OU Women Host Texas A&M at Noon Saturday

MEDIA INFORMATION

Texas A&M Aggies
(8-12, 1-8 Big 12)
at
NR/24 Oklahoma Sooners
(13-6, 3-5 Big 12)

Date & Time: Sat., Feb. 7 @ 12 p.m.
Site: Lloyd Noble Center (12,000) - Norman
Series Record: OU leads 16-8
Radio: Sooner Sports Network - KOMA-AM (1520); Brian Brinkley (play-by-play) & Tara Robinett (analyst). All broadcasts also are available through the OU athletics web site.
TV: FoxSports Network; Kevin Eschenfelder (play-by-play) & Debbie Antonelli (analyst)
Tickets: Ticket prices range from $10-$5. To purchase call 405-325-2424.
Rankings: OU -not ranked AP & #24 ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls ... TAM not ranked
Real-Time Stats: Live in-game statistics are available through OU's athletics web site.
Web Site: Oklahoma (www.SoonerSports.com), Texas A&M (www.AggieAthletics.com)

PROBABLE STARTERS
OKLAHOMA (13-6)                          PPG             RPG
10    F Caton Hill                                  12.2             5.7
24    F Leah Rush                                8.7              4.6
34    G Erin Higgins                              6.6              2.5
35    G Dionnah Jackson                     10.9             5.9
05    G Maria Villarroel                         13.1             4.9

TEXAS A&M (8-12)                          PPG             RPG
04    F    Janae Derrick                        7.2               6.1
12    F    Mindy Garrison                      6.8               2.1
01    G    Toccara Williams                   15.4             5.6
20    G    Erica Roy                               6.0               3.9
30    G    Tamea Scales                        8.0               5.8

SATURDAY PREVIEW
      The Sooners have struggled as of late but don't count them out of the Big 12 race as OU will host five of its eight remaining games inside the Lloyd Noble Center. Oklahoma (13-6, 3-5 Big 12) opened its conference slate by playing the exact same number, five of eight, on the road in January.
      Oklahoma will attempt to snap a four-game losing streak Saturday (Feb. 7) as the Sooners host the Texas A&M (8-12, 1-8 Big 12) at 12 p.m., marking OU's first Fox Sports Network appearance of the season. The Sooners are on an eight-game home winning streak when hosting the Aggies and are winners of 10-of-11 games played in Norman.
      The Sooners have been idle since barley losing to No. 12 Kansas State, 74-65, in Manhattan, Kan., Jan. 31. OU has taken advantage of its off-week to focus on academics and self improvements.
      Texas A&M enters the matchup coming off of its first Big 12 win of the season. The Aggies defeated Oklahoma State, 65-52, Wednesday in College Station. The two teams split the two-game series with OSU winning, 67-65, in the final seconds in Stillwater.
      Same as last year, TAM depends on senior guard Toccara Williams to direct traffic, score and battle for rebounds. Williams leads the Aggies with 15.4 points, 7.3 assists and 3.8 steals plus ranks second with 5.6 rebounds per game. Williams' assists and steals per game averages top the Big 12 Conference and ranks among the NCAA top five.
      The Sooners have a more balance team as three players contribute 10-plus points and five-plus rebounds per game. Seniors Maria Villarroel and Caton Hill sports 13.1 and 12.2 points per game, respectively, while junior guard Dionnah Jackson averages 10.9 ppg and team bests of 5.2 assists and 2.5 steals per game. Jackson also leads the Sooners with 5.9 rebounds per outing, followed closely by Hill's 5.7.
      OU averages 74.8 points to TAM's 62.0 ppg. The Sooners also own a 42.2 to 34.1 edge on the boards.

OU-TEXAS A&M SERIES
      Saturday will mark the 25th meeting between Oklahoma and Texas A&M. OU leads the all-time series 16-8 and have won 10 of the last 11 games and 12 of the past 15.
      Earlier this season, Oklahoma slipped out of College Station with a 65-56 overtime win over the Aggies. In that victory freshman forward Leah Rush produced her first collegiate double-double with a career-high 17 points and 10 rebounds while playing a personal-best 37 minutes. She also made and attempted a career-high 9-of-11 free throws, including four in overtime. The Amarillo, Texas, native scored six of OU's 10 points in OT. Senior guard Maria Villarroel had a game-high 21 points and 13 rebounds for her second career double-double. Senior forward Caton Hill also had 13 boards.
      For the game, OU shot 39.3 percent from the field (24-of-61) and a poor 15.4 percent from the three point line, hitting just 2-of-13 shots from the arc. TAM connect on a low 28.2 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from the arc. Oklahoma outrebounded the Aggies, 59-44, however TAM forced the Sooners into 23 turnovers.

OKLAHOMA (13-6, 3-5 BIG 12)
      Oklahoma sports an overall record of 13-6 and a Big 12 Conference mark of 3-5. The Sooners are lead by junior sensation Dionnah Jackson. Jackson ranks among the league's best in seven different categories when facing Big 12 teams. She's the team leader in rebounds (6.4), assists (5.3), steals (2.6), defensive rebounds (5.5) and block shots (1.0) per game. The 5-9 guard also ranks second in scoring (10.8) against conference opponents. In overall games, Jackson averages 10.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
      Leading the Sooners in overall scoring are seniors Maria Villarroel (13.1 ppg) and Caton Hill (12.2 ppg). Villarroel also owns the team's best field goal percentage mark of 56.9 percent (of players making more than 10 shots). Hill's 5.7 rebounds per game ranks second best on the squad.
      A bright spot for OU has been redshirt-freshman Erin Higgins performance from beyond the three-point line. Higgins has connected on 16-of-34 attempts for a 47.1 accuracy recently (last four games). Another pleasant surprise has been sophomore Antoinette Wadsworth. Wadsworth has improved her averages to 7.0 points and 4.7 rebounds over the past four games. She has also hit 9-of-11 field goals for an impressive 81.8 accuracy.
      As a team, Oklahoma is averaging 74.8 points and 42.2 rebounds per game.

TEXAS A&M 8-12, 1-8 BIG 12)
      Texas A&M is coming off of its first Big 12 Conference win of the season. The Aggies defeated Oklahoma State, 65-52, in College Station Wednesday night. In that game, senior guard Toccara Williams had game highs of 22 points and 11 assists for her fifth double double of the season. Williams also played the entire 40 minutes. Sophomore forward Tamea Scales added 18 points and 11 rebounds for her second and the team's second double-double of the game. The Aggies assisted 19 of their 27 field goals and forced OSU into 27 turnovers to just 12 assists. TAM shot 44.3 percent from the field, 76.9 percent from the foul line and 11.1 percent from the arc.
      The biggest difference in the Texas A&M program this season has been the change in the head coach. In his first season as TAM head women's basketball coach is former Arkansas coach Gary Blair. Blair, a 30-year coaching veteran, became the seventh head coach at Texas A&M on March 31, 2003. He spent the last 10 years at Arkansas where he never had a losing season and became the program's all-time winningest coach (198-120). Blair ranks in the top 25 on the list of winningest active Division I women's basketball coaches.
      Texas A&M is a team that has not finished any higher than ninth in the Big 12 Conference regular season race. TAM currently sit at No. 12 in the Big 12 standings. They opened the 2003-04 campaign winning six of their first eight games but have gone 2-10 over the last 12 outings.
      Texas A&M is lead Williams' 15.4 points per game. She leads the nation in steals per game with 3.8 and ranks fifth in the NCAA with 7.1 assists per outing. Both figures top the Big 12 Conference.
     Scales ranks second on the team in scoring with 8.0 ppg, followed by seniors Janae Derrick and Lynn Classen 7.2 and 7.1 ppg, respectively. Derrick leads the team in rebounds with 6.1, while Scales ranks second with 5.8.
      As a team, TAM averages 62.0 points and 34.1 rebounds per game.

UP NEXT
Oklahoma travels to Texas Tech to face the ninth-ranked Lady Raiders (19-3, 5-3 Big 12) on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. inside the United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, Texas. This will be the first of two meetings between these two teams this season.
Texas Tech leads the all-time series 19-8 and swept the two game series a year ago. Prior to last season, Oklahoma had won five straight over head coach Marsha Sharp's Lady Raiders.

WADSWORTH EARNING P.T.
      Sophomore Antoinette Wadsworth, who's OU's most explosive post player, has been one of the few bright spots for Oklahoma as of late. The Grand Prairie, Texas, native has improved her averages to 9.5 points and 7.0 rebounds over the past two games. She is also shooting 80.0 percent from the field, hitting 8-of-10 shots, and playing 19 minutes per game.
      At Kansas State, Wadsworth scored 11 points, had five rebounds and hit 4-of-5 shots from the floor, including a personal-best 3-of-5 performance from the free throw line. She recorded eight points, grabbed a career-best nine rebounds and was 4-of-5 from the field at Missouri.
      The 5-11 forward has scored and has had a rebound in 11 games. For the year, she's averaging 3.1 points and 3.1 rebounds per game plus shooting 47.4 percent from the floor.

UNDERCLASSMEN CARRYING THE LOAD
      Four of the top five scorers from Oklahoma over the past two games have been underclassmen. Junior guard Dionnah Jackson has led the way with 13 points, 9.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game but redshirt-freshman Erin Higgins, sophomores Antoinette Wadsworth and Beky Preston plus freshman Leah Rush have played vital minutes in OU's last two games.
      These four underclassmen have been responsible for 46.2 percent of the team's points (60) and 44.1 percent of the team's rebounds (30).
      Higgins has averaged 12.0 points and 4.0 three-pointers per game, while shooting 47.1 percent from the arc. Wadsworth went from playing just 9.1 minutes to 19.0 minutes per game over the last two outings. During her increased time on the floor she contributed 9.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game plus shot 80 percent from the field (8-of-10).
      Preston turned things around to register 7.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and a 77.8 field goal percentage (7-of-9). Rush also averaged 7.5 ppg but was down a bit in the rebounding department with just 1.0 rpg. However, she shot 71.4 percent from the field and free throw line, hitting 5-of-7 attempts from each area.

RUSH LOOKING FORWARD TO REMATCH
      Leah Rush grew up an Aggie fan. Her mother, father and grandfather attended Texas A&M University and many thought that's where the younger Rush would chose to play her collegiate basketball career. However, the freshman signed with Oklahoma and put on quite a display for Aggie fans in the first OU-Texas A&M game in January.
      The 6-1 forward produced her first collegiate double-double against Texas A&M (J14) in College Station to assist OU to a 65-56 overtime victory. In her first start, Rush recorded a career-high 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while playing a personal-best 37 minutes. She also made and attempted a career-high 9-of-11 free throws, including four in overtime.   The Amarillo, Texas, native scored six of OU's 10 points in OT.
      She followed that performance with a 12 point and a career-best 12 rebound showing at Iowa State (J20) two games later.
      She ranks second on the team with 11 block shots and is shooting a solid 80.3 percent from the free throw line. She's among the Big 12 freshmen top 10 in five different categories including fourth in rebounding (4.6 rpg) and scoring (8.7 ppg).

THE RECORD TO WATCH
Senior Caton Hill is 44 rebounds short of 1,000 and 21 shy of 1,500 points. If she reaches the 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds mark she will become just the second Sooner in school history to do so. Molly McGuire is currently the only Sooner to hold this honor. She scored 2,187 points and grabbed 1,071 rebounds from 1980-1983.

FACES FROM THE PAST
      Oklahoma redshirt-freshman Casey Walker will face former high school teammate Melissa Picone of Texas A&M Saturday. The pair haven't played an extensive amount of time for their respective schools but were teammates on the 2001 The Woodlands High School squad that advanced to the Texas High School state playoffs.
      Walker has played in eight games with averages of 2.3 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. She also sports an impressive 61.5 field goal percentage, hitting 8-of-13 shots from the post.
      Picone has seen action in one game.

IT'S RAINING THREES
      Redshirt-freshman Erin Higgins ranks second in Big 12 Conference games for most made three-pointers per game with 2.50. She has hit 20 of her 33 made three-pointers over the last six games. During this time span, Higgins has shot 46.5 percent from the arc (20-of-43) and averaged 10.2 points and 3.2 rebounds.
      For the season, she's contributing 6.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per game plus of her 37 field goals made, 33 have been threes.
      Higgins matched a career-high 18 points against Baylor (J24) with the assistance of a personal-best six three-pointers. The three-point specialist also canned two crucial treys in OU's come-from-behind 65-56 overtime win at Texas A&M, followed by two 3s against Oklahoma State and at Iowa State. At Kansas State, Higgins made good on 4-of-8 treys taken.

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 10.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.5 steals per game plus shots 43.8 percent from the field and 82.1 percent from the free throw line as a 5-9 point guard. She ranks among the league's best in FIVE Big 12 only categories (steals [3rd], assists [3rd], assists/turnover ratio [6th], defensive rebounds [9th] and scoring [25th]).
      In addition, Jackson is OU's top rebounder at 5.9 rpg and is the team's second best free throw shooter, hitting 82.1 percent. A year ago, Jackson concluded the season as the team's seventh best foul shooter. Freshman Krista Sanchez ranks No. 1 with a 83.3 free throw percentage (10-of-12).
      In Big 12 games, she's dished out 5.3 assists, pocketed 2.6 steals and grabbed 6.4 rebounds per game, while scoring 10.8 points a game.
     Jackson has had more assists than turnovers in 16-of-19 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 then-No. 2 Tennessee.

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OU Women Host Texas A&M at Noon Saturday

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