Red River Rivalry Set for Wednesday

No. 15 Texas (10-6, 3-2 Big 12)
At
Oklahoma (11-5, 3-2 Big 12)

Date: Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005
Location: Norman, Okla.
Arena: Lloyd Noble Center (12,000)
Tip-Off: 7 p.m.
Television: FSN-Southwest
Radio: Sooner Sports Network, KOKC (1520 AM)
Series: Texas leads the all-time series, 16-8.
Tickets: Sooner fans can purchase single game tickets for $8 to $5.
Up Next: OU remains home as the Sooners will host No. 18 Iowa State on Saturday, Jan. 29. ISU (15-1, 5-0 big 12) is currently in first place in the Big 12 Conference.

Game Notes in PDF | Order Tickets

On tap for the Oklahoma women's basketball team this week is a pair of top-25 Big 12 Conference opponents in No. 15 Texas and No. 18 Iowa State.

The Sooners sport a perfect 7-0 record when playing in front of their home fans at the Lloyd Noble Center this season. OU is 11-5 overall and winners of its last two games. Oklahoma's only losses in Big 12 play have come against a pair to top 10 programs.

Red River Rivalry takes place first as the Sooners host Texas on Wednesday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. The Longhorns are currently tied with OU for fourth-place in the Big 12 with a league record of 3-2. Overall, Texas is 10-6. UT is coming off a 69-55 win over No. 4 Baylor but have gone 3-4 since Jan. 1.

Wednesday's game will be televised by FSN Southwest with Kevin Eschenfelder (play-by-play) and Debbie Antonelli (color analyst) calling the action. It will also be aired locally on Cox Cable Channel 37. The Sooner Sports Network will broadcast the game on all OU radio affiliates, including KOKC-AM (1520).

Over 7,500 tickets have been sold for the Texas game but Sooner fans can still purchase tickets for just $8 (adult) and $5 (youth). Reserved seating is also available for $10.

PROBABLE STARTERS
OKLAHOMA
24   F   Leah Rush (6-1, So., Amarillo, Texas, 14.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg)
34   G   Erin Higgins (5-9, So., Oklahoma City, Okla., 8.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg)
35   G   Dionnah Jackson (5-9, Sr., St. Louis, Mo., 13.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg)
11   G   Laura Andrews (6-0, Jr., Washington, Okla., 4.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg)
00   G   Chelsi Welch (5-9, So., Plainview, Texas, 8.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg)

TEXAS
04   F   Kala Bowers (6-2, Sr., Woodward, Okla., 5.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
21   F   Heather Schrieber (6-2, Sr., Windthorst, Texas, 10.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
33   C   Tiffany Jackson (6-3, So., Dallas, Texas, 16.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg)
11   G   Jamie Carey (5-6, Sr., Thornton, Colo., 11.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg)
22   G   Nina Norman (5-6, Jr., Houston, Texas, 6.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg)

OKLAHOMA (11-5, 3-2 BIG 12)
Oklahoma is sitting in a three way tied for fourth-place in the Big 12 Conference with a 3-2 record. Nationally-ranked Texas and Baylor also stands at 3-2.

Over the last two games, OU's scoring has gone down to 66.5 ppg but its field goal percentage has improved, hitting 48.2 percent. Oklahoma has held its two opponents to just 30.0 from the field and 15.8 percent from the arc (6-of-38). The Sooners rebounding has been steady as well, earning 43.0 per game to their opponents 32.5. OU is one of the better teams in the league when it comes to assists to field goals made distribution, as the Sooners had 43 assists credited to their 55 field goals made against Oklahoma State and Texas A&M.

The Sooners defense has been the key to OU's success this season. Oklahoma has started Big 12 play holding opponents to just 34.1 percent from the field and 22.0 percent from the arc, both Big 12 best. The Sooners are shooting 46.0 percent from the field, which ranks second in Big 12 games.

Since the start of Big 12 play, OU sophmore Leah Rush has become a smooth scoring machince. The 6-1 forward ranks third in Big 12 scoring with 19.2 ppg and has had a pair of career-high 26-point performances in the last three games. She's hitting 58.6 percent of her shots, including a 13-of-17 showing at Texas A&M Saturday. Rush also accounts for 6.2 rebounds per game.

Rush leads the team in overall scoring with 14.6 ppgm but senior guard Dionnah Jackson tops the squad in rebounding with 8.4 per game.

Jackson ranks in eight Big 12 only categories and is 31st in the NCAA in assists per game. Her +2.87 assist/turnover ratio in conference games ranks third but her 8.6 assists per game is a league best. In all game, Jackson contributes 13.2 points per game.

Overall, Oklahoma is averaging 71.0 points and 41.9 rebounds per game. The Sooners are shooting 32.6 percent from the three-point range and 43.2 percent from the field. OU also holds a +5.4 edge on the boards, 41.9-to-36.6.

TEXAS (10-6, 3-2 BIG 12)
Texas returned four starters and 11 letterwinners that produced a 30-5 record and appearned in the NCAA Sweet 16 a year ago. The Longhorns have already collected six losses this season, five away from the Frank Erwin Center. To UT's credit, the five away losses were to nationally-ranked teams. UT is 2-5 when playing on the road.

Texas has played seven games and two non-conference games (Rutgers and UConn) since Jan. 1. The Longhorns most recently defeated No. 4 Baylor, 69-55, in Austin after being dealt a 17-point loss by Connecticut in Storrs.

They are led by sophomore center Tiffany Jackson's 16.0 points and 7.6 rebounds a game. Jackson leads the Big 12 in overall games with 3.00 steals per game. Senior guard Jamie Carey and senior forward Heather Schreiber also average double figures in scoring with 11.8 and 10.2 points, respectively. Schreiber is the only other Longhorn that averages better than 5.0 rpg.

All five of UT's losses have been to nationally ranked teams at the time of the game.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday will be the 25th meeting between Oklahoma and Texas. Texas leads the all-time series 16-8 but OU won the last meeting, 66-47, to capture the 2004 Big 12 Tournament title in Dallas.

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 167-100 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.

Texas is coach by Jody Conradt (Baylor, 1963). Coach Conradt is in her 36th year overall as a head coach and her 29th season as the Longhorns' head coach. She is 857-275 for her career and is 740-213 at Texas. Conradt ranks No 2 in all-time women's basketball victories.

OU VS RANKED TEAMS
Under Sherri Coale, the Sooners are 33-47 vs. top 25 programs; 8-28 vs. top 10; and 3-13 vs. top 5 teams. Texas is the fifth ranked opponent for the Sooners this season. OU is 1-3 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.

A YEAR AGO VS. TEXAS
Oklahoma went 1-2 against the Longhorns a year ago. The Sooners' victory gave OU its second Big 12 Tournament title in the last three years.

However, Texas swept the two regular season games but only by a slim +4.0 winning margin.

In the three games, OU's Dionnah Jackson averaged 11.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. She also distributed a team-best 4.7 assists per game and played a team-high 35.3 minutes a game. Sophomore Leah Rush also averaged double digits in scoring with 10 ppg but the 6-1 forward battle foul trouble in each.

In the Big 12 title game, OU outrebounded UT 42-28 and shot 44.8 percent from the field to UT's 38.0 percent, including a 0-11 performance from the three-point line.

IN SEARCH OF 500TH PROGRAM WIN
Oklahoma is NINE wins shy of reaching its 500 career victory. The 31-year old women's basketball program has 491 wins.

SOONER NOTABLES VS. TEXAS
   Chelsi Welch has scored in double figures in both games against Texas including a 20-point performance in her first OU-Texas game.
   Laura Andrews averages 3.6 points and 2.2 rebounds per game when playing Texas.
   Lauren Shoush has had more rebounds (9) than points (6).
   Beky Preston has shot 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from the field against the Longhorns. Preston averages of 3.4 rpg and 3.0 ppg vs. UT.
   In three games, Leah Rush has scored 30 points and collected 12 rebounds while battling foul trouble. She's shot 46.4 percent from the field and hit 3-of-4 foul shots.
   Antoinette Wadsworth has played in five games and grabbed nine boards and scored six points.
   Erin Higgins has gone 2-of-12 from the three-point line. Higgins has scored five points in each of the last two games.
   Dionnah Jackson averages a team-best 11.1 ppg and 6.4 rpg vs. Texas. Jackson has dished out 35 assists (5.0 pg) and has scored in double figures four of seven games. Jackson scored a then-career high 21-points and had a game-high tying nine rebounds in OU's 66-47 Big 12 title victory over the Longhorns in Dallas last March.

KEEP ON EYE ON...
Dionnah Jackson is two assists shy of becoming just the third player in OU history to have dished out 100+ assist in three different seasons. Former Sooner Stacey Dales-Schuman accomplished this four times, while Sharee Mitchum did it three times.

Erin Higgins is one three-pointer short of her 100th trey. She will become one of only nine players to have hit 100-or-more career three-pointers as a Sooner.

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Oklahoma is the best defensive team in the Big 12 Conference. The Sooners are holding their conference opponents to just 22.0 percent (18-of-82) from three-point range and 34.1 percent from the field (106-of-311). Both percentages tops the Big 12 Conference.

No opponent has shot 50 percent or better against OU this season. Only five teams have hit better than 40 percent (SEMO, Texas State, Iowa, SMS and Baylor). In addition, only three teams have shot better than 30 percent from three point land (Baylor, SMS and SEMO).

Oklahoma, on the other hand, has shot 40 percent or better from the field in nine straight games and 13 total, including two 50 percent or better performances.

ASSISTING OTHERS THE SOONER WAY
Head Coach Sherri Coale will be the first to tell you that one of the things she looks for on the stats sheet is the assists to field goals made ratio. Coale was pleased with the distribution at Texas A&M Saturday as 25 assists were credited to 28 field goals made.

Saturday was OU's best performance as 89.3 percent of the Sooners field goals were assisted under Coach Sherri Coale. Coach Coale also had 16 assists to 18 field goals (88.9%) against Iowa State on Feb. 22, 2003.

Coale teams have had 21 games where five or fewer field goals were unassisted and six games where three or fewer field goals were unassisted.

Oklahoma leads the Big 12 Conference in assists to field goals made ratio. OU is the ONLY team in the Big 12 that has at least 70 percent of its field goals assisted. OU has 296 assists to its 414 field goals made for 71.5 percent assist to field goals made accuracy.

RUSH HOUR
Sophomore Leah Rush has stepped up her game against tougher competition this season. She's has scored a career-high 26 points twice and produced one double-double.

She's averaging 19.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game vs. OU's better opponents.

HIGGINS BOMBING AWAY
Sophomore guard Erin Higgins broke into OU's all-time record book 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 32 treys to rank ninth on OU's most career threes made chart. She's connected on 99 threes and is 75 shy of top honors.

I SEE YA...
Senior Dionnah Jackson was one short of setting a Big 12 Conference record for most assist in a single game. The 5-9 guard assisted a teammate on a made field goal 16 times, which established a Texas A&M Reed Arena record at for most assists in a single game.

Jackson's performance was the best assist distribution under current Coach Sherri Coale. Stacey Dales-Schuman held the previous best of 14 assists. OU's school record is 19 held by former Sooner Sharee Mitchum against ORU (2-10-94). The Big 12 record is 17 held by Texas Tech's Melinda Schmucker vs. Grambling (3-13-98).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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