Sooners Face Iowa in San Francisco

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 22 Oklahoma women's basketball team (3-1) and its first round opponent, Iowa (1-1), in the Odwalla Classic enter their Friday night game in similar situations. Both squads should come out extra motivated after suffering difficult losses in two of the sport's most notorious arenas.

The Sooners fell in the Preseason WNIT Championship Game, 82-62, to Connecticut at Gampel Pavilion on Sunday, while Iowa fell at Louisiana Tech, 95-91, in double overtime on Tuesday night. Both squads will attempt to get back on the winning track on Friday evening at 5 p.m. PST (7 p.m. CST) when they tip off the Thanksgiving weekend tournament that is being hosted by the University of San Francisco at War Memorial Gym.

If OU wins on Friday they will play the winner of Rider and USF at 7 p.m. PST (9 p.m. CST) on Saturday. If they lose, they will play the loser of Rider and USF at 5 p.m. PST (7 p.m. CST) Saturday.

Iowa will run out a starting five that is headlined by senior guard Crystal Smith, who is averaging 28.5 points per game. Smith scored 46 points, including five 3-pointers and 15 free throws, against LA Tech on Tuesday. Smith scored 11 points on 3-9 shooting when Iowa defeated Oklahoma, 54-47, in the Junkaroo Jam last season. In the 2004-05 meeting OU shot just .239 from the field, including a 4-25 effort from 3-point range. Erin Higgins and Leah Rush led players on the current roster with seven points apiece against Iowa last season.

Game Notes PDF | Basketball Gameday Central | OU Stats

The front line of OU's 2-3 zone defense will be saddled with the duties of slowing down Smith defensively. On the opposite, end the OU coaching staff expects Iowa's tall frontline to double and triple team freshman Courtney Paris (22 PPG, 13. 5 RPG) out of a zone defense. That is the same defensive scheme UConn used in the half court set, which should give OU's guards plenty of open shots and lanes. Any scoring from Rush (9.5 PPG) and freshman Ashley Paris (7.5 PPG) will further the alleviate pressure on OU's guards.

Setting The Scene
Date: Friday, Nov. 25, 2005
Location: San Francisco
Tipoff: 7 p.m. CST
Venue: War Memorial Gym (5,300)
TV: None
Webcast: None
Radio: KOKC (1520 AM)
Radio Talent: Bill Pink (Play-by-Play) & Chris Freet
Tickets: (415) 422-6USF

Player to Watch
The Sooners knew that UConn would double and triple team Courtney Paris and that guards would have open shots on the outside. The problem in the WNIT Championship Game was that OU hit just nine percent (2-21) of its 3-point shots. The Sooners expect to see the same defensive attack throughout the season and Erin Higgins, OU's most accurate deep threat, will get plenty of opportunities. If she can find the range, the lane will open up and defenders will have to play OU's offense straight up.

Sign Of The Times - Four
Freshman Courtney Paris has led OU in scoring in all four games this season. The second leading scorer has been four different players - Leah Rush, Laura Andrews, Kendra Moore and Chelsi Welch.

Connecticut Leftovers
A 2-for-21 effort from behind the 3-point arc doomed Oklahoma to a 82-62 loss to Connecticut in the Preseason WNIT Championship Game.

Courntey Paris led OU is scoring for the fourth consecutive game with 19 points. Her six rebounds marked the first time in four career games that she failed to reach double-digits in the category. Laura Andrews, 10 points, was the only other Sooner in double figures.

UConn was led by Charde Houston, 22 points, and Mel Thomas, 20 points, both of which were named to the all-tournament team with Thomas claiming MVP honors. The Paris twins represented OU on the all-tournament team.

Notes:
* Courtney Paris extended her double figure scoring streak to four games. She has scored 19 or more points in every game this season.

* OU's two 3-pointers marked just the second time since the beginning of the 2004-05 season that OU has failed to make at least three from long distance. The other occurance was a 2-22 outing at Nebraska last season.

*Erin Higgins moved into sole possession of third place on the career 3-pointers made chart with 140.

* Chelsi Welch hit both of her free throw attempts and remains perfect (10-10) on the season.

An Immediate Impact
Coming into the season much was made of the potential impact of twin freshmen post players Ashley and Courtney Paris. Just two games into their careers, they are fulfilling the hype.

Courtney is averaging 22 points and 13.5 rebounds on the young season and has recorded three consecutive double-doubles.

Ashley is averaging 7.5 points and 6.5 rebounds as the Sooners sixth man.

Fighting the Good Fight
The battle for the starting point guard duties began when Dionnah Jackson hung up her jersey at the end of last season. Britney Brown has started the first four games, but fellow junior Kendra Moore is averaging 6.8 points off the bench. Through the early going the battle is a draw and head coach Sherri Coale is happy about that.

So far Moore is the fourth leading scorer and has just six turnovers. Brown has committed nine turnovers and is leading the team with 3.5 APG.

The duo has combined to average 13 PPG, 6.4 RPG and six APG. Jackson averaged 14.6 PPG, 8.5 RPG and 5.7 APG last season as a honorable mention All-American. Coale hopes the duo can combine to fill those numbers and so far the duo is nearing her expectations.

Record Watch
Below are the records that freshman Courtney Paris has set in four games:

*Set an OU freshman debut record with 24 points in the opener against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
* Set a Preseason WNIT single game record with 20 rebounds in second round game against SMU. Also set the tournament rebound record with 54 total boards in four games.
* Set an OU record by becoming the first player to record a double-double in the first three games of her career.
* Set an OU record by becoming the first player to score 10 or more points in the first four games of their career.
* Set an OU record by recording double figure rebounds in the first three games of her career.

OU In Their Words

Connecticut Head Coach Geno Auriemma
“Courtney (Paris) is not getting a lot of attention from the national media. All they want to talk about is kids that can dunk, but right now she might be the best center in the country. She might be the best freshman out there right now.”

SMU Head Coach Rhonda Rompola
“They're not a good team, they're a great team. I know right now they're ranked 25, but that's a team you're going to see jump in the polls. They'll certainly get my vote.”

Milwaukee Head Coach Sandy Botham
“She's (Courtney Paris) got great hands. She runs the floor extremely well. She's power, but yet finesse. She can just do so many different things. I swear she's got eyes in the back of her head too.”

New Mexico Head Coach Don Flanagan
“We tried everything we could on her (Courtney Paris). Not only was it her ability, but it was her team's ability to get her the ball. She creates problems because she posts up so well.”

Paris Named Big 12 Rookie of the Week
Courtney Paris (Oklahoma) was chosen Big 12 Rookie of the Week and Sophia Young (Baylor) was named Big 12 Women's Basketball Player of the Week by a media voting panel in the league's first selections of the 2005-06 season.

Young received her eighth career Big 12 honor, fifth as player of the week. Paris earned her first weekly accolade. Eight Sooners have claimed 12 Big 12 Rookie of the Week awards with the most recent being Leah Rush on Jan. 12 2004.

Paris led OU to a 3-1 start and the championship game of the Preseason WNIT by averaging 22 points and 13.5 rebounds. She was named to the WNIT All-Tournament Team as she set tourney records with 20 rebounds against SMU and 54 total rebounds.

Don't Forget About Me
2005 Preseason All-Big 12 selection Leah Rush has become somewhat of a forgotten commodity for the Sooners with the emergence of the Courtney Paris. While Rush is no longer the go-to scorer, the captain is still a vital cog in the OU offense.

Her impact was no more apparent than in the second half against New Mexico. Rush scored 11 of the Sooners first 23 second half points and helped OU extend its lead from 1 to 15. She also had more assists than turnovers (3-to-2) for the second time this season.

Rare Misses
Leah Rush went 3-8 from the free throw line at New Mexico on Wednesday night. It was just the ninth time in her career that she has missed two free throws in the same game and the first time since Feb. 16, 2005, at Colorado that she had missed consecutive attempts. Rush is a career .819 (177-216) shooter from the charity stripe, which ranks as the second best percentage in OU history.

Bench Mark
Oklahoma's bench has responsible for 33 percent (100 points) of its scoring in the first four games. Although in the games against UW Milwaukee, SMU and UConn OU's bench has outscored its opponents 100-59.

The trend did not carry over to the New Mexico contest when the bench contributed nine of OU's 74 points.

Nine players have seen action in all four games for OU and only Courtney Paris and Erin Higgins are averaging 25-plus minutes per game.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors