Women's Basketball Goes For 20th Win

MEDIA INFORMATION

No. 5/5 Texas
(25-3, 13-2 Big 12)
at
No. 23/23 Oklahoma Sooners
(19-7, 9-6 Big 12)

Date & Time: Tues., March 2 @ 8 p.m.
Site: Lloyd Noble Center (12,000) - Norman
Series Record: Texas leads 15-7
Radio: Sooner Sports Network-KOMA-AM (1520); Brian Brinkley (play-by-play) & Tara Robinett (analyst)
TV: Fox Sports Net; Kevin Eschenfelder (play-by-play) & Debbie Antonelli (analyst)
Real-Time Stats: Live in-game statistics are available through OU's athletics web site.
Tickets: Ticket prices range from $5 to $10. To purchase call 405-325-2424.
Rankings: OU is ranked 23rd in the AP and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls, while Texas is fifth. (as of Feb. 23)
Web Sites: Oklahoma (www.SoonerSports.com), Texas (www.TexasSports.com)

PROBABLE STARTERS
OKLAHOMA (19-7, 9-6)                                                 PPG    RPG
10   F   Caton Hill (6-1, Sr., Ada, Okla.)                           12.5     6.1
24 F Leah Rush (6-1, Fr., Amarillo, Texas)                   8.0      4.7
34   G Erin Higgins (5-9, Fr., Oklahoma City, Okla.)          7.0      2.4
35 G Dionnah Jackson (5-9, Jr., St. Louis, Mo.)             11.8    5.8
05   G Maria Villarroel (5-9, Sr., Margarita, Venezuela)    14.6   5.7

TEXAS (25-3, 13-2)                                                             PPG    RPG
33   F Tiffany Jackson (6-3, Fr., Dallas, Texas)                12.6     7.8
21   F Heather Schreibert (6-2, Jr., Windthorst, Texas)     13.4     6.4
41   C Stacy Stephens (6-1, Sr., Winnsboro, Texas)         11.9     8.1
11   G Jamie Carey (5-6, Jr., Thornton, Colo.)                    10.5     1.9
22   G   Nina Norman (5-6, So., Houston, Texas)                  9.6       4.7

TUES DAY PREVIEW
Oklahoma (19-7, 9-6 Big 12) has won six of its last seven games, including three against top 25 teams, heading into Tuesday's final regular season home game against Texas. UT defeated the Sooners, 63-58, in the second Big 12 game of the season on Jan. 10, in Austin. Part II of the Red River Rivalry will take place on senior night in a Fox Sports Net telecast on March 2 inside the Lloyd Noble Center at 8 p.m.

No. 5 Texas (25-3, 13-2 Big 12) is coming off a hard fought 65-63 win over No. 9/8 Kansas State Sunday and a double overtime win over No. 16/21 Baylor, 73-72, Wednesday. The Longhorns are tied with KSU for first place in the Big 12 Conference and a win Tuesday would give UT the regular season title outright.

Texas will be the fourth ranked team OU has faced in its last five games. The Sooners swept the two-game series against nationally-ranked Texas Tech, 64-53, Wednesday, followed by handing state rival OSU a 78-44 loss in Stillwater. The Sooners currently sits at No. 6 in the Big 12 standings.

OU will be looking to split the two-game series with Texas for the first time since 2002, while senior Caton Hill looks for her sixth double double against the Longhorns. Earlier this season, the Ada, Okla., native scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds.

Following the conclusion of the game, head coach Sherri Coale and the Sooners will pay tribute to Hill and senior Maria Villarroel.

OU-TEXAS SERIES
Texas leads the all-time series 15-7 and has won the last four games between the two teams, including a 63-58 victory in Austin on Jan. 10. However, OU leads the series 5-4 in Norman.

OU coach Sherri Coale is 6-10 vs. Texas.

OKLAHOMA (19-7, 9-6 BIG 12)
Oklahoma will be shooting for its 20th win overall (19-7) and 10th Big 12 Conference victory (9-6) against Texas Tuesday. OU has won two in a row and went 6-1 for the month of February. The Sooners will also be looking to improve their 10-2 record inside the Lloyd Noble Center.

The Sooners are led by junior sensation Dionnah Jackson. Jackson has been the most consistent player for Coach Coale this season. The 5-9 point guard ranks among the Big 12's best in six categories including assists (5.2), steals (2.5), assist/turnover ratio (1.7), free throw percentage (.805), defensive rebounds (5.1) and points (11.8) per game.

Leading the Sooners in overall scoring are seniors Maria Villarroel (14.6 ppg) and Caton Hill (12.5 ppg). Villarroel also owns a team best field goal percentage of 57.1 percent (of players making more than 15 shots), while Hill's 6.0 rebounds per game is a Sooner best.

Redshirt-freshman Erin Higgins has become a more consistent scoring threat for opponents as she's averaging 2.0 three-pointers per game.

As a team, Oklahoma is averaging 73.5 points and 41.4 rebounds per game, compared to its opponents' 59.6 ppg and 34.9 rpg.

TEXAS (24-3, 12-2 BIG 12)
Texas has gone 11-2 since last facing the Sooners on Jan. 10. UT's two losses have come on the road at the hands of Baylor, 78-64, on Jan. 14, and Texas Tech, 62-49, on Feb. 22. The Longhorns' last two home games have also been tough contests. Texas defeated Baylor in double overtime, 73-72, followed by Kansas State, 65-63, last week.

The Longhorns are led on the court by junior Heather Schreiber's 13.4 points per game, which ranks 13th in the league. She's one of four players averaging double digits in scoring. Freshman Tiffany Jackson contributes 12.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, both second best on the team. Senior center Stacy Stephens tops the Longhorns with 8.1 boards per game and adds 11.9 ppg. Jamie Carey, who's been in and out of the starting lineup lately, is good for 10.5 ppg, while Nina Norman dishes out a team-best 4.1 assists per game. Carey has been the clutch shooter in Texas' last two wins. She hit both three pointers in overtime against Baylor and nailed the game-winning trey against Kansas State Sunday. Schreiber and Stephens are the only two Longhorns to have played and started all 28 games this season.

As a team, UT averages 74.6 points and 42.5 rebounds, compared to its opponents' 55.8 ppg and 33.0 rpg. Texas' +9.5 rebounding margin tops the Big 12 Conference.

UP NEXT
The 2004 Big 12 Conference Tournament is up next on OU's slate. The tournament will be held in Dallas, Texas, inside Reunion Arena from March 9-13. The Big 12 will announce the bracket and all-conference honors on Friday, March 5, following the last league game between Kansas and Iowa State on Thursday, March 4.

OU ATTEMPTS TO MAKE BIG 12 HISTORY
An OU win Tuesday would make Big 12 Conference history. It would give Oklahoma its 20th win of the season, marking the first time in league play six teams will have concluded regular season action with 20-plus victories.

SUPER SENIORS
Tuesday will be the last regular season home game for two very special Sooners - seniors Caton Hill and Maria Villarroel. The pair accounts for 27.0 ppg (36.8%) and 11.7 rpg (28.3%) this season.

Villarroel, a two-year letterwinner and starter, came to OU from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M last year. She currently averages a team-best 14.6 points and ranks third in rebounds with 5.7. However, it's been her field goal accuracy the past two seasons that has had her ranked among the NCAA's best. She concluded last year with a solid 57.6 field goal percentage, ranking 14th best in the nation. Villarroel has hit 57.1 percent of shots taken this season to also rank 14th in the NCAA.

Hill will leave the University as one of the best to ever wear on OU uniform. She ranks among OU's all-time greats in 18-of-22 career categories, and is the school record holder with 711 defensive rebounds and 33 double doubles. Tuesday, the Ada, Okla., native will have tied the school record for most career games started with 133.

TERRIFIC TRIO
Oklahoma's trio of seniors Maria Villarroel and Caton Hill plus junior Dionnah Jackson have been OU's bread and butter this season. The threesome accounts for 38.8 ppg (53%) and 17.5 rpg (42%).

In 21 of 26 games, at least one of them has led the Sooners in scoring and in 19 games one has been the top rebounder.

THE RECORD TO WATCH - LOOKING TO BE ELITE
Senior Caton Hill became the ONLY OU player, male or female, to score more than 1,500 points, grab 1,000 plus rebounds and pocket 200 or more steals in a career.

She surpassed this milestone with nine rebounds, 18 points and three steals against Oklahoma State Saturday, all in just 26 minutes of play.

To date, she has netted 1,571 points, 1,005 rebounds and 207 steals.

OU VS. RANKED TEAMS
Oklahoma is 2-2 against teams ranked in the top 10 and 4-5 vs. teams in the top 25 this season.

Under Sherri Coale, the Sooners are 29-42 vs. top 25 programs; 6-25 vs. top 10; and 2-11 vs. top 5 teams.

OU's win over nationally-ranked Texas Tech last Wednesday marked the first time in school history the women's basketball program swept a top-10 team during regular season action. OU also defeated then-seventh ranked Texas Tech, 68-62, Feb. 10 in Lubbock.

DRIVES, DISHES, SCORES
Junior Dionnah Jackson accounts for 35.4 percent of OU's made field goals and assists. While driving to the basket, she has scored 109 field goals and dished out 136 assists in 26 games.

SOONERS LOOKING FOR 20 WIN SEASON
Oklahoma will be going for its 10th 20-win season Tuesday. The Sooners have picked up three 20-win season under Coach Sherri Coale. Coale's 2001-02 team captured a school record 32 victories, also marking the only 30-win season for OU women's basketball. A win Tuesday would tie Coale for the most 20-win seasons in program history. Former coach Maura McHugh produced four and never had fewer than 17 wins in a single year.

55% OF OU'S FIELD GOALS ARE ASSISTED
Oklahoma has had 55 percent of its field goals assisted this season. Of OU's 693 field goals scored this season, 378 have been assisted.

BABY SOONERS
Nine of OU's 13 active players are underclassmen who have been contributing to the team's offensive and defensive production. The baby Sooners currently account for 43.1 percent of the team's points, 45.4 percent of its rebounds and 53.3 percent of its minutes played.
                            PPG    RPG    MPG
Seniors (2)           36.8    28.3      26.7
Juniors (2)           20.1     17.1      20.5
Sophomores (3)   15.2     20.5     18.7
Freshmen (6)        27.9    24.9     34.6

SOONER LEADERS
Not since the 1996-97 season has Oklahoma's scoring leader averaged fewer that 15.0 points per game and it's been nine years since OU's leading rebounder accounted for less than 6.5 boards per outing.

Senior Maria Villarroel leads the team with 14.6 ppg, while senior Caton Hill currently averages 6.1 rpg but has fluctuated between 5.5 to 6.4 rpg since the start of Big 12 action. Hill also led the team in rebounding in 2001 (9.3 rpg) and 2002 (6.9 rpg).

Phylesha Whaley's 20.8 ppg in 2000 is a school best and Molly McGuire's (1980) and Erika Notzke's (1989) 10.3 rpg tops the program. OU's top rebounder has never averaged fewer than 6.0 pg.

CAUFIELD SET TO RECEIVE 2,000-POINT BALL
Former Sooner great LaNeishea Caufield will be presented her 2,000-point basketball during the women's game against Texas on Tuesday, March 2, in Norman.

Caufield concluded her career as one of only three Sooners to have ever scored 2,000 points. The Ada, Okla., native registered 2,125 in four years.

The three-time All-Big 12 second teamer was named a Kodak District V All-American in 2002 and voted to the 2002 NCAA West Regional All-Tournament team.

The two-time Women's Basketball News Service Defensive Player of the Year (2001, 2002) holds the school records for most career steals (402), free throws made (693), attempted (826) and percentage (83.9%) plus minutes played (4,287).

She concluded her career as a Sooner by being the 14th overall WNBA draft pick by the Utah Starzz in 2002.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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