OU Women Prepare to Meet 'Zona in Tennessee

NORMAN, Okla. -- There wasn't even time for Oklahoma's women's basketball team to get nervous. As it turned out, there wasn't a reason either.

As the Sooners gathered in the players' lounge to watch the announcement of the NCAA tournament field, it wasn't long before they learned they weren't even a bubble team. Oklahoma (17-12) was the third team whose name showed up.

"It just came so fast," guard Dionnah Jackson said. "I don't think we all had sat down and got our food before it came up. I think we all just paused, and then we just erupted. I had so much fun just watching it."

Oklahoma was slotted as a No. 8 seed, and will face ninth-seeded Arizona in a first-round game in Knoxville, Tenn. A potential second-round matchup with No. 1 seed LSU awaits the winner.

"Once you get into this tournament, everybody's so good that I'm not sure it really matters," Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale said.

The first-round games will be played at the University of Tennessee, which won the regional played in Norman last year.

"We treated them well and they had great success here, so hopefully they'll return the favor," Coale said.

The Sooners tied with Nebraska for sixth place in the Big 12 Conference with 8-8 league records. The No. 8 seed suggests that Oklahoma was solidly in the field, but the Cornhuskers didn't make the tournament.

"I felt like we were in, but you don't relax until you see that name on the screen," Coale said.

Jackson said it was different from last year, when the Sooners had won the Big 12 tournament and only had to wait to see where they were going and who they'd be playing.

"I had get up and walk out and get some air because I was so excited," Jackson said. "My heart was racing."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Women Prepare to Meet 'Zona in Tennessee

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