2004 Sooner European Tour Central

For the first time in the program's history, the Oklahoma women's basketball team has taken its game overseas.

Head coach Sherri Coale and the Sooners are on a 12-day tour of Europe from May 9-May 20.

Oklahoma teamed up with Basketball Travelers, Inc. for the trip. Follow the OU women's basketball team as they play five games against European competition and experience the culture and sights of France, Monaco and Switzerland.

PHOTO GALLERIES
Sooners Travel to Europe
Game 1 vs. Roquebrune Cap-Martin
Game 2 vs. Case Basketball
Game 3 vs. St. Etienne Select
Game 4 vs. Vallais Select
Game 5 vs. Lancy Meyrin
Sooners in Switzerland
Sooners in Paris

PLAYER & COACH JOURNALS
We began our exciting journey to Europe on Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. It started with a two hour flight from Oklahoma City to Cincinnati and then another hour and a half to New York...
Kendra Moore - May 10

It's amazing how quickly you can become comfortable with a place. Maybe it's the fact that all our "people" are with us; maybe it's the authenticity of this Old World; maybe it's because...
Sherri Coale - May 11

Today was our third day in France and each day progressively gets better and better. We continued to try and experience new things here while we are in Nice. I came on this trip with an open mind...
Erin Higgins - May 12

We played today! It was a hoot! We bused for about an hour up through the winding roads of the French Alps to Roquebrune, a city that sits near the Italian border. The drive took us high...
Sherri Coale - May 12

We started off bright and early this morning half asleep leaving Nice behind and headed for Lyon. The bus drive takes a total of six hours and that's without making any stops. An interesting fact...
Casey Walker - May 13

Now our European trip has us in Lyon, a city that is supposedly the second largest in France. The morning started around 10 a.m. with a quick tour of Lyon, a city that is so compacted...
Krista Sanchez - May 14

We spent today in Lyon quickly touring the city and getting a "hit the high points" history of France's former capital and second largest city. Lyon basically has two parallel rivers, the Rhone and the Saone...
Sherri Coale - May 15

We've finished playing our last game today. I'd have to say that the hour and a half trips to the rubber floored gyms aren't my favorite. However, I don't mind the techno remix of ABBA...
Beky Preston - May 16

We've had a great day so far. When we woke up we had the usual breakfast consisting of bread and hot milk. Shortly after breakfast we left the hotel to go to a Castle that is over 700 years old...
Laura Andrews - May 16

We drove today from Lyon to Switzerland. About all I knew about Switzerland up until this point was that Heidi lived here. Well let me just tell you, Heidi was a smart girl. As we stopped at the border...
Sherri Coale - May 17

After waking up to a breaktaking landscape of snow-topped mountains next to a peaceful lake, we then crammed on a bus for a long eight hour trek from Montreux, Switzerland, to Paris, France...
Lauren Shoush - May 17

Our final game was anticlimactic. The team we played was what I had anticipating all the teams we would play here might be like. They looked young and were somewhat unorganized and not very skilled...
Sherri Coale - May 18

I have never seen so many people, including myself, zip to the metro at 8 a.m. in order to beat the long lines that develop at these tourist attractions. We had so many groups rushing off in various directions...
Antionette Wadworth - May 18

There's just so much to experience and see in Paris. We had to split up in several groups today so that everyone could do what they wanted. Some groups went to The Eiffel Tower, some to Versailles...
Britney Brown - May 18

Today we drove-or rode, I suppose-and rode, and rode, and rode. Our dear driver, Henri (who speaks five languages fluently) took us out of Montreux through village after village in the hills of France...
Sherri Coale - May 19

Today is our last day in Paris. There is so much to do here, so I have to try to get in a few final things in. Yesterday (Tuesday) I visited Notre-Dame, took a bus tour of Paris, did a little shopping...
Leah Rush - May 20

Travel is education. I worried about taking my own children out of school, particularly so late in the semester, to make this trip. Talk about wasted energy!! Reading about Rodin and sitting at the feet of “The Thinker” are two very different things...
Sherri Coale - May 21

GAMES
Dionnah Jackson scored 16 of her game-high 23 points in the opening 20 minutes of action Wednesday as OU defeated Roquebrune Cap-Martin, 83-68, inside the Salle Valgelate Gymnasium in Roquebrune, France...
OU 83, Roquebrune 68 | Box Score

After spending the entire day riding a bus from Nice to Lyon, France, the University of Oklahoma women's basketball team was able to shake off Case Basketball for an impressive 104-86 victory Thursday night...
OU 104, Case Basketball 86 | Box Score

Oklahoma women's basketball team continues to dominate in Europe as the Sooners won their third game in as many days Friday night in St. Etienne, France...
OU 100, St. Etienne Select 78 | Box Score

Down by one point with 31 seconds to play sophomore Laura Andrews scored three of her five points to give the Oklahoma women's basketball team a 64-62 win over Vallais Select...
OU 64, St. Vallais Select 62 | Box Score

The Oklahoma women's basketball team cruised to its easiest win of its five-game European Tour with an 80-37 victory over Lancy Meyrin inside the Gym Champs Frechet Sunday...
OU 80, Lancy Meyrin 37 | Box Score

ITINERARY
May 9 - Depart Oklahoma City, Okla. at 9 a.m.
May 10 - Arrive in Nice, France
May 11 - Bus to Monte Carlo, Monaco
May 12 - OU vs. Roquebrune (Nice, France)
May 13 - OU vs. St. Etienne (Lyon, France)
May 14 - OU vs. Le Puy (Lyon, France)
May 15 - OU vs. Martigny (Lausanne, Switzerland)
May 16 - OU vs. Sion Helios BBC (Montreux, Switzerland )
May 17-20 - Bus to Paris, France
Europe is seven hours ahead of Central Standard Time.

International Rule Differences
Oklahoma will have to play within the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rules and differences including:
larger basketball (men's size)
deeper 3-point line
wider lane
24 second shot clock (as opposed to a 30 second clock)
10 second time limit to cross half court with the basketball (NCAA has no time limit)

International Competition
As of May 2004, teams can still participate in summer or winter foreign tours, following the defeat of Prop 2003-67 (to eliminate ALL foreign tours). Taking a team on a foreign tour has become a common practice among Division I programs, both men's and women's. By NCAA rules, a school can plan a trip once every four years.

Experience - Teams are allowed up to 10 days of practice before departure, and then up to 10 games on your tour. This gives teams a big head start on the season. Also, if a school's fall session has begun by Labor Day, all matriculated freshmen may participate on the Labor Day tour, giving them invaluable game experience.

Team Unity - Sharing the common bond of foreign travel can bring a team together, greatly enhancing team unity and cohesion.

Adventure - Foreign travel presents great cultural and educational opportunities.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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