No. 16/17 Sooners Travel to Missouri State

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 16/17 Oklahoma women's basketball team (8-1) hits the road for another hallowed hall of women's basketball this weekend. Missouri State (formerly Southwest Missouri State), which ranked 11th in the NCAA in attendance last season, will welcome the Sooners to the John Q. Hammons Center where the average crowd last season was 6,874.

The Bears have won nine straight on the home court, dating back to the 2004-05 season, and key returnees Kari Koch and Sarah Klaassen are largely responsible. Koch, a guard, leads the squad in points (23.5) and rebounds (7.0) while making 48 percent of her shots. Klaassen, also a guard, is averaging 10.0 points and pulling down 6.8 boards. Adding to the Bears scoring is freshman guard Kayli Combs who contributes 10.0 points and is shooting 41 percent from behind the arc.

Game Notes | Season Stats | Gameday Central

Oklahoma arrives on the heels of its first win over a ranked team this season with an 83-78 victory over No. 22 UCLA. Leading the Sooners to victory were OU's top leading scorers, Courtney Paris, Leah Rush and Erin Higgins. Paris is averaging 21.7 points and 13.1 rebounds per game and tallied her sixth double-double of the season against the Bruins with a 24-point, 22-rebound performance. Rush contributes 11.3 points and 5.0 boards for the Sooner offense while Higgins is averaging 10.1 points per game .

Currently, the all-time series is tied, 3-3, with Oklahoma claiming the most recent victory, a 74-71 win in Norman in 2005.

Following Saturday night's game , the Sooners will have a week of rest to prepare for finals week and a road trip to Illinois (12/18). After facing Illinois, OU will return home for a battle against 2005 national runner-up Michigan State (12/21) and will close the calendar year with a return trip to No. 21 New Mexico (12/30).

Setting The Scene
Date: Saturday, Dec. 10, 2005
Location: Springfield, Mo.
Tipoff: 1:35 p.m. CST
Venue: John Q. Hammons Student Center (8,846)
TV: None
Webcast: None
Radio: KOKC (1520 AM)
Radio Talent: Brian Brinkley (Play-by-Play) & Tara Degiusti
Tickets: (417) 836-7678

Player To Watch
Head coach Sherri Coale knew the transition would take some time. If it only took five games, consider Leah Rush ahead of schedule. Rush changed positions this off-season from the 4/5 to the 3 in OU's motion offense. In the first five games of the season, she averaged 8.8 points per game. Over the last four games that average has jumped to 15 PPG, which is a half point off her season average from 2004-05. She has also improved her 3-point shooting (70 percent) and rebounding (6.3 RPG) during the recent stretch.

3-4 Defense
No. 34 Erin Higgins, an All-Big 12 candidate, is the Sooners best perimeter defender and regularly is given the task of guarding the opponent's best guard. Below are the point totals of the players Higgins has been responsible for this season:

Nichole Drummond - UW-Milwaukee - 12
Juli Collie - SMU - 2
Abbie Letz - New Mexico - 9
Anne Strother - Connecticut - 7
Abbie Emmert - Iowa - 4
Jennifer Jones - San Francisco - 2
Adrienne Ross - TCU - 6
Ashley Davis - TCU - 0
Lisa Willis - UCLA - 13

Notes: Higgins switched from Ross to Davis in the second half of the game against TCU. Higgins held Davis scoreless after she hit five first half 3-pointers. The stats against Oral Roberts are not included because OU ran a zone on all but three possessions.

Stingy Sooners
OU is holding opponents to a .376 shooting percentage this season, which is 102 points lower than OU's mark of .478. The Sooners have held six of their nine opponents under .400 from the field with a season best mark of .194 against SMU.

UCLA Leftovers
A record-setting performance by freshman Courtney Paris helped Oklahoma overcome UCLA's trio of guards.

Paris scored 24 points and set an Oklahoma freshman record with 22 rebounds, leading the No. 16 Sooners to an 83-78 victory over No. 22 UCLA on Monday night. The previous Oklahoma record for rebounds by a freshman was 21, set by Molly McGuire in a 75-62 win at Wichita State on Dec. 10, 1979.

Courtney Paris, who had her sixth double-double, scored Oklahoma's last two baskets and had two defensive rebounds in the final three minutes.

Leah Rush finished with 19 points, Erin Higgins had 14 and Kendra Moore added a career-best 13 for the Sooners.

Nikki Blue scored 20 of her 23 points in the second half for UCLA. Noelle Quinn finished with 18 and Lisa Willis 13 for the Bruins. The trio, dubbed the ``triple threat'' after UCLA's win against Clemson on Saturday, combined to score 43 of UCLA's 50 second-half points.

Notes
*With 24 points, Courtney Paris extended her record for most double-figure games by a freshman to start her career to nine.

*Paris blocked a shot against UCLA to improve her season total to 29 swats. She is now tied with Marla Duncan (1989-90) for the eighth best mark in OU history.

*Rush scored a season-high 19 points, which she previously set against San Francisco, on 9-13 from the field.

*Erin Higgins knocked down four 3-pointers for the third consecutive game and the fifth time in the last seven contests. She has hit a Big 12 best 24 three-pointers this season.

*With 37 minutes on the floor, Ashley Paris played a season high 37 minutes. Her previous career-high was 30 minutes against Oral Roberts.

Sign of The Times
Oklahoma is one of four schools UCLA, Texas and N.C. State being the others - with both basketball programs ranked in the current Associated Press polls and a football team in a bowl game. If you narrow the spectrum, OU is the only school with both teams in the top 16 of the basketball 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. 16.

Missouri State Tidbits
Missouri State is playing its fourth straight game this season at the Hammons Student Center where it has been extremely successful and is riding a nine-game home winning streak that dates back to last season.

The Bears opened the season with a loss at Arkansas State and have won their last three contests.

OU will have to pay special attention to veteran senior guard Kari Koch. Koch is averaging 23.5 points per game and pulling down a team-leading seven boards per game. Koch is coming off a 22-point effort in the win over Western Illinois Wednesday night.

The Bears are coached by Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, who is in her fourth season with Misosuri State.

Saturday will mark the seventh all-time meeting between the programs with the series currently tied at 3-3. Oklahoma won the most recent meeting, a 74-71 victory in Norman in 2005.

The two programs have few ties. Freshman Breton Wyett is the lone Oklahoma native on the Bears roster. Wyett, a forward, is from Edmond, Okla., and attended Edmond Memorial High School. The Sooners have no Missouri natives on their current roster.

The Moore The Better
Junior point guard Kendra Moore has set career highs in minutes over the last two games. Those minutes have never been more efficient for the Ardmore native, who has dished out 16 assists and four turnovers, for an all-world 4-to-1 turnover to assist ratio.

Moore, whose minutes have increased as a result of Britney Brown's sprained back, has dropped career-bests of eight assists in each of the last two contest, in addition to another personal best of 13 points against No. 22 UCLA.

Moore was playing 19+ minutes a game before the recent twogame stretch when starting point guard Britney Brown suffered a sprained back that limited her playing time. The speedster has made the most of the opportunity and stabilized the Sooners, who do not have another true-point guard option after Moore.

Higgins off to hot start
Erin Higgins has already knocked down 24 three-pointers this season and is shooting 44 (24-54) 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 158 makes and only trails Etta Maytubby (174). Higgins is also second in career attempts (420) and fourth in percentage (.376).

Hack-A-Courtney
Horned Frog head coach Jeff Mittie admitted that TCU intended to make Courtney Paris earn her points from the free throw line last week. TCU was the first team to use an approach many were expecting to see sooner rather than later.

Against TCU, Paris answered with a 6-of-9 first-half effort and a final line of 8-11. In the last five games Paris is 25-38 (.658) from the charity stripe. That stretch follows a 10-22 (.454) mark in the first four games of the season. On the season Paris is shooting .583 (35-60) from the free throw line.

Paris Enters Blocks Record Book
Courtney Paris swatted one shot against Oral Roberts to improve her season total to 29 blocks, which is tied for the eighth best mark in OU history. Paris is currently tied with Marla Duncan (1989-90). The complete list is below:

1. 78 - LaNae Jones, 1995-96
2. 64 - LaNae Jones, 1992-93
3. 53 - LaNae Jones, 1993-94
4. 48 - LaNae Jones, 1994-95
5. 35 - Angi Guffy, 1991-92
6. 32 - Jo Mosley, 1988-89
7. 30 - Cathy Bassett, 1990-91
8. 29 - Marla Duncan, 1989-90
29 - Courtney Paris, 2005-06
10. 28 - Jacquetta Hurley, 1983-84

Board Work
Oklahoma is the top team in the Big 12 in terms of rebounding margin at +13.9. OU is averaging 45.6 rebounds per game as compared to the opponents 31.7. In nine games, OU has already topped 50 rebounds on two occasions, an accomplishment achieved only once last season. OU had a season-high 66 boards against SMU and 50 against TCU.

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 .811 (184-227) 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.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

No. 16/17 Sooners Travel to Missouri State

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors