OU Women Set to Face No. 3 Texas Saturday on KSBI-TV at 1 p.m.

MEDIA INFORMATION

No. 15/16 Oklahoma Sooners (11-1, 1-0 Big 12) at No. 3/3 Texas Longhorns (13-1, 1-0 Big 12)

Date & Time: Sat., Jan. 10 @ 1 p.m.
Site: Frank Erwin Center (16,837) - Austin
Series Record: Texas leads 14-7
Tickets: To purchase tickets call the UT Athletic Ticket Office at 512-471-3333.
Radio: Sooner Sports Network along with KOMA-AM (1520) will carry Saturday's. Brian Brinkley (play-by-play) and Tara Robinett (color analyst) will call the game. All broadcasts also are available through the OU athletics web site.
TV: Sooner Sports Network (KSBI-TV)
Real-Time Stats: Live in-game statistics are available through UT's athletics web site.
Web Site: Oklahoma (www.SoonerSports.com), Texas (www.TexasSports.com)

PROBABLE STARTERS
OKLAHOMA (11-1)                     PPG          RPG
10    F   Caton Hill                         14.3          5.5
14    F   Beky Preston                   7.0            6.0
35    G   Dionnah Jackson            11.1           5.7
34    G   Erin Higgins                     5.1            2.1
5    G    Maria Villarroel               14.9           5.1

TEXAS (13-1)                                 PPG           RPG
04    F   Kala Bowers                      9.9              4.8
21    F   Heather Schreibert             13.9            6.4
41    C   Stacy Stephens                 10.1            6.6
11    G    Jamie Carey                       11.7            1.8
22    G   Nina Norman                      9.3              5.6

SATURDAY PREVIEW
      The Oklahoma women's basketball team (11-1, 1-0 Big 12) will play the first of two Red River Shootouts this weekend.   No. 3 Texas (13-1, 1-0 Big 12) will host the Sooners Saturday, Jan. 10, at 1 p.m. inside the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.
Saturday's game will be televised by Sooner Sports Television (KSBI) and Radio Networks (state side).
      OU is riding a three-game winning streak with victories over Illinois (70-53), Wichita State (89-50) and Nebraska (70-51). The Sooners are also 6-0 away from the Lloyd Noble Center this season and have not lost a true road game since losing at Texas (78-66) on March 5, 2003.
      Texas also is riding a winning streak of its own of six-games. The Longhorns have not lost since suffering a 79-59 setback to nationally-ranked Penn State on Dec. 7. UT is currently one of the hottest teams in the nation, owning impressive wins over Duke (85-77), Georgia (71-58) and Tennessee (70-60).
      The only common non-conference opponent they have faced has been Tennessee.
      UT and OU own scoring margins of better than 20 points and rank second and third, respectively, in the league in offensive scoring at 80.9 and 80.3 ppg. They also are the top two teams in the Big 12 when it comes to three-point field goal percentage defense as the Longhorns hold opponents to just 23 percent and OU 25.7 percent from the arc. The boards should be a war as well. Texas averages 43.8 to OU's 43.0 rpg.

OU-TEXAS SERIES
Saturday will be the 22nd meeting between the two teams. Texas leads the all-time series, 14-7, but Oklahoma has won three of its last six games against the Longhorns. UT swept the two game series last year with 60-54 (Norman) and 78-66 (Austin) wins.
Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale is 6-9 against the Longhorns.

OU Top Coaches Against Texas
Kelvin Sampson                Men's Basketball                15-5
Sherri Coale                     Women's Basketball            6-9
Bob Stoops                       Football                               4-1

OKLAHOMA (11-1, 1-0 BIG 12)
      Eleven games into the season, Oklahoma has proven its can score and play defense as the Sooners are averaging better than 80 points per game and holding opponents to less than 60 ppg and a 37.2 field goal percentage. OU ranks third in the Big 12 Conference in offensive production (80.3 ppg) and ranks among the league's top 5 in six other categories, including second in three-point field goal percentage defense (.257).
      Oklahoma has recorded 80-plus points against seven opponents and hit the 90-point plateau three times (90 vs. ORU and at Montana State, plus 95 at Pepperdine).
      The Sooners have a well-balanced attack from its front and back courts. To date, 56.9 percent of OU points come from the guards and 43.1 percent come from post players.
Senior guard Maria Villarroel (14.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, .576 FG%) has been a vital piece of Oklahoma's transition game for the past two seasons. She has scored in double digits in all but one game (Utah) and leads the team with 14.9 points per game. She scored a season-high 24 points in the win at Stephen F. Austin by hitting 10-of-12 shots. Villarroel ranks fifth in the league for best field goal percentage, shooting 57.6, and averages 8.0 points and 6.5 rebounds when playing the Longhorns.
      Junior Dionnah Jackson (11.1 ppg, team-high 5.2 apg and 5.7 rpg, .815 FT%) is in her second season as the everyday point guard for the Sooners. Jackson is getting her points as a slasher, driving to the basket and creating havoc for opposing defenses. She ranks third in the Big 12 in steals (2.67) per game and assists/turnover ratio (2.0) plus fourth in assists (5.17) per game. She is among the Big 12 best in five different categories. Jackson earned a spot on the Pepperdine All-Tournament team, after averaging 12 points, three rebounds and three steals per game plus shot 68.8 percent from the field.
      Senior forward and preseason All-America candidate Caton Hill (14.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, two double-doubles) has lived up to her accolades. She leads the team in three-point field goal shooting (.424) and threes made per game (1.2). She was named OU's MVP of the Bertha Teague Classic on Nov. 22 after scoring 17 points with the assistance of three 3s against ORU in the season opener. She then piled up back-to-back double-doubles on the road at SMU (14p, 10r) and Montana State (23p, 10r). At MSU, she hit a career-best 8-of-10 shots (80%), was 4-of-4 from the arc (100%) and 3-of-4 from the foul line (75%). She now has a school record 31 career double-doubles and moved up to No. 2 on the all-time rebounding list after collecting nine against No. 2 Tennessee on Dec. 21. She's 157 shy of tying the school record in this category.
      Redshirt-freshman Erin Higgins (5.1 ppg, .317 3-pt. FG%) has appeared in the starting lineup in all 10 games she has played. Higgins missed the Illinois and Wichita State games due to hyperextending her right knee in practice earlier that week. The Oklahoma City native slid into the starting lineup after sophomore Chelsi Welch was sidelined in November with a season ending ACL injury.
      After averaging only four points and four rebounds per game last year, sophomore Beky Preston has almost doubled her scoring output (7.0 ppg). She owns a team-best 6.0 rpg and shoots a solid 53.0 percent from the field. In addition, she is showing offensive diversity by adding a few extra post moves to her arsenal over the summer months. Preston was named MVP of the Pepperdine Invitational in November after leading the Sooners in scoring and rebounding.
      Freshman forward Leah Rush (7.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .522 FG%), junior guard Lauren Shoush (6.0 ppg, 1.9 apg, .482 FG%) and freshman guard Britney Brown (3.1 ppg, 1.2 apg, .400 FG%) have made important contributions this season. Rush has scored 10-plus points in four games including a team-high 16 points in the home-opening win against Southeast Missouri State, hitting 6-of-7 shots. Shoush has been the spark plug off the bench for the Sooners the past two seasons. Her main contributions don't show up on the stat sheet but her energy level and work ethic is noticed by all. She has scored 10-plus points twice (10 at SMU and a career-high 18 at Montana State). The Oklahoma City native started against Illinois and Wichita State and the second half of the Nebraska game Wednesday. Brown has played valuable minutes in relief of Jackson at the point guard position. She took then-No. 19/23 Utah for a career-high 10 points, burying two three-pointers and hitting 4-of-7 shots in the 73-65 OU win. Brown also dished out a personal-best four assists against Siena (N28).

TEXAS (13-1, 1-0 BIG 12)
      Texas (13-1, 1-0 Big 12) is one of the hottest teams in the nation as the Longhorns have defeated several of the top women's basketball programs in the country, including the current No. 1 team in the nation, Duke (85-77). UT, who won the 2003 Big 12 regular season and tournament titles, opened Big 12 play Wednesday with a 73-54 victory over Kansas in Lawrence.
      The Longhorns currently own the nation's longest active home-court wining streak at 26 games.
      Texas has won six-straight games since losing to nationally-ranked Penn State, 79-59, on Dec. 7, in University Park, Pa.
      Senior center Stacy Stephens had 26 points and nine rebounds in UT's win over Kansas. Stephens hit 12-of-17 shots from the field and was credited with four assists. Teammates Heather Schreiber and Tiffany Jackson assisted UT with 18 and 16 points, respectively. Both added nine boards as well. As a team, Texas shot 49.2 percent from the field and 40 percent from the arc.
      For the season, Texas has four players averaging better than 10 points per game. Schreiber, a junior, leads all Longhorns with 12.3, followed by Jackson's 12.3, Jamie Carey's 11.7 and 10.1 ppg comes from Stephens. Jackson, a freshman, tops the team with 8.1 rpg, while Schreiber (6.4) and Stephens (6.6) account for over six rebounds a game. Sophomore Nina Norman leads the team in the assists category with 4.1 per game.
      One of the most physically dominant teams in the league, Texas ranks third in the Big 12 with a plus 11.3 team rebounding margin (43.8-to-32.5), while ranking among the top in the conference with a plus 4.64 team turnover margin (16.5-to-21.1). Those numbers have helped Texas outscore the opposition by an average of 28.3 points per game (80.9-to-52.6).
      Texas is a solid shooting team, connecting on 49.6 percent of its field goal attempts and 38.3 percent of its three-point attempts, while dropping off to 70.1 percent from the free throw line.

UP NEXT
      Oklahoma continues its Big 12 road schedule next week as the Sooners travel to Texas A&M (7-5, 0-1 Big 12) to face the Aggies and first year coach Gary Blair on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 7 p.m.
      TAM upset the Sooners a year ago in College Station (69-61) on Feb. 5, after OU defeated the Aggies by 40-points (77-39) in Norman on Jan. 18.
      Oklahoma is 15-8 against Texas A&M and winners of nine of the last 10 games.

OU vs. Ranked Teams
Oklahoma is 1-11 against teams that are ranked in the top 5 and 26-38 vs. teams ranked among the top 25 under current coach Sherri Coale.

TIME SHARE
Oklahoma and Coach Sherri Coale has its deepest team in eight years. The Sooners can go as deep as 10 and currently have nine players averaging better than 10 minutes per contest. All but one player averages five minutes or more per outing.
Seven players have played in all 12 games and 11 have seen action in at least 10 games.

HILL LOOKS TO REBOUND FROM LAST MATCHUP VS. TEXAS
Oklahoma senior forward Caton Hill has had some pretty impressive games against Texas in the past. In her first four games, the Ada, Okla., native produced double-doubles with her best being 20 points and 13 rebounds in her first ever matchup against the Longhorns. However, in her last outing at UT (Feb. 19, 2002) she fell victim to foul trouble and only saw seven minutes of action, producing zero points and had just four rebounds.
Overall, Hill averages 10.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game when playing Texas. She also shoots 50 percent from the arc (6-of-12), 40.6 percent (26-of-64) from field and 81.2 percent from the foul line (18-of-22). Hill has played in started all seven games against UT.

ANDREWS STEPPING UP
Sophomore Laura Andrews has come off the bench the last three game to average a solid 9.3 points and 20.7 minutes per game. The Washington, Okla., native canned a team-best 57.1 percent of her three-pointers, hitting 8-of-14 treys, against Illinois, Wichita State and Nebraska. Andrews also has contributed 3.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 47.6 percent from the field (10-of-21).

HIGGINS BACK IN ACTION
Redshirt-freshman Erin Higgins returns to the court Wednesday after missing two games (Illinois and Wichita State). The Oklahoma City native was sidelined for precautionary reasons after hyperextending her left knee in practice, the same knee she torn her ACL while a senior in high school.
The three-point specialist is averaging 5.1 points and attempting 4.1 threes per game.

JACKSON SOLID ACROSS THE BOARD
      Junior Dionnah Jackson may not be flashy in how she scores, rebounds or passes the basketball but her production across the board deserves a standing ovation. The St. Louis, Mo., native has one of the most impressive stat line in the Big 12 Conference.
      Jackson averages 11.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.7 steals per game plus shots 49.0 percent from the field and 81.5 percent from the free throw line as a point guard. She ranks among the league's best in five categories (steals [3rd], assists/turnover ratio [3rd], assists [4th], scoring [24th]). The 5-9 guard also is OU's third best rebounder at 5.7 rpg and second best free throw shooter, hitting 22-of-27 foul shots (81.5 FT%).
      Over the last three games, she's dished out 7.3 assists, pocketed 4.7 steals and grabbed 6.3 rebounds per game, while scoring 9.7 points a game.
      Jackson has had more assists than turnovers in 10 of 12 games, including seven assists to zero turnovers in the season opener against ORU, six assists to zero turnovers vs. Nebraska and seven assists to just one turnover against No. 2 Tennessee.

RACKIN' UP
Oklahoma is one of the best offensive scoring teams in the Big 12 Conference. The Sooners are averaging 80.3 points per game (third best in the league) and have racked up 80-plus points against seven different opponents this season. OU has also surpassed the 90-point plateau three times.

SHOUSH PROVIDES A SOONER SPARK
      Junior Lauren Shoush has been one of the most consistent players for the Sooners over the past two seasons. More important than the numbers she produces, Shoush's intensity has sparked Sooner runs in several games this season. Players feed off of her energy as she dives for loose balls, jump into passing lanes and battle for every rebound.
      Through 12 games, the Oklahoma City native has scored 66 points (6.0 ppg) and owns an assist/turnover ratio of 1.2, best to Dionnah Jackson's 2.1. She is also shooting a much improved 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the field and 32.0 percent (8-of-25) from the three-point line. Last year, she shot 35.1 percent (34-97) from the field and 22.5 percent (9-40) from the arch. Shoush has already connected on eight three-pointers this year.
      The Putnam City North High School graduate is averaging 6.0 points, 1.6 assists and 1.9 rebounds per game.
      Shoush appeared among the top five against Illinois and Wichita State and started eight games last year.

SOONERS STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE STRONG
      Oklahoma currently ranks 35th in the most recent (Jan. 4) WBCA-Summerville RPI Rankings.
       Seven of OU's opponents are ranked in the AP Top 25, while two another are receiving votes in the either the AP or ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls.
      On the slate are eight teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament and four to the WNIT a year ago --- Pepperdine, Utah, Tennessee, Illinois, Texas (Final Four), Kansas State, Texas Tech (Elite Eight) and Colorado (Sweet 16). WNIT participants from the 2002-03 season are Montana State, Siena, Baylor (runner-up) and Missouri.

HOME ATTENDANCES RANKINGS OUT
      OU's game against Tennessee ranks as the 12th best attended women's basketball game of the 2003-04 season. OU-UT drew a record setting 12,080 fans, the most ever to witness a women's basketball game in the state of Oklahoma. The previous best was 11,245 set during the NCAA Tournament second-round game between OU and Villanova on March 18, 2002. The previous best for an OU regular season home game was 10,713 when the Sooners hosted Connecticut on Dec. 29, 1999.
      Connecticut ranks No. 1 for the fifth-straight week, bringing in an average of 14,543 fans per home game. Oklahoma ranks 11th in the nation with 5,962 fans per home game (as of Jan. 3).
      Eight of the Big 12's teams rank among the nation's top-36 in home attendance average, including five in the top-12.

OU AMONG ELITE PROGRAMS
Oklahoma and Texas are the only two Universities in the Big 12 Conference to have its men's and women's teams ranked among the AP top-25. Overall, seven universities across the nation have both programs ranked: Connecticut, Duke, Stanford, North Carolina, Texas, Purdue and Oklahoma.
Oklahoma, Purdue and Texas are the only schools to have their men's and women's basketball and football teams ranked in the AP top-25 polls.

BIG THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES
      One of the biggest threats, but smallest bodies on the OU roster is senior Maria Villarroel. Villarroel stands 5-8 and weighs about 125 pounds. Most opponents didn't consider her that big of a threat considering her size. However, after averaging a team-high 15.0 points and ending the season ranked 14th in the NCAA in field goal percentage, shooting 57.6 percent, this year's foes think differently.
      Villarroel, a guard, continues to be the Sooner leaders in field goal percentage, shooting 57.6 percent (68-of-118). She also leads the team with 14.9 points per game and ranks fourth in rebounds with 5.1 boards per outing.
      Villarroel has recorded double digits in scoring in 11 of OU's 12 games and has grabbed four-plus rebounds in all but one contest. She opened the season hitting her first 17 attempts from at the free throw strip and has produced a field goal percentage of 50 percent or better in nine contests.

JACKSON ON EDGE OF ASSISTS MARK
Junior Dionnah Jackson dished out seven assists against No. 2 Tennessee on Dec. 21 and eight vs. Illinois to move up to the No. 5 spot on Oklahoma career assists list. She currently has 337 and looks to move past Angie Alexander's 367 (+37) and LaNeishea Caufield's 377 (+47) before season ends.
Sooner great and ESPN analyst Stacey Dales-Schuman holds the school record with 764 assists. Dales is the only player to have scored more than 1,900 points, grabbed 700 plus rebounds and dished out more than 700 assists in a Sooner uniform. She was the first Oklahoma women's basketball player to earn academic and athletic All-America honors in the same year (2002). Dales was a two-time Associated Press All-American, consensus All-American, Kodak All-American, USBWA All-American, Women's Basketball News Service All-American and Kodak District V All-American in 2002 and 2001 and was selected as the Big 12 Player of the Year twice (2001, 2003) and Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year as a senior.

HILL HAS CONSECUTIVE DOUBLE DOUBLES
      Senior Caton Hill increased her career double double record to 31 with back-to-back DD road performances against SMU (14 points and 10 rebounds) and Montana State (23 points and 10 rebounds). Hill's numbers at MSU were solid as she went 4-of-4 from the three point line. Her four made treys matched a career best while her 8-of-10 performance from the floor marked a personal best of 80 percent field goal shooting (when attempting and making more than one shot). The Ada., Okla., native also canned 3-of-4 foul shots in just 24 minutes of action.
      The 6-1 power forward past former Sooner great Phylesha Whaley on Oklahoma's all-time rebounding chart against Tennessee on Dec. 21. Hill now owns 914 career rebounds for second best on OU's chart.
      Hill has surpassed several milestones already this season including moving up to No. 9 on Oklahoma's all-time scoring list. She surpassed Tami Rogers for the ninth spot after scoring a season-high 23 points at Montana State. Hill has a total to 1,415 points in three-plus years. Hill already holds the school record for most defensive boards (638).

SOONER BENCH POWER
     Out of Oklahoma's 964 points scored this season 34.6 percent (334 points) has come from its bench. Freshmen Leah Rush's 95 points account for 28.4 percent of the bench scoring.
      The Sooners have scored 20-or-more points from its non-starters in nine of OU's 12 games.
      As a group, OU reserves have outscored the opponent subs 334-168. The largest differences between the two benches was when OU got 37 points to Southeast Missouri State's 6 (+31).

JUST IN CASE YOU WANTED TO KNOW
Oklahoma has shot 40 percent or better from the field in 10 games, while holding six of 11 opponents to below that figure this season ... no team has shot 50 percent or better against the Sooners ... from the three-point line only one team has shot over 40 percent vs. OU (Tennessee, 43.8% [7-of-16]) ... OU ranks second in the Big 12 Conference in three-point field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to just 25.7 percent from beyond the arc ... Oklahoma has dished out more assists than its opponent in every game this season and has had more steals in all but one game (vs. Tennessee) ... the Sooners have been outrebounded in just three games this season ... OU freshmen class account for 26.3 percent of the team's total offense (263 points) while the starters are responsible for 64.2 percent of the points (619) and 55.8 percent of its rebounds (288) ... largest margin of victory this season has been 48 points over ORU (N22) ... the Sooners have hit 50 percent or better from the field in seven of 12 games ... OU has set two team record under the Sherri Coale Era, most team rebounds (68) and most attempted shots (80) against ORU (N22).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Women Set to Face No. 3 Texas Saturday on KSBI-TV at 1 p.m.

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