Sooner Women Set to Defend Title

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma has a pair of Big 12 Tournament titles to defend this week. OU won last year's Big 12 Tournament crown in Dallas by becoming the first team in tournament history to win four games in five days, upsetting three higher ranked opponents.

Oklahoma also became the first program to win the tournament that wasn't one of the top four seeds. The Sooners were a sixth seed a year ago and enter this year's tournament as a seventh seed.

In addition, Oklahoma was the last team to win the tournament title in Kansas City. OU will defend the 2002 tournament crown it won inside Municipal Auditorium as the top seed. The Sooners put on an impressive three-game run as OU's average margin of victory was +22 points.

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Dionnah Jackson was the tournament's MVP a year ago after leading OU with 17 ppg. She was also named to the 2002 Big 12 All-Tournament team after averaging 12.0 ppg and 5.7 rpg. Jackson scored a then-career best 23 points against Oklahoma State in her first tournament appearance.

OU will play on opening day for the third consecutive year. The Sooners are set to face Texas A&M at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8 inside Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.

Tuesday will mark the second-straight season OU has opened Big 12 Tournament play against the Aggies. The Sooners eliminated TAMU, 60-47, last year and has won five-straight games by a margin of +12.8.

Oklahoma is coming off of a solid 69-58 performance against in-state rival Oklahoma State Thursday night, giving the Sooners an overall record of 16-11 and a final Big 12 mark of 8-8.

Texas A&M is on a two-game losing streak with losses to nationally-ranked to Iowa State and Texas. The Aggies have gone 3-7 over the last 10 games.

2005 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament
No. 10 seed Texas A&M (14-13, 4-12 Big 12) vs.
No. 7 seed Oklahoma (16-11, 8-8 Big 12)

Tuesday, March 8 at 6 p.m.
Municipal Auditorium (9,130) - Kansas City, Mo.

TOURNAMENT DATES
March 8, 9, 10, and 12, 2004

TOURNAMENT SITE
Municipal Auditorium (9,130) * Kansas City, Mo.

TELEVISION COVERAGE
FSN continues its unmatchable coverage of women's basketball tournaments coverage this week. The network will repeat its telecast of the Big 12 Tournament picking up each game starting with the quarterfinals. Coverage from Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City begins Wednesday, March 9 at noon. Kevin Eschenfelder and Debbie Antonelli form the tournament's main broadcast team. Brenda VanLengen and Bill Land will also team up together to call the action on the first two quarterfinal games. The games will be televised nationwide on FSN's group of regional networks that reaches more than 78 million homes.

RADIO
Oklahoma's games will be carried live on the Sooner Basketball Radio Network with Brian Brinkley calling the play-by-play and Tara DeGuisti adding color commentary on KOKC 1520 AM with a simulcast on the internet at www.SoonerSports.com.

TEXAS A&M (14-13, 4-12 Big 12)
Texas A&M is an extremely young team but athletic team. The scrappy Aggies have forced their opponents into a Big 12-best 581 turnovers (21.5 pg) compared to their 14.2 turnovers per game. TAMU owns a league best +7.33 turnover margin.

TAMU is led by 2005 Big 12 Freshman of the Year Morenike Atunrase. Atunrase averages 10.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. The rookie has also collected 48 blocked shots this season. Junior Tamea Scales contributes 8.7 ppg and a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game. Senior Charlette Castile adds 8.3 ppg.

In TAMU last game, freshman Franklin A'Quonesia scored a team-high 12 points, followed by 10 points from Atunrase. Junior Tamea Scales had a game-high tying eight rebounds against Texas. A'Quonesia leads the team in assists per game, averaging 4.7.

In the first meeting with OU, freshman Katy Pounds registered 16 points while junior Erica Roy and freshman Ashley Bolden had nine each. Two weeks later, Atunrase was the team's top scorer with 16 points while Roy added 10 against the Sooners in College Stations.

PROBABLE STARTERS
Oklahoma (16-11, 8-8 Big 12)
24 F   Leah Rush (6-1, So., Amarillo, Texas, 14.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg)
35 G   Dionnah Jackson (5-9, Sr., St. Louis, Mo., 14.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg)
34 G   Erin Higgins (5-9, So., Oklahoma City, Okla., 8.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg)
12 G   Lauren Shoush (5-11, Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla., 6.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg)
33 G   Britney Brown (5-8, So., Norman, Okla., 1.1 ppg, 1.6 rpg)

Texas A&M (11-4, 2-3 Big 12)
30 F   Tamea Scales (6-0, Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 8.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg)
21 F   Morenike Atunrase (5-10, Fr., Shreveport, La., 10.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
10 G   A'Quonesi Franklin (5-3, Fr., Tyler, Texas, 6.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg)
32 G   Ashley Bolden (5-9, Fr., Houston, Texas, 6.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg)
20 G   Erica Roy (5-8, Jr., Little Rock, Ark., 6.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg)

SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday will be the 29th meeting between Oklahoma and Texas A&M. The Sooners hold a 20-8 edge when facing the Aggies. OU has won the last five games, including a 20-point victory on Jan. 9 and a 12-point win in College Station on Jan. 22. OU has been victorious in 16 of the last 19 games, all under Sooner coach Sherri Coale. The last time OU lost to Texas A&M was in College Station in 2003 (69-61).

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 172-106 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.

Texas A&M is coached by Gary Blair (Texas Tech, 1974). Texas A&M is Blair's third stop as a head coach. The Texan has served in the same position at Stephen F. Austin (1985-93) and Arkansas (1993-2003), producing a career record of 431-195. He has produced 14 20-win seasons and has appeared in one NCAA Final Four (1998).

POSSIBLE SECOND ROUND OPPONENT
Waiting the winner of the OU-Texas A&M game is second seed Texas (20-7, 13-3 Big 12). Texas takes to the court for the first time on Wednesday, March 9, at 6 p.m. Texas swept the two-game series against the Sooners this season. The quarterfinal games will be televised by FSN.

OU IN MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM
Oklahoma is the last team to have won a Big 12 Tournament title in Kansas City. The Sooners are 5-5 when playing inside Municipal Auditorium. OU won the 2002 tournament crown.
Oklahoma is also the defending Big 12 Tournament champs.

EXPERIENCED YOUTH
Eleven of OU's 13 active players are underclassmen who have been contributing to the team's offensive and defensive production. The youthful Sooners currently account for 69.2 percent of the team's points and 62.2 percent of its rebounds.

                                 Points               Rebounds
Seniors (2)               565 (30.4%)      298 (27.6%)
Underclassmen
Juniors (3)               306 (16.5%)      225 (20.9%)
Sophomores (7)     968 (52.1%)      437 (40.5%)
Freshmen (1)              11 (.05%)          9 (.01%)

IN SEARCH OF 500TH PROGRAM WIN
Oklahoma is FOUR wins shy of reaching its 500 career victory. The 31-year old women's basketball program has 496 wins.

SOONERS NAMED TO ALL-BIG 12 TEAM
A pair of Oklahoma women's basketball players were honored by the Big 12 Conference office Friday. Senior All-America candidate Dionnah Jackson was named to the All-Big 12 first team, while sophomore standout Leah Rush collected second team accolades. All-Big 12 honors were voted on by the league coaches.

Jackson, a 5-9 guard, had previously been named to the 2004 and 2003 All-Big 12 second team. After ranking among the league's best in 11 categories, posting just the sixth triple-double in conference history and setting school and opponent records Jackson earned the recognition she has long deserved.

Earning her first All-Big 12 honor, Rush appears among the NCAA elite in free throw percentage, with a 84.0 accuracy, ranking her 37th in the nation. The Amarillo, Texas native has scored in double digits in 12-straight games and 22 of 27 this season. She's also registered 20-plus points against six different opponents this season. Rush is coming off of her first double-double against a Big 12 opponent with 15 points and 11 rebounds against Oklahoma State Thursday night.

Jackson and Rush accounts for 42.8 percent of the team's scoring and 36.4 percent its rebounds.

JACKSON'S CLIMBING OU'S & BIG 12 RECORD CHARTS
Senior Dionnah Jackson continues to move up in numerous OU career categories. The 5-9 point guard broke into OU's all-time scoring and rebounding charts when she had 16 points and a career-best 15 rebounds against TCU (D9). Jackson ranks among OU's greats in 18 of 22 categories.

With a career-high 30 points against Baylor in Norman, Jackson moved into OU's all-time top 10 scoring list. She also ranks No. 2 on OU's all-time defensive rebounds list, surpassing Phylesha Whaley. Caton Hill holds the record with 745.

Possible Chart Moves for Jackson vs. Texas A&M
Career:
Needs 1 offensive rebound for 11th
Needs 4 rebounds for 5th
Needs 10 made field goals for 10th
Needs 14 made free throws for 6th
Needs 15 assists for 2nd

Single Season:
Needs 1 block for 11th and 2 for 10th
Needs 1 defensive rebounds for 9th and 4 for 5th
Needs 3 assists for 7th
Needs 8 offensive rebounds for 15th
Needs 16 rebounds for 15th

Senior Dionnah Jackson now ranks fifth on the Big 12 Conference all-time assists list. She is three assists shy of tying Lindsey Wilson for fourth with 589. Jackson has dished out 586 assists and is 178 shy of the Big 12's and OU's all-time leader Stacey Dales-Schuman. She also ranks seventh on the Big 12 all-time steals list with 261, seven short of sixth.

RPI RANKINGS
In last week's WBCA/Summerville RPI Rankings, Oklahoma were to No. 39 in the RPI Rankings and owned the seventh best strength of schedule in the country.

TWO-MINUTE STRETCH
Oklahoma sports an 86.7 free throw percentage in the final two minutes of the game. The Sooners have hit 26-of-30 attempted free throws down the stretch.

SOONERS SHUFFLE
Head coach Sherri Coale has used eight different lineup this season. Coale has played all available 13 players in several games and nine players are averaging better than 10 minutes per game. Only Dionnah Jackson, Leah Rush and Erin Higgins have started all 27 games and average better than 20 minutes per game.

SHOUSH STEPPING UP FOR BIG PLAYS
Senior Lauren Shoush is making her final season her best as she is shooting 47.5 percent from the field, hitting 58-of-122 shots as well as nailing 22-of-56 threes for an 40.0 percent accuracy in all games. In Big 12 games, she's shooting 50.7 percent from the field (38-of-75) and 42.4 from the arc (14-of-33).

Shoush has scored in double digits in three of the last four games, including a season-best 15 points against Missouri (F19). She hit 5-of-7 field goals for an impressive 71.4 percent accuracy and 2-of-3 three-pointers for 66.7 percent against the Tigers.

In the last four games, she's averaged 11.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and shot 69.2 percent from the field. In addition, Shoush has made 10 three-pointers against the last five opponents which nearly equals her previous total of 12 in the first 22 games.

RUSH CARRYING INSIDE LOAD
Sophomore Leah Rush is carrying most of the load for the Sooners at the post position. The 6-1 forward accounts for 46.8 percent of OU's rebounding and 61.9 percent of its scoring from OU's post players (six).

Overall, Rush is good for 21.3 percent of OU's points and 15.8 percent of its rebounds. The remaining five post players are responsible for 15.2% of the Sooners scoring and 18.6% of their rebounds. Rush has scored in double digits in 12 straight and 22 of 27 games, including six 20-plus performances, and has had six or more rebounds in 18 games. Rush produced her first double-double in Big 12 play with 15 points and 11 rebounds at Oklahoma State.

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Oklahoma is one of the best defensive teams in the Big 12 Conference. The Sooners are holding their conference opponents to a league best 28.3 percent (66-of-233) from three-point range and 40.8 percent from the field (379-of-929).

HIGGINS BOMBING AWAY
Sophomore guard Erin Higgins broke into OU's all-time record book when she hit her first three-pointer against Southeast Missouri State in the opening game of the season.

The 5-9 Oklahoman has nailed a team-best 61 treys to rank fifth best on OU's single season best list. With a career total of 128 treys, she ranks sixth on OU's all time list. Higgins is 47 three-pointers made shy of top honors.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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