Stacey Dales, Jen Cunningham, and Shannon Selmon plus sophomore Caton Hill made the first team, while senior Desiree Taylor landed a spot on the second team.

HILL IMPROVES SINGLE SEASON RECORD
Sophomore Caton Hill (Ada, Okla.) improved her previous single season school record for most defensive rebounds to 178. As a freshman, it took Hill 33 games to collect 167 defensive boards. She has played and started all 28 games for the Sooners this season and averages 12.6 ppg and 9.0 rpg.

SOONERS CLIMB IN LATEST RPI POLLS
Oklahoma is ranked fourth in the latest WBCA and Women's Collegiate Basketball News plus fifth in the Jeff Sagarin RPI rankings. Oklahoma has played 12 top-25 games this year, producing an 8-4 record against the nation's best.

SOONERS EARN SECOND 20-WIN SEASON
Oklahoma's 79-60 victory over Kansas State on Feb. 14 gave the Sooners their second 20-win season in as many years. It has been 13 years since an OU women's basketball team put together back-to-back 20-win seasons. The 1983-84, 1984-85 and 1985-86 teams accomplished this feat three years in a row.

SHARING THE WEALTH
OU has proven that it does not have to depend on its trio of superstars, Stacey Dales, LaNeishea Caufield and Caton Hill, to win games. The Sooners share the wealth as evident in its assist per game statistic. OU averages 20.11 apg compared to its opponent's 13.25. Oklahoma has dished out 192 more assists than its opponents this season. OU has also pocketed an additional 77 steals and turned the ball over 11 less times.

TALBERT INCREASES PRODUCTIVITY
Since entering the lineup on Jan. 31, junior Jamie Talbert (Elkhart, Kan.) has averaged 10.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and shot 60.0 percent from the field. OU is 8-0 with Talbert in the starting five. For the year, she's contributing 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds and shoots 55.9 percent from the field.

Talbert has appeared among the Sooners' starting lineup in eight of OU's last nine games. Talbert did not start against Oklahoma State on Feb. 24 due to senior night. Senior Desiree Taylor appeared among the starting five for the first time this season.

DALES NAMED 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. She will 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 Verizon Academic All-America Team for women's basketball will be announced on Thursday, March 10.

MOVING ON UP...
Oklahoma currently sits at seventh in the women's basketball AP Poll, the highest ever for a Sooner team. OU remained at No. 8 in the current USA Today/ESPN Coaches Polls (Feb. 25, 2001). OU 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 17 AP and USA Today/ESPN coaches' polls this year and 27 straight dating back to Jan. 17, 2000, OU's first appearance under current 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 13 heading into this week's Big 12 Tournament. OU also established a new record for most consecutive road wins with 10. The previous record was seven, which OU matched against Nebraska on Feb. 7 and broke at Oklahoma State on Feb. 10.

A year ago, Oklahoma established a school record for most wins in a single season with 25. This year OU has 24 victories heading into postseason action.

SOONERS 28TH IN NATIONAL ATTENDANCE
After 9,672 fans witnessed Oklahoma clinch the Big 12 regular season title at home on Feb. 24, the Sooners climbed to 28th in the latest unofficial NCAA Division I Women's Basketball home attendance survey, which is compiled by the University of Wisconsin Women's Sports Information Office. OU averaged 3,264 fans per game.

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 who are finalists 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 announced 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 are one of five sets of men's and women's basketball coaches who are finalist for this award. OU and Iowa State are the only schools from the same conference who have double finalists. Other schools with both coaches nominated are Notre Dame, Florida and Duke.

COALE-DALES AMONG ESPN.COM NOMINEES
Oklahoma's Head Coach Sherri Coale and Sooner point guard Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario) have been nominated for the ESPN.com Coach and Point Guard of the Year Awards. The finalist will be announced later this month with the winners attending an official ceremony on March 28 hosted by ESPN College Basketball.

SEEING DOUBLE
Sophomore Caton Hill (Ada, Okla.) recorded her 10th double-double of the season when she scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds against Baylor on Feb. 21. Oklahoma has tallied 18 double-doubles in 28 games by four different players. Other double-double performances for the Sooners this season include junior Stacey Dales (at Texas - 17 points, 10 rebounds, 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).

SOONERS IN OVERTIME ACTION
Until this season, Oklahoma has never played back-to-back overtime games. San Diego (Dec. 21) and Stanford (Dec. 27) took the Sooners to extra periods before losing. Oklahoma State (Feb. 24) also forced OU to play an additional five minutes in its last regular season home game.

With the wins, OU improved its overtime record to 6-9 and double overtime mark to 1-2. Oklahoma defeated Stanford, 102-98, San Diego, 65-63, in double overtime, and Oklahoma State, 88-83.

Prior to this season, the last time the Sooners played an extra five minutes was in 1999 when OU lost to Arkansas, 97-93, in the second round of the WNIT in Fayetteville, Ark. In 1995-96, OU played two extra periods vs. Oklahoma State, losing 79-86 in Norman.

HILL'S AMONG BIG 12 BEST ALL AROUND PLAYERS
Sophomore Caton Hill (Ada, Okla.) is among the Big 12 Conference's best all-around players as she ranks among the top 15 in seven different statistical categories.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Top-seeded Sooners Begin Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday Afternoon

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