Bedlam Opener In Stillwater Saturday

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 16 Oklahoma women's basketball (12-4, 2-0 Big 12) figures to come into the opening round of the Bedlam Series, presented by Bank of Oklahoma and your local Ford Dealers, with a little extra motivation. The Sooners enter the rivalry contest with Oklahoma State (6-8, 0-3) on the heels of a last minute loss to No. 8 Ohio State. The Sooners will look to get back on the winning track in a Fox Sports Net live broadcast from Gallagher Iba Arena at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

The broadcast team for FSN is Kevin Eschenfelder on play-by-play and Brenda Vanlengen on color commentary. The game will also be broadcast throughout the state of Oklahoma on the Sooner Radio Network, which is 1520 AM (KOKC) in the Oklahoma City-metro area. Brian Brinkley will handle the play-by-play the radio dial, along with Tara DeGiusti on color commentary.

Game Notes | Bedlam Standings | Gameday Central

At 0-3 in the Big 12, Oklahoma State is the only conference team without a league win yet. The Sooners will attempt to keep the Cowgirls winless by containing center Whitney Pegram (18.0 PPG) and forward Shaunte' Smith (10.6 PPG). Pegram also leads the Big in blocks per game (3.57) and is 20th in rebounds per game (5.9).

After outscoring and outrebounding 2005 Consensus All-American Jessica Davenport on Monday, Courtney Paris has proven she can hold her own with any post in the country. Paris enters her first Bedlam game with Big 12 best averages of 21.4 PPG and 14.7 RPG. Junior Chelsi Welch has teamed with the Sooner center to create a consistent scoring duo for OU. Over the last four game Welch is averaging 16.8 PPG.

See how the Sooners stack up against OSU in the Bedlam Series presented by the Bank of Oklahoma and Your Oklahoma Ford Dealers!

The Sooners, who have played six of their last eight on the road, return to Lloyd Noble on Wednesday, Jan. 18 when Texas Tech (6-7, 1-1) comes to town. The Sooners and Red Raiders will tip off from Norman at 7 p.m. CST.

Setting The Scene
Date: Saturday, Jan. 14, 2006
Location: Stillwater, Okla.
Tipoff: 1 p.m. CST
Venue: Gallagher Iba Arena (13,611)
TV: Fox Sports Net
TV Talent: Kevin Eschenfelder (Play-by-Play) & Brenda Vanlengen (Color)
Webcast: None
Radio: KOKC (1520 AM)
Radio Talent: Brian Brinkley (Play-by-Play) & Tara DeGiusti

Player To Watch
For the second consecutive game Courtney Paris will face a top-notch center. This time around, the match up will be against Oklahoma State Whitney Pegram, who is averaging 18 points per game and leads the Big 12 with 50 blocks this season. Paris current averages of 21.4 points and 14.7 rebounds are on pace to set new OU single season records and aren't too far off the best marks in NCAA history for a freshman.

Sign of the Times - SEVEN
Britney Brown has averaged seven assists over the last four games, reestablishing herself as the Sooners starting point guard. During that stretch she has committed just nine turnovers for a 3.2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio.

Ohio State Leftovers
Things were going well for No. 16 Oklahoma until Brandie Hoskins broke out of her slump and Jessica Davenport hit the shot of the game.

Davenport made a turnaround jumper with 3.4 seconds left to give Ohio State (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 8 AP) a 75-71 victory over No. 16 Oklahoma on Monday night in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge.

Hoskins scored 16 points -- all in the second half -- to lead the Buckeyes. Davenport finished with 15, as did Marscilla Packer. Debbie Merrill added 12 points and nine rebounds, holding her own underneath while Davenport sat out large chunks of the second half with foul trouble.

Courtney Paris, the daughter of former Michigan and NFL offensive lineman Bubba Paris, lived up to her billing. Averaging 21.3 points and 14.7 rebounds coming in, she had 23 points and 14 rebounds. Welch had 13 points and Leah Rush 10 for the Sooners, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Ohio State trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half and eight in the second before mounting a comeback that was almost entirely driven by Hoskins.

Postgame Notes
In a showcase of perhaps the two best collegiate centers in the country, Courtney Paris outdid Jessica Davenport statistically. Paris had 23 points on 10-21 shooting and 14 rebounds. Davenport had 15 points on 6-12 shooting and 3 rebounds. Davenport had the last laugh with a game clinching bank shot with 3.4 second left.

Paris broke the OU single-season record for double-doubles with her 13th, which also leads the NCAA. She passed Caton Hill, who had 12 in 2000-01. She also extended her double figures scoring streak to 16, her double figures rebounding streak to eight and collected 20-plus points for the ninth time this season.

Chelsi Welch scored in double figures (13) for the fourth consecutive game. She is averaging 16.8 points per game during that stretch. Her consecutive free throws streak of 23 was snapped in the contest by a 1-2 effort at the charity stripe.

Britney Brown scored a season-high nine points and dished out six assists. She is averaging seven assists in the last four games.

Big 12 History
The Oklahoma Sooners went 8-8 in the Big 12 last season and finished in a tie for sixth place. All-time, OU has a 83-63 (.568) Big 12 record under head coach Sherri Coale. The Sooners have won three regular season titles and two conference tournaments. The Sooners were picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 Coaches Preseason Poll this season, behind No. 1 Baylor, No. 2 Texas and No. 3 Texas Tech.

Oklahoma improved to 7-3 in Big 12 openers with the win at Iowa State and has won six of the last seven. In Big 12 home openers the Sooners are 6-4.

Overall, OU is 47-26 in Big 12 games played at the Lloyd Noble Center and 36-37 in conference road contests.

Junior Leah Rush was named to the Coaches Preseason All-Big 12 Team and freshman Courtney Paris was selected by the coaches as the Preseason Freshman of the Year.

Paris In Primetime Launched
The Oklahoma athletics media relations office launched a promotional campaign supporting Courtney Paris for national player of the year and national freshman of the year. The email based Paris in Primetime campaign will highlight Paris' accomplishments and preview the Sooners upcoming national TV games.

Oklahoma State Tidbits
Oklahoma State enters the contest with a 6-8 overall record and 0-3 Big 12 record. The Cowgirls have lost three straight dating back to a 55-point win over Prairie View A&M on Dec. 29. The three-game skid is the second of the season for OSU.

OSU is under the direction of first year head coach Kurt Budke, who left Louisiana Tech last season after compling a 134-26 record with the Lady Techsters.

Oklahoma State has been led by a pair of newcomers through the first half of the season. Junior-college transfer Whitney Pegram has impressed with averages of 18 points, 3.52 blocks and 5.8 rebounds per game. Pegram attended junior college at Seward County College in Nebraska.

The other fresh face is freshman forward and Oklahoma City native Shaunte' Smith. Smith, who attended Putnam City North, is averaging 10.6 PPG and 6.7 RPG.

Other regular contributors include Brisa Silva, Taylor Hardeman and Catherine Turner. Destanie Sykes, who was promoted as their top returner, has started 12 games and is averaging 4.7 points per game.

Oklahoma leads the all-time series 41-34 and has won 13 straight in the series. During the current winning streak the Sooners have won by an average of 22.9 points. All-time, OU is 16-16 in Stillwater where they carry a current streak of seven straight triumphs.

The Cowgirls and Sooners have a pair of common opponents so far this season. Both have played New Mexico and Iowa State. While OSU lost both meetings the Sooners defeated the squads three times (New Mexico twice) by an average of nearly 15 points.

Paris Shares National Monthly Honor
Courtney Paris and Liz Shimek of Michigan State were named Women's Basketball Coaches Association Co-Players of the month for games played in December. Paris averaged 22.3 points, 14.7 rebounds and 3.23 blocks during the holiday month. Paris was named Big 12 Player and Rookie of the Week on Dec. 19-31. She also tallied five double-doubles in the month while shooting 63.5 percent from the field.

Board Work
Oklahoma is the top team in the Big 12 in terms of rebounding margin at +11.9 and No. 3 nationally. OU is averaging 44.4 rebounds per game as compared to the opponents 32.5. In 16 games, OU has out-rebounded opponents by a minimum of 14 boards on eight occasions, including two of the last three contests. The season high was a +36 effort against SMU. Connecticut and Michigan State are the only teams to out-rebound the Sooners this season.

Guess Who's Back
It was a hot topic of conversation leading up to the 2005-06 season; whether or not Chelsi Welch would be able to return to the form that earned her Co-Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors in 2002-03.

The junior has reestablished herself as consistent scoring threat in the last four games. She has reemerged to average 16.8 points and 5.0 rebounds during the run.

Welch has tallied 50 percent (67) of her points this season in the last four games.

Welch refound her stroke at the right time for OU. The Sooners were coming off a three-game losing streak, during which the missing piece was a secondary scorer alongside freshman phenom Courtney Paris. Coincidentally, the four-game outburst coincided with her return to the starting lineup. She started the first four games of the year before coming off the bench in the next eight contests.

Welch tore the Anterior Cruciate Ligament in her left knee prior to her sophomore season (2003-04). She returned last year to average 5.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game last season. As a freshman she averaged 12.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.

The Best of All-Time
It was only a matter of time before Erin Higgins took the spot at the top. On January 7th she became the OU career leader in 3-pointers made by knocking down two against Colorado to improve her career total to 176. She has since increased the total to 178.

Higgins hit five 3-pointers against Iowa State on Jan. 4, to move into a first place tie with Etta Maytubby on the OU career list. Both players had 174 career treys, although it took Higgins 84 less attempts to reach the mark. Now the Oklahoma City native has a year and one half to build on the record.

Higgins is also fourth in career 3-point percentage at .381 (176-462) and second in attempts with 462. At her current pace, Higgins will finish her career with 296 treys.

Hot Start for Higgins
Erin Higgins has already knocked down 42 three-pointers this season and is shooting 44 (44-99) percent from long distance. The hot start is an improvement over last season when she impressed by shooting 37 percent on the year and making 67-of-181 attempts. Higgins is on pace to make 87 threes this season, which would tie the single season record held by Carin Stiles (1990-91)

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.

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. The streak was three short of breaking into the NCAA records books as one of the top 20 streaks of all-time.

On the season she is 49-51 with a Big 12 leading .961 percentage and recently had a streak of 23 consecutive makes end.

For her career, Welch is an .853 (174-204) shooter, which is the best mark in OU history. She isn't the only exceptional free throw shooter on the OU squad. Leah Rush is shooting at an .815 (203-249) percentage, which is currently the third best mark in OU history. Krista Sanchez, Kendra Moore and Erin Higgins also have career percentages of .700 or better.

Records Set
Below are the records that freshman Courtney Paris has set in 16 games:
* The fastest player to 100, 200 and 300 points in OU history, she needed five games to eclipse the century mark and 10 to reach 200 and 14 to reach 300.
* The fastest player to 100 and 200 rebounds in OU history, she needed nine games to reach the century mark and 14 to reach 200.
* Owns the OU single season record with 13 double-doubles.
* Owns the OU freshman rebounding record with 235 boards.
* Set an OU freshman single game record with 22 rebounds against UCLA.
* In the midst of OU record streak of eight consecutive double-doubles.
* 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 16 games of their career.
* Set an OU record by recording double figure rebounds in the first three games of her career.
* Owns the fifth-best single season block total with 46 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.
* Tied for No. 10 on the OU career double-double list with 13.

Three-Time Rookie Winner
Courtney Paris (Oklahoma) was awarded the first two Big 12 Rookie of the Week awards for the 2005-06 season and then claimed another on Jan. 3. She was also named Co-Big 12 Player of the Week on Jan. 3.

On Jan. 3 Paris was chosen for averaging 26.5 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks against top-20 teams Michigan State and New Mexico.

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.

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.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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