Sooners Fifth in Big 12 Preseason Poll

NORMAN, Okla. -- The University of Oklahoma women's basketball team was picked to finish fifth in the Preseason Big 12 Conference poll as voted on by the league's head coaches and released by the conference office Wednesday.

Texas was the top choice among the coaches with 121 points and 11 of 12 possible first-place votes. A coach can not vote for his or her own team. Baylor ranked second with 107 points, followed by Kansas State's 99 points and one first place vote. Texas Tech was picked fourth with 92 points while OU collected 84 points for fifth. The Longhorns won the championship outright in 2003 and shared the title with Kansas State in 2004. Oklahoma has won the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles two of the last four years.

OU returns 12 letterwinners from the 2003-04 team that went 24-9 and swept the Big 12 Tournament as a No. 6 seed, becoming the first team in Big 12 history to beat four opponents in five days. OU also established a tournament best in rebounding margin of +18. Sooner coach Sherri Coale returns 60 percent of the team's scoring and 62 percent of its rebounding as well as three starters.

Senior Dionnah Jackson and sophomores Erin Higgins and Leah Rush are the returning starters. Jackson, 2004 Big 12 Tournament MVP, led the Sooners to their fifth-straight NCAA Tournament and fourth 20-win season, in the last five years, a year ago. The St. Louis, Mo., native is the Sooners top returning scorer and rebounder as she averaged 12.5 ppg and 6.0 rpg as a junior.

OU also welcomes back sophomore Chelsi Welch, the 2003 Big 12 co-Freshman of the Year. Welch missed the last season due to a knee injury but averaged 12.1 points per game and earned All-Big 12 second team honors as a true freshman in 2003-03.

Higgins returns as the team's top three-point shooter while Rush concluded her rookie campaign having career-best performances in two of the last four games.

Iowa State was chosen sixth, Colorado seventh, Missouri eighth and Nebraska ninth. Texas A&M finished 10th, Kansas was 11th and Oklahoma State 12th.

The Big 12 preseason team will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 26. The annual Big 12 Basketball Media Days will be conducted Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 27 and 28, in Kansas City.

2004-05 Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Coaches Preseason Poll
1. Texas (11) 121
2. Baylor 107
3. Kansas State (1) 99
4. Texas Tech 92
5. Oklahoma 84
6. Iowa State 68
7. Colorado 59
8. Missouri 45
9. Nebraska 43
10. Texas A&M 35
11. Kansas 24
12. Oklahoma State 15

(first place votes in parentheses; coaches not allowed to vote for their own team)

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Fifth in Big 12 Preseason Poll

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