Women's Hoops at TCU Thursday

Oklahoma (4-2)
at
No. 23/25 TCU (6-2)

Date: Thursday, Dec. 9, 2004
Tipoff: 7 p.m.
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Arena: Daniel-Meyer Coliseum
Television: None
Radio: KOKC (1520 AM)
Series: OU leads 9-1.
Tickets: General admission tickets are available for just $6 for adults and $4 for youth.
Coaches: OU's Sherri Coale is 160-97 in nine seasons with the Sooners. Jeff Mittie is 116-52 in 13 years at TCU.

After winning its first three games, the Oklahoma women's basketball team has gone 1-2 for its last three outings. Thursday's matchup against TCU will be OU's first true road game of the season. OU faced Akron and Iowa in the Bahamas and saw Tulsa in the Bertha Teague Classic hosted by ORU. Four of the Sooners six games in December will be on the road.

OU (4-2) travels to No. 23/25 TCU (6-2) Thursday looking to end a one-game losing skid. The Sooners will face the Lady Frogs at 7 p.m. inside the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas. Both teams lost their last game. The Lady Frogs fell to Arkansas State, 68-64, and Tulsa dropped the Sooners, 67-59. The two teams have played each other four of the last five years.

Thursday's game will be carried live on the Sooner Sports Radio Network at KOKC-AM (1520). Brian Brinkley and Tara DeGiusti will be calling the action.

OU is still in search of a consistent rotation as Sooner coach Sherri Coale has played all available 13 players in three of its six games. Oklahoma is currently averaging 69.0 points and 41.7 rebounds per game but is only shooting 28.3 percent from the three-point range and 41.5 percent from the field.

Senior co-captain Dionnah Jackson leads the squad in 12 of 19 statistical categories including points (14.8), assists (5.3), steals (3.5) and blocks (1.8) per game. Sophomore Leah Rush tops the team in rebounding with 6.7 boards per game, followed by Jackson's 6.3 rpg.

Following Thursday's game, Oklahoma returns home to host SMS on Saturday, Dec. 11, as part of a double header with the men. OU men tip off at 12:30 p.m. against Northern Colorado.

PROBABLE STARTERS
OKLAHOMA (4-2)
24   F   Leah Rush (6-1, So., Amarillo, Texas - 10.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg)
14   F   Beky Preston (6-3, Jr., Albuquerque, N.M. - 5.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
34   G   Erin Higgins (5-9, So., Oklahoma City - 6.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg)
35   G   Dionnah Jackson (5-9, Sr., St. Louis, Mo. - 14.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg)
12   G   Lauren Shoush (5-11, Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla. - 7.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg)

TCU (6-2)
50   F   Sandora Irvin (6-3, Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. - 20.0 ppg , 13.1 rpg)
34   F   Ashley Davis (6-0, S0., San Antonio, Texas - 12.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg)
24   F   Niki Newton (6-0, Sr., Crowley, Texas - 7.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg)
22   F   Vanessa Clementino (6-2, Jr., Aracatuba, Brazil - 6.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg)
11   G   Natasha Lacy (5-10, So., El Paso, Texas - 8.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg)

SERIES HISTORY
Oklahoma leads the all-time series 9-1 and has won the last eight games against TCU. TCU's only win over the Sooners was a 79-73 victory on Feb. 24, 1993 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Sherri Coale is 4-0 against TCU.

TCU (6-2)
TCU will face Oklahoma first the first time as a ranked team. The Lady Frogs are 6-2 and currently ranked 23rd in the Associated Press and 25th in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls.

Head coach Jeff Mittie and the Lady Frogs are coming off a disappointing 68-64 loss to Arkansas State in Jonesboro. But, TCU has upset some pretty good basketball teams this season including UCLA (65-60), Georgia (64-63) and Michigan State (80-75).

Leading TCU is senior Sandora Irvin, niece to former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin. She sports a double-double of 20.5 points and 13.1 rebounds per game. Irvin is also shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 72.7 percent from the free throw line. The 6-3 forward has blocked 23 shots.

Sophomore forward Ashley Davis ranks second in points (12.6) and rebounds (5.9) per game. Sophomore guard Natasha Lacy also averages 5.9 boards per contest.

TCU is scoring 74.9 ppg and averaging 45 rpg. The Lady Frogs are responsible for 20.4 turnovers to their 12.3 steals per game.

TCU has been bitten by the injury bug this season. Freshman Masissa Rivera went down with an ACL injury on Nov. 5 in an exhibition game. Two weeks later, sophomore Adrianne Ross suffered the same injury against nationally-ranked Georgia on Nov. 27. Both will miss this season.

JACKSON RECORDS SIXTH TRIPLE DOUBLE IN BIG 12 HISTORY
Preseason All-American Dionnah Jackson posted the Big 12's sixth and OU's second triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Tulsa on Dec. 4. Former Sooner LaNae Jones produced OU's first triple-double with 12 points, 17 rebounds and 11 blocks against Southern on Dec. 29, 1993.

Following is a list of Big 12 Triple-Doubles.
Dionnah Jackson (Oklahoma, 2004) - 15 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists
Megan Mahoney (Kansas State, 2004) - 12 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists
Toccara Williams (Texas A&M, 2002) - 13 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists
Edwina Brown (Texas, 2000) - 18 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists
Edwina Brown (Texas, 1999) - 13 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists
Rene Hanebutt (Texas Tech, 1997) - 19 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists

MCGHEE SET TO RETURN TO ACTION
Freshman Stephanie McGhee is expected back on the court Thursday. She has missed six games due to a stress fracture in her right fibula. McGhee was named the Preseason Big 12 and Media Freshman of the Year. She played in both of OU's exhibition games and averaged 8.5 points. Three of her five field goals made were 3s.

McGhee is the state's all-time leading scorer with 3,376 points, a mark that broke the previous record by more than 600 points.

JACKSON NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Dionnah Jackson was named the Big 12 Player of the Week for games played from Nov. 29-Dec. 5. This is Jackson's second career player of the week honor and first for the season. For the week, Jackson averaged a double-double with 19.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. She also averaged 3.0 blocks and 6.5 assists as well as shooting 56.7 percent from the field, including hitting two of five three pointers.

The 5-9 guard had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Tulsa (D4). Jackson also shot 50 percent from the field, hitting 7-of-14 shots, and registered two blocks. She was named OU's MVP of the Bertha Teague Classic. The St. Louis, Mo., native had another stellar game against Lamar with a double-double. She scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in OU's win over the Lady Cardinals.

NEUTRAL SITES NOT THAT FRIENDLY TO OU
What a difference a year can make. Last year's team had success when playing on a neutral court, going 7-1 (only loss was to Stanford in the second round of the NCAA Tournament).

This year's team is 1-2 when playing at a neutral site. OU has one more neutral site game remaining. The Sooners will face Louisiana Tech in Eugene, Ore., in the Nike Classic on Dec. 18.

HIGH SCHOOL JERSEY RETIRED FOR JACKSON
Senior Dionnah Jackson returned to St. Louis, Mo., Monday night (Dec. 6) to become the first athlete in Parkway West High School history to have her jersey (No. 35) retired. While a member of the Parkway West girls basketball team, she became the school's all-time steals and assists leader. Jackson was named the Missouri Player of the Year and West County Player of the Year as well as Missouri-Shawnee Gateway Classic Female MVP in 2001. She averaged 16.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 4.4 steals per game as a senior. Jackson concluded her high school career as a two-time All-State, all-metro, all-conference and all-district selection (2000, 2001) and was a two-time St. Louis American Fab Five first team honoree. She helped produce a four-year high school record of 102-12.

CLOSE BUT NOT ENOUGH
Oklahoma's two losses have been by 8-points or less. The Sooners first suffered a seven point loss to Iowa, followed by Tulsa's eight point loss last weekend. Oklahoma's four wins have been by 16-plus points.

UPCOMING WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PROMOTIONS
Women's Basketball Holiday Family Packs are now on sale! Holiday Family Packs include your game ticket, a regular hotdog, a small Coke and an OU t-shirt (redeemable at OU Authentic) all for just $10 (minimum order of four packages required). To purchase the Holiday Family Packs visit www.SoonerSports.com.

The US Marine Corp. will be collecting toys for their Toys for Tots program at the Lloyd Noble Center prior to the Dec. 11 men's basketball game vs. Northern Colorado as well as prior to the women's basketball game later that day vs. SW Missouri State. All toys collected will be distributed to less fortunate families in the OKC area. Fans are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy and place them in the collection bins outside the entrances to the Lloyd Noble Center.

Anyone with a ticket to the men's basketball at 12:30 on Saturday will be permitted to stay for the women's game and sit in any upper level section.

For Saturday's women's game, all Boy and Girl Scouts in uniform will receive a FREE Participation Patch courtesy of OU Athletics. To order group tickets contact the OU Marketing Department at 405-325-5482.

IN SEARCH OF 500TH PROGRAM WIN
Oklahoma is 16 wins shy of reaching its 500 career victory. The 31-year old women's basketball program has 484 wins.

SHOUSH MOVES INTO LINEUP
For the last two games, senior Lauren Shoush appeared in the starting lineup. Shoush has started for the Sooners 12 times in her career. The Oklahoma City native has earned this opportunity by averaging 7.3 points, third best on the team, and 4.7 rebounds, fourth best on the team, per game over six games. She's also shooting 41.9 percent from the field and 76.5 percent from the foul line.

TWO SOONERS LEAD THE BIG 12
Oklahoma has two players that lead the Big 12 Conference and four that rank among the league's best in this week's rankings. Leah Rush tops the league for best free throw percentage, hitting 13-of-14 attempts (.929). Rush also ranks ninth in rebounding (6.7), 13th in defensive boards (4.17) and 15th in blocks (1.00) per game.

Dionnah Jackson is the league leader in steals per game, averaging 3.5. She also ranks second in assists (5.33), ninth in scoring and fifth in blocked shots (1.83).

Lauren Shoush ranks 14th in offensive boards (2.33 pg), while Erin Higgins averages 1.67 threes per game for 13th best among Big 12 players.

IMPROVED SHOT BLOCKERS
Oklahoma has already registered 26 blocked shots this season, compared to five this time last year. OU's Dionnah Jackson leads the team with 11 after establishing a personal-best four blocks against Lamar. She also led the team last year with 22 blocked shots. The 5-9 point guard moved up to No. 7 on OU's all time career list for most blocked shot with 49. She five shy of the top 5.

Sophomore Leah Rush ranks second with six blocks and all but three Sooners have blocked a shot this season.

As a team, OU ranks eighth (4.33 per game) in the Big 12 Conference in this category. For the past two years, the Sooners have been 12th.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Oklahoma is 3-0 inside the Lloyd Noble Center this season. OU has produced a home court record of 71-14, an 82.9 winning percentage, over the last seven years. The Sooners have only lost three non-conference games during this period (Connecticut 2000 (84-68), SMU 2003 (71-68) and Tennessee 2004 (71-55)).

OU STILL AMONG NATION'S ELITE IN HOME ATTENDANCE
OU currently ranks No. 15 on the unofficial 2004-05 women's basketball home attendance rankings compiled by the University of Wisconsin. The Sooners currently draw 4,605 fans to home games (fourth best in the Big 12 Conference).

JACKSON IS ON THE MOVE
With six games under her belt, senior Dionnah Jackson is climbing OU's career charts. Jackson now ranks among the top five in defensive rebounds and steals. The St. Louis, Mo., native is fifth in career defensive rebounds (467) and steals (221). She pocketed 21 steals, including a personal-best nine against Iowa, and 24 defensive boards for the moves.

MIXING-AN-MATCHING
Head coach Sherri Coale is still searching for the right combination on the court. Coale has had the luxury of playing 10 of her 13 eligible players in four of the six games. Against Texas State, Akron and Lamar all 13 Sooners that suited up played.

In addition, 11 of Coale's 13 players are averaging double digits in minutes played per game.

JACKSON AND RUSH NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Senior Dionnah Jackson and sophomore Leah Rush were named to the 2004 Junkanoo Jam All-Tournament team after guiding the Sooners to a second-place finish. Both players averaged nine points per game and were solid at the free throw line. Rush was a perfect 7-of-7 from the foul line while Jackson hit six of 10 shots. Jackson shot 50 percent from the field (6-of-12) as well. For the tournament, Rush ranked second on the team in rebounds with 6.5 per game. Junior Antoinette Wadsworth topped the team with 8.0 rpg.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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