Sooner Basketball Takes On Baylor

OKLAHOMA (9-4, 1-1 Big 12)
at
No. 2/3 BAYLOR (12-2, 2-1 Big 12)

Date: Sunday, Jan. 16, 2005
Location: Waco, Texas
Arena: Ferrell Center (10,284)
Tip-Off: 2 p.m.
Television: CSTV
Radio: KOKC (1520 AM)
Series: OU leads the all-time series, 15-6.
Rankings: Baylor is ranked No. 2 in the AP and No. 3 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls. OU is not ranked but receiving votes.
Tickets: Baylor general admission tickets are $10 (adults) and $6 (youth).
Up Next: OU faces Oklahoma State on Wednesday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m.

Oklahoma (9-4, 1-1 Big 12) travels to Baylor (12-, 2-1 Big 12) to resume Big 12 action Sunday, Jan. 16. The two teams tip off at 2 p.m. inside the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas. The second-ranked Lady Bears are 7-0 this season but are on a 10-game home winning streak. The last team to beat BU at home was Texas Tech, 62-59, on Feb. 8, 2004.

Sunday's game will be televised by College Sports Television (CSTV) with Ann Schatz calling play-by-play and Carter Blackburn as the color analyst. Sooner basketball fans can also listen to OU women's basketball action as Brian Brinkley and Tara DeGiusti call the action on KOKC-AM (1520) and on www.SoonerSports.com.

OU fans in the Waco area can purchase single game tickets for just $10 for adult and $6 for youth. Sooner fans can also catch the OU men's basketball team in action Saturday, Jan. 15 in Waco, Texas as OU will face the Bears at 5 p.m. inside the Ferrell Center.

Oklahoma is coming off of a 20-point win over Texas A&M, 73-53, last Sunday, while Baylor suffered a four-point triple overtime loss at Nebraska Wednesday. Against the Aggies, OU shot 46.5 percent and had four players in double figures. Sophomore Leah Rush topped the team for the third straight game with 17 points, followed by senior Dionnah Jackson's 14 points and Lauren Shoush and Beky Preston came off the bench for 12 points each. Jackson also had a team-best eight rebounds. The 5-9 point guard has lead OU in rebounding in seven of the last nine games. OU earned a slim 39-36 edge on the boards, but gave up 19 offensive rebounds to the Aggies. The Sooners gave up 20 offensive boards to Texas Tech to open Big 12 play.

Following Sunday's game, it's Bedlam time! The Sooners will host state rival Oklahoma State on Wednesday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. inside the Lloyd Noble Center. The Cowgirls are currently 5-8 overall and winless in the Big 12 at 0-3.

PROBABLE STARTERS
OKLAHOMA (9-4, 1-1 BIG 12)
24 F Leah Rush (6-1, So., Amarillo, Texas, 13.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg)
34 G Erin Higgins (5-9, So., Oklahoma City, Okla. 7.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg)
35 G Dionnah Jackson (5-9, Sr., St. Louis, Mo., 14.4 ppg, 8.2 rpg)
11 G Laura Andrews (6-0, Jr., Washington, Okla., 3.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg)
00 G Chelsi Welch (5-9, So., Plainview, Texas, 8.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg)

BAYLOR (12-2, 2-1 BIG 12)
33 F Sophia Young (6-1, Jr., St. Vincent, West Indies, 17.9 ppg, 9.9 rpg)
45 F Steffanie Blackmon (6-2, Sr., Dallas, Texas, 17.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg)
21 G Chameka Scott (6-0, Jr., Friendswood, Texas, 6.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg)
05 G Chanelle Fox (5-11, Jr., Houston, Texas, 3.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg)
20 G Angela Tisdale (5-5, Fr., Austin, Texas, 5.6 ppg, 1.6 rpg)

OKLAHOMA (9-4, 1-1 BIG 12)
Defense has been the key to OU's success this season. The Sooners are holding opponents to a Big 12-best 24.9 three-point field goal percentage and 34.7 percent shooting from the field, which ranks third best in the league.

In Big 12 games only, OU also tops the league in three-point field goal percentage defense, holding teams to just 16.1% and ranks second in overall field goal percentage defense by only allowing opponents to shoot 33.6%.

Oklahoma has started Big 12 play shooting 46.0 percent from the field and four players are shooting better than 50 percent. Sophomore Leah Rush leads OU in Big 12 scoring averaging 20 points per game. Rush also ranks fourth in the league in field goal percentage, shooting 60.9 (14of-23), and scoring. Senior Dionnah Jackson ranks second with 13.5 ppg and a team-best 10.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game.

OU's other senior, Lauren Shoush, ranks third for the Sooners in Big 12 scoring with 8.0 ppg, followed by sophomore Chelsi Welch's and junior Beky Preston's 7.0 ppg. Shoush, a 5-11 guard, leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage in conference games by shooting 70 percent (7-of-10).

Overall, Jackson leads the Sooners in 10 categories including scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks and steals. The 5-9 All-American candidate just returned from Los Angeles, Calif., where she was a finalist for the Inaugural John Wooden Cup Award for Athletes for the Better World. Jackson, who got the opportunity to meet Mr. Wooden, was the only women's basketball player to make the final cut.

Sophomore Leah Rush ranks second on the squad in overall scoring with 13.7 ppg and 6.8 rpg. OU has four additional players contributing five-plus points per game; Chelsi Welch (8.3), Erin Higgins (7.6), Lauren Shoush (6.1) and Beky Preston (5.5).

As a team, Oklahoma is averaging 71.9 points and 42.5 rebounds per game. The Sooners are shooting 32.3 percent from the three-point range and 42.5 percent from the field. OU also holds a +5.6 edge on the boards, 42.5-36.8.

BAYLOR (12-2, 2-1 BIG 12)
Baylor enters Sunday's game with a 10-game home winning streak on the line. The Lady Bears opened the season with a 71-70 loss to then No. 3 LSU in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic in Austin, Texas. BU then went on a 12-game winning span before suffering a four-point triple overtime loss at Nebraska Wednesday.

Baylor has a pair of national player of the year candidates on the court in junior Sophia Young and senior Steffanie Blackmon. Young leads the team in scoring (17.9) and rebounding (9.9), followed closely by Blackmon's 17.1 ppg and 8.4 rpg.

The Lady Bears are dangerous from the three-point line as well with three players connecting on 10 or more threes this season. Sophomore Emily Niemann has made 27 3s and is shooting 54.0 from the arc.

BU averages 77.3 points and 42.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 43.2 percent from the arc. The Lady Bears are also outrebounding their opponents by +7.1 rpg (42.4-to-35.4).

Baylor returned four starters and 11 letterwinners that went 26-9 and 10-6 in the Big 12 Conference last year. BU finished league play tied for fourth and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 before being eliminated by Tennessee, 71-69, in Norman.

SERIES HISTORY
Sunday will be the 22nd meeting between Oklahoma and Baylor. The Sooners own an all-time series record of 15-6 when facing the Lady Bears. OU is also 6-3 when playing Baylor in Waco. However, Baylor swept the two-game series a year go.

BU coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson is 2-6 against OU coach Sherri Coale. Coale is 11-6 all-time when playing Baylor.

HEAD COACHES
Sherri Coale (Oklahoma Christian, 1987) is in her ninth season as the head coach at Oklahoma. Coale has built an outstanding resume in that time, leading the Sooners to post season action the last six years, as well as one Final Four and three Big 12 regular-season titles. She has posted a 165-99 career record and coached in the national championship game in 2001-02, falling to undefeated Connecticut, 82-70. Since her arrival in 1996, more than 1 million fans have watched an OU women's basketball game. Before taking over the reigns of the OU program, Coale was the head coach at Norman High School from 1990-96, winning two Oklahoma 6A state titles in that time.

Baylor is coach by Kim Mulkey-Robertson (Louisiana Tech, 1984). Baylor found new leadership under Kim Mulkey-Robertson five years ago. Since accepting the BU head coaching position, Mulkey-Robertson has led Baylor to 110-37 record. She has also produced 20-win seasons for the last four years and has advanced BU to the NCAA Tournaments three of the four years. Mulkey-Robertson has been inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame (2000) and CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame (2003).

IN SEARCH OF 500TH PROGRAM WIN
Oklahoma is 11 wins shy of reaching its 500 career victory. The 31-year old women's basketball program has 489 wins.

OU VS RANKED TEAMS
Under Sherri Coale, the Sooners are 33-46 vs. top 25 programs; 8-27 vs. top 10; and 3-12 vs. top 5 teams.

Baylor is the fourth ranked opponent for the Sooners this season. OU is 1-2 vs top 25 this season. The last time OU played a top five team was when the Sooners defeated then-No. 2 Texas, 66-47, for the 2004 Big 12 Tournament title in Dallas at Reunion Arena. OU played four top five programs a year ago.

SOONERS SHUFFLE
Head coach Sherri Coale has put four different lineups on the court this season. But, Dionnah Jackson, Erin Higgins and Leah Rush have started all 13 games.

Coale has played all available 13 players in four games and 10 players are averaging 10-plus minutes per game.

HIGGINS BOMBING AWAY
Sophomore guard Erin Higgins broke into OU's all-time record books when she hit her first three-pointer against Southeast Missouri State in the opening game of the season.

Since then, the 5-9 Oklahoman has nailed 25 treys this season to rank ninth on OU's most career threes made chart. She's connected on 92 threes and is 82 shy of top honors.

ONE FOR ALL, ALL FOR ONE
Oklahoma leads the Big 12 Conference in assists to field goals made ratio. OU has 236 assists to its 333 field goals made, meaning 71 percent of all of OU's field goals made are being assisted.

This percentage is a clear reflection on how well OU's transition game and offensive execution is working this season. OU is the ONLY team in the Big 12 that has at least 70 percent of its field goals assisted.

Ranking second is Baylor with 68 percent, followed by Texas Tech with 66 percent of its field goals are being assisted.

Nine OU players have already dished out at least 10 or more assists, lead by Dionnah Jackson's 69.

RUSH CARRYING INSIDE LOAD
Sophomore Leah Rush is carrying most of the load for the Sooners at the post position. The 6-1 forward accounts for 42.9 percent of OU's rebounding and 48.4 percent of its scoring from OU's post players (six).

Overall, Rush is good for 19 percent of OU's points and 16 percent of its rebounds. The remaining five post players are responsible for 20% of the Sooners scoring and 21% of their rebounds.

Rush has scored in double digits in nine of 13 games and has had eight or more rebounds in six games. The Amarillo, Texas native ranks second to Dionnah Jackson in scoring (13.7 ppg), rebounding (6.8) and blocks (12). Rush also ranks second in free throw percentage, hitting 83.6 percent of her shots (46-of-55), of players shooting more than 20 foul shots.

IMPRESSIVE FIGURES
Oklahoma has shot 40 percent or better from the field in 10 games, including the last six games. In OU's first three losses, the Sooners shot below 38 percent. No opponent has shot 50 percent or better against OU this season. Only four teams have hit better than 40 percent vs. Oklahoma (SEMO, Texas State, Iowa and SMS. In addition, only SMS and Southeast Missouri State has shot better than 30 percent from three point land.

In the last six games, OU has also cut down on its turnovers. Oklahoma had a season-low 14 turnovers at Texas Tech and against Henderson State, Tulsa (D4) and La Tech (D18). The Sooners are averaging 15.5 turnovers over the last six games. OU averaged 19.8 turnovers in its first five games.

Usually the smaller of the two teams on the court, OU has out rebounded 10 of its 13 opponents.

In OU's first six games, the Sooners pocketed 11.5 steals per game. The last seven games, OU has decreased in its steals with just 6.4 per game.

SHOUSH MAKING FINAL SEASON COUNT
Senior Lauren Shoush is making her final season her best. The Oklahoma City native has played in all 13 games this season and 87 in four-plus years. The 5-11 guard has improved numbers in every category this season including points and rebounds per game.

Shoush has had three games with 10-or-more points including a 13 point performance (second best in her career) against Akron in the Bahamas. She also had a career-best 10 rebounds in the season opener against Southeast Missouri State.

Shoush currently leads the Big 12 Conference in league games in field goal percentage. She's made 7-of-10 shots for a 70 percent accuracy. Shoush also ranks eighth in assist/turnover ratio (+2.0) and 14th in assists per game (3.0)

OU NOTABLES
Oklahoma's 62 rebounds against Henderson State on Dec. 29 is a Big 12 Conference single game best. The Sooners' 62 rebounds ties for second most under Coale. OU grabbed 68 against ORU and 62 vs. Oklahoma State last season. OU's 32 attempted treys against Akron (N26) ranks second in the league.

Leah Rush and Dionnah Jackson ranks among the Big 12 best for individual game performances. Rush hit 8-of-8 free throws vs. Southwest Missouri on Dec. 11, tying her for first, with three others, for best free throw percentage (100%) in a single game. Jackson's career-high nine steals against Iowa is also a single game best.

Dionnah Jackson is one of four players in the Big 12 Conference that has had six or more double doubles this season. Texas Tech's Cisti Greenwalt has a league best eight DD.

OU is one of ONLY four teams in the Big 12 Conference that has made 80 or more three pointers. Iowa State has connected on a league-best 129 treys. (as of Jan. 13)

OU has scored 80-plus points four times ... shot 50 percent or better from the three-point line three times ... has had 40-plus rebounds seven times ... 20 or more assists has been distributed in six different games, only one OU opponent has had a 20-plus assists game.

Individual Notables: Chelsi Welch hit 24 consecutive free throws before missing. Welch snapped the streak at the 16:21 mark in the first half at Texas Tech. The school record is 29-straight set by LaNeishea Caufield during the 2000-01 season. Leah Rush has scored 20-plus points three times this season, while Dionnah Jackson has accomplished this twice this season ... Erin Higgins has hit five three-pointers in two different games ... OU has nine players with 10 or more assists and three different players have collected at least 10 rebounds in a single game.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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