OU Heads to Kansas for Big 12 Action

Oklahoma (11-7, 3-4 Big 12 )
At
Kansas (9-9, 2-2 Big 12)

Date: Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2005
Location: Lawrence, Kan.
Arena: Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)
Tip: 7 p.m.
Television: Metro-TV (local cable in Lawrence, Kan. only)
Radio: KMGL (104.1 FM) and KOKC (1520 AM)
Series: Kansas leads the all-time series, 27-20.
Rankings: Neither team is ranked.
Tickets: Single game tickets at KU are $6 for adults and $3 for youth.
Up Next: OU continues its Big 12 road journey as the Sooners travel to Lincoln, Neb. to face Nebraska on Sunday, Feb. 6 for a 3 p.m. FSN game.

Game Notes in PDF

Oklahoma (11-7, 3-4 Big 12) heads into Wednesday's matchup with Kansas (9-9, 2-5 Big 12) looking to end a two-game losing skid. The Sooners suffered an overtime loss to No. 15 Texas before losing to No. 18 Iowa State in Norman last week. The last time OU witness back-to-back home losses was in 2003. Kansas will host the Sooners inside Allen Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. The Jayhawks fell 59-48 at Nebraska Saturday.

The game will be televised by Metro Sports and aired on the local cable network in Lawrence. Nate Bukaty (play-by-play) and Patti Phillips (color) will call the action.

Sooner fans can also listen to Brian Brinkley and Tara DeGiusti call the action on KOKC-AM (1520) and KMGL FM (104.1). The game will be carried in its entirety on KMGL but KOKC will switch to the Presidential Address starting at 8 p.m. Fans can also listen to the broadcast via the O-Zone at www.SoonerSports.com.

PROBABLE STARTERS
OKLAHOMA
34 G Erin Higgins (5-9, So., Oklahoma City, Okla., 8.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg)
35 G Dionnah Jackson (5-9, Sr., St. Louis, Mo., 14.0 ppg, 8.9 rpg)
11 G Laura Andrews (6-0, Jr., Washington, Okla., 4.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg)
00 G Chelsi Welch (5-9, So., Plainview, Texas, 7.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg)
24 F Leah Rush (6-1, So., Amarillo, Texas, 14.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg)

KANSAS
40 F Crystal Kemp (6-2, Jr., Topeka, Kan., 14.8 ppg, 8.9 rpg)
04 G Kaylee Brown (5-8, Jr., Arcadia, Okla., 9.5 ppg, 1.3 rpg)
11 G Aquanita Burras (5-9, Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo., 10.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
13 G Taylor McIntosh (5-11, Fr., Wichita, Kan., 4.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg)
23 G Erica Hallman (5-8, Jr., Covington, Ky., 12.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg)

OKLAHOMA (11-6, 3-3 BIG 12)
Oklahoma's duo of senior All-America candidate Dionnah Jackson and sophomore forward Leah Rush has guided the Sooners to a 11-7 overall record and 3-4 mark in the Big 12. The pair leads the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks and steals.

Jackson, the team's most consistent player, has produced one triple double and eight double double on the season. Rush as scored 20-plus points five times and recorded double digits 13 times. In the last two games, Jackson averaged a double-double with 20.5 points and 13.0 rebounds. Erin Higgins contributed 15.0 ppg and Rush has averaged 13.0.

Oklahoma is holding its Big 12 opponents to just 37.6 percent from the field, 13th best in the nation, and 29.5 percent from the arc, fourth best in the Big 12.

Overall, Oklahoma is averaging 70.4 points and 42.0 rebounds per game. The Sooners are shooting 30.9 percent from the three-point range and 42.1 percent from the field. OU also holds a +4.8 edge on the boards, 42.0-to-37.2.

KANSAS (9-9, 2-5 BIG 12)
Kansas stands at 2-5 in the Big 12 Conference and 9-9 overall. The Jayhawks two league victories have come against Missouri (63-61) and at Colorado (65-60).

In KU's last game, the Jayhawks lost at Nebraska, 59-48. Kansas had three players in double figures led by Kaylee Brown's 15 points. Erica Hallman and Crystal Kemp had 12 and 10 points, respectively. KU was forced into 23 turnovers and only shot 33.3 percent from the arc. Nebraska shot even worst from the arc, hitting just 28.6 percent and was out rebounded 31-29. The Cornhuskers made 13 of 15 foul shots and shot 44.0 percent from the floor.

Kemp leads three Jayhawks in double figure scoring with 14.8 ppg, which ranks eight in the league. Kemp also ranks fourth in the Big 12 in field goal percentage, shooting 53.2, and, is tied with OU's Dionnah Jackson, in rebounding with 8.9. Erica Hallman contributes 12.4 ppg and Aquanita Burras adds 10.0 ppg.

Three of KU's four non-conference losses were by five points or less. Since league play, Kansas average margin of loss is 15.8 ppg. Kansas is last in the league in scoring with 58.4 ppg and ranks fourth in scoring defense, allowing opponents to score 56.5 ppg.

SERIES HISTORY
Wednesday will be the 48th meeting between Oklahoma and Kansas. The Jayhawks lead the all-time series 27-20 but has lost the last six games. OU has not lost in Lawrence since 1999 (58-54). OU is 6-0 since 2000 and 6-3 under head coach Sherri Coale.

KU's head coach Bonnie Henrickson has not face OU in her coaching career.

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 167-102 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.

Kansas is coach by Bonnie Henrickson (St. Cloud State, 1986). Henrickson is 9-9 in her first year at KU and 167-71 in her eighth year as a head coach overall.

A YEAR AGO VS. KANSAS
Oklahoma cruised past visiting Kansas, 83-59, last year at the Lloyd Noble Center. Maria Villarroel scored a game-high 22 points, shooting 6-of-9 from the field and 9-for-10 from the charity stripe to lead OU to its sixth and third-straight Big 12 victory. OU jumped out to a 10-4 lead four minutes into the game and enjoyed their largest lead of 17-points at intermission, 45-28.

In the second half, the Jayhawks brought the lead down to nine (53-44) at the 10:02 mark in the second half but OU went on to make six consecutive free throws (four by Villarroel and two by Caton Hill) and never looked back.

The Sooners lead swelled to a game-high 27 points before Kansas' Erica Hallman nailed a three with four seconds remaining.

Erin Higgins tied a then-career-high with 18 points after hitting a personal-best six three pointers in the contest. She also attempted a career-high 14 treys. Dionnah Jackson had four of her game-high seven assists in the first half to move to third on OU's all-time assists list. Jackson finished the game with 10 points.

Kansas' Tamara Ransburg came off the bench to score a team-high 19 points and added seven rebounds.

SOONERS STREAK SNAPPED
Oklahoma had its 10-game streak of shooting 40 percent or better from the field snapped against Iowa State Saturday. The Sooners were only able to connect on 29.2 percent of their shots. OU made 8-of-33 field goals in the second half, including going 1-19 from beyond the three-point line.

FREE POINTS COSTING SOONERS
Oklahoma has failed to take advantage of its free throw points over the past couple of games. OU shot 56.3 percent from the foul line against Texas and Iowa State, going 18-of-32, and has hit 60.0 percent over the last four games, hitting 30-of-50 attempted foul shots.

In league games, OU ranks ninth in free throw percentage with a 67.0 accuracy.

HIGGINS ON TARGET
Sophomore sharpshooter Erin Higgins has hit 50.0 of her attempted three-pointers (8-of-16) over the last two games. She's also connected on 52.4 percent of all her field goals, (11-of-21). Higgins has hit at least one trey in the last six games and nine of the last 10.

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.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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