Sooner Women Back Among Top 25

OU Women's Basketball No. 21 in Preseason USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Poll

Sooners will face five teams ranked in top 25, including four in the top six

Norman, Okla. The University of Oklahoma women's basketball team is ranked No. 21 in the 2003-04 USA Today ESPN Preseason Top 25 Poll, conducted by a board of Division I head coaches and released on Tuesday evening. Oklahoma is one of five Big 12 Conference teams ranked among the nation's top 25 programs.

OU Head Coach Sherri Coale returns four starters and seven letterwinners from last year's squad (19-13) that appeared in its fourth straight NCAA Tournament. Also returning are senior All-America candidate Caton Hill and redshirt freshmen standouts Erin Higgins and Casey Walker after successful rehabs from ACL injuries a year ago. Coale, who enters her eighth season at OU, also welcomes four outstanding freshmen to her program: Krista Sanchez, Leah Rush, Kendra Moore and Britney Brown.

The Connecticut women open the 2003-04 college basketball season where they left off last April at the top. The Huskies were ranked No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today preseason poll after receiving all 40 first-place votes. UConn went 29-6 last year and has won two consecutive NCAA championships. UConn was followed by Duke, Texas, Tennessee and Kansas State in the top five. Rounding out the top 10 were No. 6 Texas Tech, No. 7 Stanford, No. 8 Penn State, No. 9 Purdue and 10th-ranked LSU.

Oklahoma will face five teams that are ranked in the preseason top 25, including four from the top six: No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 Kansas State, No. 6 Texas Tech plus 20th-ranked Colorado. In addition, OU opponent Pepperdine recieved votes for the list. The Sooners will host the Lady Vols on Sun., Dec. 21, at the Lloyd Noble Center, site of the 2004 NCAA Midwest Regional, in a nationally televised ESPN game at 2 p.m.

Overall, five Big 12 teams were ranked in the top 25, as the Big 12 claimed the most spots in the preseason rankings, with Texas third, K-State fifth, followed by Texas Tech (6th), Colorado (20th) and Oklahoma (21st). The SEC and Big Ten each had four teams ranked. The ACC and Big East each put three teams in the poll.

UConn and Duke were also 1-2 in the men's ESPN/USA Today poll, which was released last week.

For Oklahoma Basketball season ticket information, please call 1-800-GOOU or 405-325-2424 or visit www.SoonerSports.com.

Oklahoma will play two exhibition games (Nov. 13 & Nov. 18) before hosting the Bertha Teague Classic in Oklahoma City at the Ford Center. Tulsa, Oral Roberts, Oklahoma State and OU will participate in the one day event starting at 12 p.m.

USA Today/ESPN Top 25

Women's Basketball Preseason Poll

School (1st place votes) (2002-03 record)

1. Connecticut (40) (37-1)

2. Duke (35-2)

3. Texas (29-6)

4. Tennessee (33-5)

5. Kansas State (29-5)

6. Texas Tech (29-6)

7. Stanford (27-5)

8. Penn State (26-9)

9. Purdue (29-6)

10. LSU (30-4)

11. Georgia (21-10)

12. Louisiana Tech (31-3)

13. Minnesota (25-6)

14. North Carolina (28-6)

15. Ohio State (21-10)

16. Notre Dame (21-11)

17. Rutgers (21-8)

18. UC-Santa Barbara (27-5)

19. Utah (24-7) 271 ARV

20. Colorado (24-8)

21. OKLAHOMA (19-13)

22. Arizona (22-9)

23. TCU (20-14)

24. Virginia (17-14)

25. Auburn (23-11)

Also receiving votes (ARV): George Washington (25-7) 108; Boston College (22-9) 94; Villanova (28-6) 70; Virginia Tech (22-10) 64; Vanderbilt (22-10) 57; DePaul (22-10) 53; South Carolina (23-8) 48; Washington (22-8) 44; Mississippi State (24-8) 29; Arkansas (22-11) 28; Michigan State (17-11) 27; Cincinnati (23-8) 21; Liberty (26-4) 18; Old Dominion (20-11) 14; Creighton (24-9) 11; Houston (15-13) 11; New Mexico (24-9) 10; Western Kentucky (22-9) 10; Chattanooga (26-5) 9; Southwest Missouri State (18-13) 9; Clemson (14-15) 8; Wisconsin-Green Bay (28-4) 8; North Carolina-Wilmington (22-6) 7; Saint Joseph's (19-11) 7; Charlotte (21-9) 6; Colorado State (20-13) 6; Arizona State (16-14) 4; Pepperdine (22-8) 4; Xavier (20-10) 4; Iowa (17-15) 3; Florida State (17-13) 2; Oregon (12-16) 2; Toledo (20-10) 2; UCLA (18-11) 2; Brigham Young (19-12) 1; Holy Cross (24-8) 1; Middle Tennessee (18-12) 1; Montana (20-10) 1.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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