Dales Named Sooners' MVP For Women's Hoops

April 9, 2001

NORMAN, Okla. - Oklahoma Head Coach Sherri Coale and her 2000-01 Sooners held their annual women's basketball awards banquet tonight at the United States Postal Training Center, east of OU's campus. The Sooners welcomed a room full of fans to share in dinner, the awards ceremony and viewing of a 30-minute highlight tape celebrating the successful 2000-2001 season.

OU earned its second straight and first outright Big 12 Conference regular season title with a league record of 15-1. The Sooners also became the first team in school history ever to appear in back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16s. Oklahoma collected a school record 28 victories (28-6) and established a Sooner best winning percentage of .824. By the end of the season, OU was ranked seventh in the nation by the USA Today/ESPN Coaches and Associated Press polls, highest in school history.

Seven awards were presented this evening including Stacey Dales (Brockville, Ontario, Canada) sweeping the Most Valuable Player, BTEP (Big Time Efficiency Points) and Most Assists honors. Dales, the Big 12 Player of the Year, became Oklahoma's first ever Kodak All-America first-team selection during the NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four weekend. She also was honored by the Associated Press, Women's Basketball Coaches Association, Women's Basketball Journal and Women's Basketball News Service as a first team All-American, making her the most honored women's basketball player in school history. She averaged 16.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.4 steals and a Big 12-leading 7.3 assists a game. Dales shot 47.6 percent from the field and had a team-best 1.8 assist/turnover ratio.

Receiving the Best Defensive Player of the Year Award was junior guard LaNeishea Caufield (Ada, Okla.). Caufield led the nation for most of the season with more than four steals per game. She also established a Sooner single season (135) and career (303) record for most steals in school history. The second team All-Big 12 selection averaged 15.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.0 steals per game plus shot 83.9 percent from the free throw line.

After finishing second to former Sooner great Phylesha Whaley last season, sophomore Caton Hill (Ada, Okla.) was this year's award winner for Best Rebounder. Hill, a second team All-Big 12 honoree, cleaned the glass for 315 boards and averaged a team-best 9.3 rpg. She improved her freshman single season record of 167 defensive rebounds to 219 this year. Hill now appears at No. 15 among OU's all-time great rebounders with 559.

Tying for this year's Most Improved Player award were juniors Jennifer Cunningham (Kingston, Ontario, Canada) and Jamie Talbert (Elkhart, Kan.). This duo shared the starting center position as Cunningham appeared in the starting lineup 15 times, while Talbert ended the season starting 14 games. Cunningham averaged 6.5 points and 6.5 rebounds before her season ended early due to an ACL injury on Jan. 28. Talbert replaced Cunningham with averages of 7.4 ppg and 4.6 rpg.

Paula Smalling, the women's basketball office manager, was the recipient of the Sooner Service Award.

Following is a list of tonight's award recipients.

Most Valuable Player Award: Stacey Dales
Most Improved Player Award: Jennifer Cunningham and Jamie Talbert
Best Defensive Player Award: LaNeishea Caufield
Best Rebounder Award: Caton Hill
Most Assists Award: Stacey Dales
BTEP: Stacey Dales
Sooner Service Award: Paula Smalling

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Dales Named Sooners' MVP For Women's Hoops

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