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University of Oklahoma Athletics
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March 20, 2004 | Women's Basketball
NCAA SECOND ROUND GAME
#3 Seed Oklahoma (24-8)
vs.
#6 Seed Stanford (25-6)
Oklahoma advances to the NCAA second round for the sixth time in seven tries. The Sooners eliminated 14th seed Marist College, 58-45, in OU's opening game Saturday. Oklahoma will face sixth seed Stanford (25-6) on Monday, March 22, inside the Wells Fargo Arena at 10 p.m. (CST) in an ESPN2 telecast. The winner advances to the NCAA Midwest Regional hosted by the University of Oklahoma at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., on March 28 and 30.
OU's and Stanford's brief history consist of four games. The two teams have faced each other four times, three recently. OU has defeated the Cardinal twice under current coach Sherri Coale, including a 67-50 victory in the 2001 NCAA second round game that was hosted by OU in Norman. Stanford was the 10 seed, while OU was the second seed in the West Region. Earlier that year, the Sooners also defeated Stanford in overtime, 102-98, in Norman. Most recently, SU handed Oklahoma a 20-point loss, 58-38, in Stanford in 2003. The two teams have never faced each other on a neutral court.
2004 NCAA Women's Tournament | Online Bracket | Bracket (PDF)
Leading the Sooners in overall scoring are seniors Maria Villarroel (14.5 ppg) and Caton Hill (12.4 ppg). The duo also leads the team in rebounding with 6.4 and 6.2 boards per game, respectively. Junior Dionnah Jackson has been the most consistent player for the Sooners this season. The 5-9 point guard tops the team in assists (5.0) and steals (2.3) per game while owning the team-best assist/turnover ratio of 1.5. Jackson averaging 12.4 points per game, third best on the team. In addition, Freshmen Leah Rush and Erin Higgins account for 8.6 and 6.7 points per game, respectively. Rush also averages 4.3 rebounds per game, while Higgins tops the team with nearly 2.0 three-points per game.
As a team, Oklahoma is averaging 71.6 points and 41.0 rebounds per game, compared to its opponents' 58.4 ppg and 33.8 rpg.
PROBABLE STARTERS
OKLAHOMA (24-8) PPG RPG
10 F Caton Hill (6-1, Sr., Ada, Okla.) 12.4 6.1
24 F Leah Rush (6-1, Fr., Amarillo, Texas) 8.6 4.3
34 G Erin Higgins (5-9, Fr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) 6.7 2.5
35 G Dionnah Jackson (5-9, Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) 12.4 6.2
05 G Maria Villarroel (5-9, Sr., Margarita, Venezuela) 14.5 6.4
STANFORD (25-6) PPG RPG
14 F Nicole Powell (6-2, Sr., Phoenix, Ariz.) 19.9 11.0
34 F T'Nae Thiel (6-1, Jr., Weatherford, Texas) 9.9 2.4
43 C Kristen Newlin (6-5, Fr., Riverton, Wyo.) 7.2 2.9
24 G Susan Borchardt (5-7, Jr., Richfield, Minn.) 8.5 1.4
05 G Kelley Suminski (5-9, Jr., Chester, N.J) 9.9 2.4
STANFORD (25-6)
The No. 10/8 Stanford moves to the second round of action with a 68-44 win over Big 12 foe Missouri Saturday night inside Wells Fargo Arena. The Cardinal was led by senior All-American Nicole Powell's 17 points and nine rebounds. Four Cardinal scored in double figures; T'Nae Thiel had 14, followed by Susan Borchardt's 13 and Kelley Suminski's 10. SU outrebounded Missouri 41 to 36 and hit seven three-pointers to MU's three. Stanford connected on 41.7 percent of field goals taken, while forcing the Tigers into 16 turnovers.
Stanford captured its second consecutive PAC-10 Tournament title for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The Cardinal had a +11.3 victory margin over California (80-55), UCLA (70-66) and Arizona (51-46), however, they had to come from behind for the win in the final two games.
Stanford owns an all-time postseason record of 37-18 (.672), including a 37-15 (.716) record in NCAA Tournament competition. This is the Cardinal's 18th NCAA Tournament appearance and 17th in a row.
OU TAKES CHARITY
Oklahoma nailed an impressive 23 of 24 free throws in its first round game against Marist Saturday. Sooners Leah Rush (9-9), Maria Villarroel (8-8) and Caton Hill (2-2) were perfect from the stripe, while Dionnah Jackson went 4-5.
In postseason action, OU is hitting 82.6 percent from the free throw line (76-for-92), while opponents are shooting just 69.5 percent (57-for-82). Senior Caton Hill and freshman Leah Rush are perfect at 13-for-13 at the stripe, followed by senior Maria Villarroel's 81.5 percent (22-for-27) and junior Dionnah Jackson's 79.3 percent (23-for-29).
MOVING THE HILL
Senior Caton Hill needs nine points to move into the top 5 on OU's all-time scoring chart. She currently has 1,644 career points. She is also just eight offensive and 28 total rebounds short of the school records. Hill already holds the OU record for most defensive boards with 738 and for most games played (139) and started (138).
RUSH HAS STELLAR GAME VS. MARIST
Freshman Leah Rush turned in one of her most impressive performances of the season against Marist in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The 6-1 forward scored a career-high 23 points, on 7-of-11 field goals, and was flawless at the free throw stripe, hitting 9-of-9. Her nine made free throws and two assists also matched personal bests.
In the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament, Rush took Kansas State (M11) for a then-career-high 18 points, 16 in the first half, while holding KSU's All-American Nicole Ohlde to just five first half points. the Amarillo, Texas, native also had three rebounds, shot 80 percent from the field (8-10) and 66.7 percent from the three-point line (3-5).
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 39.3 ppg (55%, 1,259 points) and 18.7 rpg (46%, 599 rebounds) for the Sooners
In 26-of-32 games, at least one of them has led OU in scoring and in 25 games one has been the top rebounder.
OU VS. RANKED TEAMS
Oklahoma is 4-3 against teams ranked in the top 10 and 7-6 vs. teams in the top 25 this season. Under Sherri Coale, the Sooners are 32-43 vs. top 25 programs; 8-26 vs. top 10; and 3-12 vs. top 5 teams.
OU's win over nationally-ranked Texas Tech on Feb. 25 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.
TWO-MINUTE STRETCH
Oklahoma sports a 69.1 free throw percentage in the final two minutes of the game. The Sooners have hit 56-of-81 attempted free throws down the stretch. Seniors Caton Hill and Maria Villarroel are perfect from the stripe in the final 120 seconds.
Player Performances Under the Two-Minute Mark
Players FTM FTA Pct.
Caton Hill 26 26 1.000
Maria Villarroel 7 7 1.000
Dionnah Jackson 29 35 .829
Leah Rush 5 7 .714
Friday, July 17
Friday, July 10
Friday, July 03
Friday, June 26
