Sooners Travel to Illinois Sunday

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 15 Oklahoma women's basketball team (9-1) and its six-game win streak travel to Illinois on Sunday for a Noon CST showdown at Assembly Hall in Champaign. Local fans can follow the action live on KOKC (1520 AM) with Bill Pink on play-by-play and Tara DeGiusti on color commentary.

The game with Illinois is the first of three in the next four games that the Sooners will be on the road. After facing the Fighting Illini, OU hosts No. 11/13 Michigan State on Wednesday before making a second trip to No. 18 New Mexico (12/30) and opening the Big 12 season on the road at Iowa State (1/4).

OU's 9-1 start is the second best start under head coach Sherri Coale. The best mark was a 10-0 start during the 2001-02 season, which led to an eventual trip to the Final Four. The six-game winning streak is the longest since the 2003-04 team started 8-0. In 2003-04 OU also had a 9-1 record after 10 games before finishing 24-9 and reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Game Notes | Big 12 Notes | OU Season Stats

Illinois is off to a 5-3 start after producing a 17-13 record and WNIT appearance last season. Illinois was picked to finish ninth in both the media and coaches' Big Ten preseason polls. Illinois is 2-0 in official home games with a win over Northern Illinois at Assembly Hall and a win over St. Louis at the United Center.

Illinois is the second of four Big Ten regular season opponents for OU this season. OU and No. 11/13 Michigan State will meet on Wednesday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m., at the Lloyd Noble Center. Single and group tickets still remain, although the popular family pack tickets are sold out. Reserved level tickets are $10 (all ages) while general admission are $8 for adults and $5 for children K-12.

Setting The Scene
Date: Sunday, Dec. 18, 2005
Location: Champaign, Ill.
Tipoff: Noon CST
Venue: Assembly Hall (16,500)
TV: None
Webcast: None
Radio: KOKC (1520 AM)
Radio Talent: Brian Brinkley (Play-by-Play) & Tara Degiusti
Tickets: (217) 333-3470

Player To Watch
Kendra Moore will have the responsibility of defending Illinois leading scorer Janelle Hughes on Sunday. Hughes is averaging 12.5 points per game and is leading the Illini in 3-point shooting (.412). Perhaps more importantly, Moore will have to get the OU offense into a groove after an eight day break from games, by far the longest down time this season. Moore, who is expected to start her second game of the season, is averaging 7.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. She is also among the top-15 in the Big 12 in assists (3.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.84).

Missouri State Leftovers
Freshman Courtney Paris scored 15 second-half points and grabbed 18 rebounds to lead No. 16 Oklahoma (9-1) to a 68-57 win over Missouri State (3-2) on Saturday.

Oklahoma (9-1) saw a 16-point first-half lead shrink to 46-42 with 9:36 left after a basket by Missouri State's Kari Koch. Oklahoma, which committed 25 turnovers, responded with a 14-3 run to push its lead to 60-45 with 4:08 left.

Paris was held scoreless in the first half, missing her only two attempts. Missouri State (3-2) shot 34 percent (20-for-59) from the field for the game. Oklahoma hit 22 of 42 for 52 percent.

Leah Rush led Oklahoma with a season high 21 points. Erin Higgins added 13 and Kendra Moore finished with 11.

Koch finished with 24 points and Tahnee Balerio had 18.

The Sooners were able to snap the Lady Bears nine-game home winning streak.

Notes
OU held Missouri State to .339 (20-59) shooting from the field making the Lady Bears the seventh OU opponent that has failed to shoot over .400. Conversely, the Sooners shot .524 (22-42) from the floor.
Kendra Moore started for the first time this season and just the second time in her career. Her other start came at Nebraska last season. Courtney Paris' 18 rebounds increased her weekly total to 40 rebounds. She set an NCAA Division I season high with 22 boards against No. 22 UCLA on Monday night.
Paris had two blocks to move to 31 on the season, which is the seventh-best single season total in OU history. She passed Cathy Bassett (1990-91) on Saturday and is one swat short of Jo Mosley (1988-89).
Rush has made three 3-pointers in each of the last three games, which is a career best. Prior to the current streak, she had never made three from long range in consecutive games. She is 9-13 from long range in the last three games and has upped her season average to .481 (13-27), which leads OU.

Fan Support At Record Levels
Off to a 9-1 start and ranked No. 15, the Oklahoma women's basketball team is enjoying record support from Sooner fans this season.

Season tickets sales are at an all-time high with 4,013 packages already sold. In mid-October the fan support helped OU race past the previous record of 3,512 season tickets, which was set the season (2002-03) after OU reached its first Final Four. It took only a few weeks for the sales to surpass 4,000 and set a new standard for Sooner support.

The season ticket sales have helped OU set an attendance record this season. All four of OU's regular season home games this season have been attended by 5,000 or more fans. It marks the first time in OU history that it has drawn 5,000-plus for four pre-January games. Currently, OU is ranked No. 12 nationally in average attendance.

The women's hoops team is also receiving record support from fans that can't make it out to the arena. Some 200-plus viewers tuned into the O-Zone's live webcast of the Dec. 5 game against No. 22 UCLA. It marked a record turnout for any event, regardless of sport, for the O-Zone, which is the premium pay-site connected to SoonerSports.com.

Elite Company
OU is the only school with both basketball program in the top 15 of the major polls and a bowl-bound football squad. Currently, the OU men's basketball team is ranked No. 8, while the women's team comes in at No. 15. The OU football team will face Oregon in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 29.

Illinois Tidbits
Illinois is off to a 5-3 start this season and is hosting Oklahoma in just its third home game of the season and just the second at Assembly Hall. Illinois has been defeated by Florida (69-64), Northern Colorado (65-55) and Northern Iowa (71-47). The Fighting Illini have triumphed over Loyola (79-39), Utah State (62-43), Northern Illinois (57-43), Saint Louis (75-40) and Bradley (80-64).

Illinois, which returns three starters, was picked to finished ninth in the 11-team Big Ten by both the media and coaches. Their top returning player is forward Erin Wigley, who is averaging 8.1 points and 4.4 rebounds.

Illini head coach Theresa Grentz is in her 11th year and owns a 180-132 record at the school

Grentz has run the same starting five out in every game this season. Joining Wigley are guard Janelle Hughes (12.5 PPG), guard Lori Bjork (10.6 PPG), guard Maggie Acuna (4.6 PPG) and forward Audrey Tabon (9.4 PPG). Hughes has led the Illini is scoring in the last three games, during which time she has averaged 18 points.

OU leads the all-time series with Illinois 2-0 with both meetings coming since 2002. Both previous contests were held at the Lloyd Noble Center with the Sooners triumphing by an average of 19.5 points.

Scouting The Big Ten Race?
One might think Oklahoma was entering the Big Ten race with the number of conference foes they play this season. OU has already defeated Iowa, will play Illinois Sunday and has Michigan State and Ohio State in the next month. The Sooners drew the two teams in conference preseason poll, Ohio State (1) and Michigan State, in addition to No. 5 Iowa and No. 9 Illinois.

All-time, the Sooners are 8-4 against the Big Ten.

The Moore The Merrier
Junior point guard Kendra Moore has played more minutes, 91 to be exact, in the last three games than any stretch in her career. Those minutes have never been more efficient for the Ardmore native, who has dished out 19 assists and seven turnovers for a 2.7 assist -to-turnover ratio.

Moore, whose minutes have partly increased as a result of several nagging injuries to Britney Brown, dropped career-bests of eight assists against Oral Roberts and No. 22 UCLA, as well as setting personal best in points (13) and minutes (33) against the Bruins.

Moore was playing 19+ minutes a game before the recent three-game stretch.

Board Work
Oklahoma is the top team in the Big 12 in terms of rebounding margin at +14.6. OU is averaging 45.5 rebounds per game as compared to the opponents 30.0. In 10 games, OU has out-rebounded opponents by a minimum of 14 boards on six occasions, including four of the last six contests. The season high was a +36 effort against SMU.

Hot Start for Higgins
Erin Higgins has already knocked down 27 three-pointers this season and is shooting 44 (27-61) percent from long distance. The hot start is in contrast to last season when she started the season by making 11 of her first 50 attempts (22 percent).

There are a number of factors behind her improved accuracy. Perhaps the biggest effect has been the open space created by OU's inside game. Higgins also believes she has become a more consistent shooter, while Coach Coale. credits her improved dribble and drive ability. Higgins has hit a number of bombs off the dribble, a skill she polished during the off-season.

Higgins is racing up the OU career 3-point charts and is within striking distance of the record. Currently, she is ranked No. 2 with 161 makes and only trails Etta Maytubby (174). Higgins is also second in career attempts (427) and fourth in percentage (.377).

The Rush Is On
Leah Rush has averaged 16.2 points over the last five games, up from her 8.7 average over the first five games of the season. Rush switched positions to small forward during the off-season and is beginning to flourish in the new position. Last season Rush averaged 15.5 PPG and earned All-Big 12 honors while spending the majority of her time at power forward and center.

The change in positions is allowing her to show off her outside shooting ability. She is leading the team while also ranking fourth in the Big 12 with a .481 three-point field goal percentage. She has hit 13-of-27 attempts this season and 9-of-13 in the last three games.

Records Set
Below are the records that freshman Courtney Paris has set in 10 games:
* The fastest player to 100 and 200 points in OU history, she needed five games to eclipse the century mark and 10 to reach 200.
* The fastest player to 100 rebounds in OU history, she needed nine games to reach the century mark.
* Set an OU freshman single game record with 22 rebounds against UCLA.
* Owns the best 10-game freshman scoring average, 21.0, in OU history (previous was 13.2 by Angie Guffy, 1991-92).
* Owns the best 10-game freshman rebounding average, 13.6, in OU history (previous was 8 by Angie Guffy, 1991-92).
* 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 10 games of their career.
* Set an OU record by recording double figure rebounds in the first three games of her career.
* Owns the seventh best single season block total with 31 blocks.
* 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 the second round game against SMU. Also set the tournament rebound record with 54 total boards in four games.

Courtney Paris Feature on ESPN.com...

A Two-Time Rookie Winner
Courtney Paris was awarded the first two Big 12 Rookie of the Week awards for the 2005-06 season.

On Nov. 28 Paris was selected for leading Oklahoma to a perfect 2-0 record and the Odwalla Classic Championship while averaging 21 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. The Piedmont, Calif., native was named tournament MVP after scoring 30 points against Iowa in the opening round and 12 points against San Francisco in the title game. Her 30 points and five blocks against Iowa were OU season highs. Additionally, she hit 63 percent of her shots (17-27) and 73 percent of her free throws (8-11).

On Nov. 21 Paris won the first honor of the season after leading 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. She also set an OU debut record with 24 points and 10 rebounds against UW Milwaukee. Paris finished the tourney with 26 points and 19 rebounds at New Mexico and 19 points and six boards against No. 7 UConn.

Charity Worker
Junior Chelsi Welch made her first 25 free throws this season to extend her career best streak to 28 consecutive free throws dating back to the Kansas State game on Feb. 13, 2005. She missed her eighth attempt against Oral Roberts but finished the game 11-12 from the charity stripe. On the season she is 29-30 with a Big 12 leading .967 percentage

For her career, Welch is an .842 (154-183) shooter. Her career percentage would top the OU record books, but she is 17 attempts short of the 200 minimum.

Welch isn't the only exceptional free throw shooter on the OU squad. Leah Rush is shooting at an .815 (194-238) percentage, which is currently the second best mark in OU history. Krista Sanchez, Kendra Moore and Erin Higgins also have career percentages of .700 or better.

Stingy Sooners
OU is holding opponents to a .373 shooting percentage this season, which is 109 points lower than OU's mark of .482. The Sooners have held seven of their 10 opponents under .400 from the field with a season best mark of .194 against SMU.

Rare Misses
Leah Rush went 3-8 from the free throw line at New Mexico on Nov. 16. 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 .815 (194-238) shooter from the charity stripe, which ranks as the second best percentage in OU history.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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