OU Womens Basketball Announces 2003-04 Schedule

NORMAN, Okla. The 2003-04 Oklahoma women's basketball schedule is highlighted by five national television appearances plus a rematch against national powerhouse Tennessee in Norman. 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.

OU plays six of its 11 non-conference games at home, the most since the 1999-2000 season.

"I'm excited about our 2003-2004 schedule," said OU head coach Sherri Coale. "It presents us with a challenging pre-conference schedule which will no doubt prepare us for the rigors of Big 12 play. In December we will face powerhouses from two major conferences in hosting Illinois and Tennessee. The Tennessee game presents us with an opportunity to play on national television against the 2003 National Runner-Up. This experience will obviously benefit our team as we head into Big 12 play."

Coale returns four starters and seven letterwinners from last year's squad 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.

In addition to the Tennessee game being televised by ESPN, Fox Sports Net will air four OU Big 12 Conference games: Texas A&M (Feb. 7), Kansas (Feb. 14), at Oklahoma State (Feb. 28) and Texas (March 2). Sooner Sports Properties will announce its men's and women's basketball television package later this month, but expect to see the Sooners on TV an additional four to five times.

For the sixth consecutive year, the Sooners will be one of four state teams participating in the annual Bertha Teague Classic hosted by OU. Oral Roberts, Oklahoma State and Tulsa complete the field that will face each other on Nov. 22.

Over the Thanksgiving break, Oklahoma heads to Malibu, Calif., as one of four teams competing in the Pepperdine Yellow Book USA Turkey Shootout on Nov. 28-29. OU opens the tournament against Siena on Nov. 28 and will face either host Pepperdine or UC Riverside on Sat., Nov. 29.

Also highlighting OU's non-conference schedule this season will be home matchups against Utah (Dec. 7), Illinois (Dec. 28) and Wichita State (Dec. 30) plus road trips to SMU (Dec. 3), Montana State (Dec. 10) and Stephen F. Austin (Dec. 13).

Oklahoma will attempt to capture its fourth Big 12 Conference regular season title in five years against a league that saw five teams qualify for last year's NCAA Tournament (Texas Tech, Kansas State, Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma), plus two teams that played in the WNIT (Baylor and Missouri).

The Sooners will face South Division foes Baylor, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech twice and will play each member of the North Division once. North Division foes who will visit Lloyd Noble Center are Nebraska (Jan. 7), Kansas (Feb. 14), and Colorado (Feb. 18).

"Once again the Big XII Conference has the potential to produce a National Champion," said Coale. "Every game in the Big XII is a challenge and the opportunity to compete in front of sold-out crowds is both an incredible experience and a distinct advantage come NCAA Tournament time."

Oklahoma already has been awarded one of four NCAA Championship Regional sites for the 2004 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship. OU will host the Midwest Regional games on Sun., March 28, and Tues., March 30, at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

"Though the NCAA Tournament is a long way away we have been selected to host the Midwest Regional which is an exciting opportunity and one that we plan to take full advantage of!" said Coale.

For ticket information and season ticket packages, please contact the OU Athletics Ticket Office at 800-456-GoOU (4668) or visit the official athletics department website at www.soonersports.com.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Womens Basketball Announces 2003-04 Schedule

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