Women's Hoops In Action 2 p.m. Sunday

Oklahoma (1-0)
vs.
Texas State (0-1)

Tipoff: 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21
Location: Norman, Okla.
Arena: Lloyd Noble Center (12,000)
Television: O-Zone Internet
Radio: KOKC-AM (1520)
Rankings: OU - No. 21 AP/No. 25 USA Today/Coaches
Series: OU leads 1-0.
Tickets: To order season tickets for the 2004-05 OU women's basketball events you may call 405-325-2424 or 800-456-4668.
Promotions: The NCAA Basketball Champions Challenge will visit the Lloyd Noble Center from 12-2 p.m. Sunday.

Probable Starters
OKLAHOMA (1-0)             PPG    RPG
24 F Leah Rush              11.0       2.0
14 F Beky Preston           9.0       2.0
34 G Erin Higgins             10.0     5.0
35 G Dionnah Jackson     23.0     2.0
00 G Chelsi Welch            6.0       1.0

TEXAS STATE (0-1)            PPG     RPG
40 F Tamara Thompson      7.0       0.0
33 F Tori Talbert                20.0     11.0
01 G Ashley McGruder        9.0      1.0
13 G Ally Kelly                     3.0        1.0
21 G Jeana Hoffman           2.0        4.0

The 21st-ranked Oklahoma women's basketball team opened the 2004-05 season in record setting fashion. A home opening record crowd of 5,032 fans watched OU defeat Southeast Missouri State, 84-62, Friday night at the Lloyd Noble Center. Four Sooners scored in double digits led by senior Dionnah Jackson's career-high tying 23 points. Senior Lauren Shoush topped the team with a career-high 10 rebounds, while sophomore Krista Sanchez also came off the bench for a personal-best 17 points.

Less than 48 hours later, the Sooners return to the hardwood to face Texas State (formally Southwest Texas State) at 2 p.m. Sunday. The game will be broadcast live on KOKC-AM (1520) and shown live via the O-Zone at www.SoonerSports.com. Brian Brinkley and Tara DeGiusti will be calling the action.

The NCAA Basketball Champions Challenge will visit the Lloyd Noble Center Sunday from 12-2 p.m. The event is free and provides fans of all ages with the opportunity to experience hands-on what it's like to be a NCAA Basketball player while having the chance to win some great prizes courtesy of NCAA Basketball. The Champions Challenge will feature basketball shooting games, a Kid's Court and a video game zone as well as many other interactive activities. The Champions Challenge will be located outside the East entrance of the Lloyd Noble Center.

SERIES HISTORY
Sunday's match up pits OU and Texas State against each other for just the second time in program history. The Sooners faced the Bobcats in San Marcos in 1988, winning 92-74.

TEXAS STATE
Texas State opened its regular season schedule Friday night with a 93-52 loss to ORU in Tulsa, Okla. TSU's Tori Talberts, 2004 Southland Player of the Year, paced the Bobcats with a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds. She made nine of 21 field goals but turned the ball over six times.

As a team, TSU shot just 32.3 percent from the field (21-of-65), and a poor 11.8 percent from beyond the three-point line, hitting just two of 17 attempts. The Bobcats were able to grab 38 rebounds but ORU tallied 40.

TSU also lost 88-63 to Everyone's Internet in its only exhibition game of the season on Nov. 11.

Head coach Suzanne Fox returns six letterwinners from last year's 8-19 team that finished seventh (8-8) in the conference. Talberts averaged 15.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game a year ago. She looks to own TSU's career record for rebounds as she currently ranks second with 917.

In preseason predictions, Texas State is expected to place sixth in the Southland Conference.

TSU has one Oklahoman on its roster, senior Ashley Perkins from Edmond. Perkins transferred from Redlions Community College. The Bobcats also have a pair of twins on their roster in Jenna and Jeana Hoffman, freshmen from Mitchell, South Dakota.

Coach Fox enters her eighth season at Texas State. She led the Bobcats to the NCAA Tournament in 2003 and has an seven-year record of 76-120.

THE HEAT IS ON
Oklahoma scored a sizzling 46 second half point against Southeast Missouri State Friday night. The last time OU dropped that many points in the basket was versus Texas Tech in Lubbock on Feb. 10, 2004. OU upset then-seventh ranked TTU, 68-62.

The Sooners shot 48.4 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from the three-point line in the final 20 minutes of play. OU hit 15-of-31 shots, including five threes. SEMO only scored 24 points after intermission.

JACKSON - THE COMPLETE PACKAGE
Preseason All-American Dionnah Jackson continues to be an all-in-one player for the Sooners and head coach Sherri Coale.

Jackson kicked off the season in stellar fashion by scoring a career-high tying 23 points on nine of 11 shooting (81.8 field goal percentage). She also dished out a game-high eight assists and tied a game-high three blocks. Jackson nail her only trey of the game and stole the ball twice.

“She's a superstar,” OU coach Sherri Coale said following Friday night's game. “How are you going to guard her? If we didn't take her out for a little bit, she might have had 35 points.”

In OU's two exhibition games, she was solid across the board, averaging 9.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals per game while playing just 19.5 minutes per contest. Jackson was also 5-of-10 from the field (50%) and was a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line.

SHOUSH CARRIES SOONERS EMOTION
Senior Lauren Shoush came off the bench to replace Erin Higgins and brought a bag full of emotions and energy to the floor. Shoush's contributions don't show up on the stats sheets but they will make the team's highlight tapes.

“The play of the game was when (Shoush) tipped the offensive board and saved it,” Coale said Friday night. “Lauren revived us and gave us life again. Every great team has at least one Lauren Shoush.”

Shoush played just 17 minutes but grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds (5 offensive, 5 defensive). The 5-11 guard also added six points, two assists and two steals to her stat line.

SANCHEZ SHINES IN SPOTLIGHT
With Chelsi Welch struggling, sophomore Krista Sanchez stepped up to have a career game against Southeast Missouri State Friday night. Sanchez scored a career-high 17 points on a personal-best 6-of-9 shooting (66.7 FG%), including hitting both attempted treys. She also recorded a personal-best by playing 25 minutes.

Sanchez's Career-Highs Set or Tied vs. SEMO
Points - 23
Assists - 2 (tied)
Blocked Shots - 1 (tied)
Field goals made - 6
Field goals attempted - 9 (tied)
3-point FG made - 2
Free Throws attempted - 4 (tied)
Minutes played - 25

MCGHEE SIDELINED
Freshman Stephanie McGhee will miss a handful of games due to a stress fracture in her right fibula. McGhee played in both of OU's exhibition games and averaged 8.5 points in each. Three of her five field goals were beyond the three-point line.

McGhee comes to OU as the state's all-time leading scorer with 3,376 points, breaking the previous record by more than 600 points.

JACKSON FINALIST FOR WOODEN TROPHY
Senior All-America candidate Dionnah Jackson was named one of six finalists, out of nearly 200 candidates, for the inaugural John Wooden Trophy/Athletes for a Better World, selection committee announced Friday (Nov. 19). Jackson is only basketball player, male or female, to make the final cut.

The St. Louis, Mo., native exhibits OU's commitment to give back to the community by participating in the team's community service projects and out-reach programs, as well as being a role model for better sportsmanship on and off the court.

The six Wooden Trophy finalists will now be placed on a ballot for national consideration by 100 electors around the country. The athletes receiving the highest scores in the national balloting will be invited to the trophy presentation on January 10, 2005, in Los Angeles.

The six finalist are:
Dionnah Jackson, Oklahoma (Women's Basketball)
William Betz, BYU (Men's Swimming)
Clark Lea, Vanderbilt (Football)
Caroline Renkin, North Carolina at Wilmington (Women's Soccer)
DeAngelo Williams, Memphis (Football)
Michael Williams, Stephen F. Austin (Football)

THANKSGIVING IN THE BAHAMAS
For the second time in program history, the University of Oklahoma women's basketball team will travel to the Bahamas. OU will participate in a two-day Junkanoo Jam Tournament hosted on the Grand Bahamas Island over the Thanksgiving Holiday break.

The Sooners will face Akron on Friday, Nov. 26, while Florida takes on Iowa. The winners of Friday's games will compete against each other on Saturday.

OU also competed in this tournament during the 1995-96 season, going 1-1.

O-ZONE TO SHOW WOMEN'S BASKETBALL GAMES
Every game that's not televised will be available for Sooner fans, parents and friends on the O-Zone, at www.SoonerSports.com.

Give it a try! Examine the O-Zone on a month to month basis and you'll see why thousands of Sooner fans all over the world have become hooked on the O-Zone. Catch all of the live basketball games offered by the O-Zone this season for just 39.95 or $8.95 for a monthly basketball pass, which provides fans access to O-Zone live basketball games. Offer runs from November 1 through March 31.

The Oklahoma Athletics Department offers an innovative subscription service which gives members unprecedented access to the Sooners. Enhanced content includes live streaming video press conferences, select games, interviews, archived and vintage video, along with coaches shows and special features.

ESPN TO AIR NCAA BANQUET COALE HOSTED
Sherri Coale, along with Olympic gold medalist Dr. Dot Richardson, co-hosted the 14th annual NCAA Woman of the Year Awards Dinner on October 31 at the Westin in Indianapolis, Ind. The NCAA Woman of the Year Banquet will be televised on ESPN 2 on December 3, 2004 at 3 p.m.

The NCAA Woman of the Year Award, one of the most prestigious that the NCAA bestows, honors senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. The overall winner is selected from 10 finalists. The 10 finalists are selected from winners from each state and the District of Columbia.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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