Red River Hoops at LNC Wednesday

NORMAN, Okla. -- The Big 12 leading and 13th-ranked Oklahoma women's basketball team (15-4, 5-0) will host Red River rival Texas (10-6, 4-2) at the Lloyd Noble Center on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The contest will be broadcast nationally by CSTV with Carter Blackburn on play-by-play and Brenda Vanlengen on color commentary. Fans can also catch the action on radio station KOKC (1520 AM) with Brian Brinkley (play-by-play) and Tara DeGiusti (color).

CSTV is available on Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Charter, Adelphia and Insight cable systems, among others, and is also available on DirecTV (channel 610) and DISH Network (Channel 152).

Oklahoma enters the contest with a three-game winning streak and on the heels of perhaps its biggest win of the season. Thanks to two 3-pointers by Kendra Moore in the final 17 seconds, including the game winner, OU was able to knock off No. 8 Baylor at the Ferrell Center and end the Lady Bears' 26-game home winning streak. Courtney Paris was stellar as usual with 23 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.

Texas enters with a four-game winning streak and is coming off a dramatic overtime win over Kansas State on Sunday. Against the Wildcats, the Longhorn's were led by All-American Tiffany Jackson, who had 23 points and 14 rebounds. Jackson is pacing the Longhorns on both ends of the court with 15.1 points per game and a Big 12 best 3.2 steals per game. Freshman point guard Erika Arriaran is second in scoring at 10.9 per.

Notes | CSTV | Paris In Primetime | Gameday Central

Oklahoma is the only undefeated team in the Big 12 and has at least a two-game advantage in the loss column on every team in the league. Both Texas and Texas A&M, which hosts OU on Saturday, are tied with Missouri for second place in the league.

The Sooners travel to A&M and Reed Arena on Saturday for a 2 pm., game. The contest will only be carried on local radio. OU returns to Norman for the Bedlam finale on Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. The in-state rivalry will be broadcast by the Sooners Sports Network (KAUT-UPN, Cox channel 16).

Setting The Scene
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006
Location: Norman, Okla.
Tipoff: 7 p.m. CST
Venue: Lloyd Noble Center (12,000)
TV: CSTV
TV Talent:
Webcast: None
Radio: KOKC (1520 AM)
Radio Talent: Brian Brinkley (Play-by-Play) & Tara DeGiusti
Tickets: (800) 456-GoOU

Player To Watch
After recording more points, rebounds and blocks than two of the Big 12 best post players (LaToya Davis of Texas Tech and Sophia Young of Baylor) in the last two games, Courtney Paris gets her frist look at Texas All-American Tiffany Jackson. Paris, a national player of the year candidate, is averaging 20.8 points, 14.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game. She has increased her rebounding average to 15.2 and blocks average to 4.0 since the start of Big 12 play on Jan. 4.

Sign of the Times - 21
Kendra Moore (14 points) and Britney Brown (7) combined to score 21 points in Oklahoma's defeat of No. 8 Baylor last Saturday. The combined total is the highest by the duo this season. Their continue offensive progress has come as teams sag off the Sooner point to double Courtney Paris.

Baylor Leftovers
Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale didn't call timeout with the score tied and the clock winding down. Instead, she let her players do what they're taught in practice.

Kendra Moore made that a winning decision - and ended No. 8 Baylor's 25-game home winning streak.

After Baylor tied the game on Angela Tisdale's layup with 7.2 seconds left, the 17th-ranked Lady Sooners pushed the ball up the court. With Erin Higgins covered, Moore found an opening on the right wing and hit a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left to give Oklahoma a 73-70 victory.

Moore scored the last eight points for the Sooners (15-4, 5-0), including another 3-pointer with 17 seconds left.

Moore's first 3-pointer of the game put Oklahoma up 70-68 before Tisdale's driving basket for Baylor (13-3, 3-3). Coale then let play continue, and the players knew what to do.

Baylor, the defending national champion, lost at home for the first time since a 69-55 loss to Texas on Jan. 22 - a year ago Sunday. Jordan Davis' desperation inbound pass was knocked down at midcourt as time expired.

Courtney Paris had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead Oklahoma. Paris, a 6-foot-4 freshman center, entered the game second in the Big 12 in scoring with a 20.7 average and tops in rebounding at 15.0. Moore finished with 14 points and Higgins had 11.

Postgame Notes
OU snapped Baylor's 26-game home winning streak. It marks the fourth significant home streak OU has snapped this season. OU snapped an Iowa State streak of 21, a New Mexico streak of 16 and a Missouri State streak of nine.
OU has made 34 three-pointers in three Big 12 road games this season and is shooting 45.3 percent from long range in those contests.
Courtney Paris recorded her NCAA best 16th double-double and extended her double-double streak to 11 games, both of which are OU records. Her 23 points were also her best effort since the beginning of the Big 12 season.
At the 18:37 mark of the second half Paris had clinched her 19th straight double-figure scoring game with 10 points. The streak is tied with Stacy Dales as the fourth best streak in OU history. It includes every game of her career.

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 86-63 (.577) Big 12 record under head coach Sherri Coale. The Sooners have won three regular season titles (2000, 2001, 2002) and two conference tournaments (2002, 2004). 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 is 5-0 in conference, which is its second best start to Big 12 play. The best start in program history was 9-0 in 1999-2000.

Overall, OU is 48-26 in Big 12 games played at the Lloyd Noble Center and 38-37 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.

Texas Tidbits
After reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, Texas is off to a 10-6 start in 2005-06. The Longhorns are 4-2 in the Big 12 and are in a three-way tie with Missouri and Texas A&M for third place in conference. After dropping their first two league games UT has won four straight ,including an overtime home win over Kansas State on Sunday.

Texas head coach Jody Conradt is one win away from adding another career milestone to her ground-breaking legacy. Conradt is currently tied with North Carolina legend Dean Smith as the second winningest coach in NCAA women's and men's basketball history. She has a career mark of 879-284.

Texas is led by national player of the year candidate Tiffany Jackson, who is averaging 15.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Jackson is leading a young and talented Texas team that has come on strong since the start of Big 12 play. The second-leading Texas scorer is freshman point guard Erika Arriaran at 10.9 PPG. Also regulars in the starting lineup are freshman center Aubry Cook (5.7 PPG), senior guard Nina Norman (9.1 PPG) and senior forwardDaria Mieloszynska.

Texas owns a 19-8 advantage in the all-time series with OU and has won eight of the last nine. OU's lone win since 2002 came in route to the 2004 Big 12 Tournament Championship. OU is 5-6 against Texas in games played in Norman. Last season Texas won 83-71 in Norman, 72-36 in Austin and 65-59 at the Big 12 Tourney in Kansas City.

Chelsi Welch and Leah Rush have averaged 12.3 and 10.5 pionts, respectively, in their career against Texas. No other Sooner has a career average near double figures.

Pregame Lay Ups
According to Jeff Sagarin's RPI rankings (RPIrankings.com) OU has the fifth toughest schedule and the eighth-best overall RPI ... Texas has the second toughest schedule and ranks 23rd overall ... The Paris twins and Erika Arriaran played together extensively while in high school and are still close friends ... Arriaran and Courtney Paris split National High School Player of the Year awards in 2005.

Board Work
Oklahoma is the top team in the Big 12 in terms of rebounding margin at +11.9 and ranked third nationally as of Jan. 16. OU is averaging 44.4 rebounds per game as compared to the opponents 32.5. In 19 games, OU has out-rebounded opponents by double figures on 13 occasions, including four of five Big 12 games this season. The season high was a +36 effort against SMU. Connecticut and Michigan State are the only teams to out-rebound the Sooners this season.

Records Set
Below are the records that freshman Courtney Paris has set in 19 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 16 double-doubles.
* Owns the OU freshman rebounding record with 281 boards and counting.
* In the midst of OU record streak of 11 consecutive double-doubles.
* Set an OU record by becoming the first player to score 10 or more points in the first 19 games of their career, which is the fourth best streak in program history.
* 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 recording double figure rebounds in the first three games of her career.
* Owns the third-best single season block total with 62 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.5 on the OU career double-double list with 16.
* Set Big 12 record with six weekly awards in the same season. Also tied Big 12 record with five Big 12 Rookie of the Week awards this season.

NCAA Impact
Courtney Paris is putting together one of the best freshman seasons in NCAA history and if she continues her current pace the record books will show it. Stretched out over a 31-game season, which includes the regular season and one Big 12 tournament game, she is on pace to collect 459 rebounds, which would top the current record of 443 by Ida Johnson (Delta State, 1982). She is also on pace for the sixth best scoring season by a rookie in NCAA history. Her projected total is 645, which would fall just short of the top five that is headlined by Tennessee legend Tamika Catchings at No. 3 with 711. She is also on pace to set the NCAA freshman blocks record with a projected total of 102.

Threes the Key?
Oklahoma is shooting 38.7 percent (106-for-274) from 3-point range in its 14 wins and 17.6 percent (12-for-68) in its four losses.

Getting a Rush on the Competition
Leah Rush, who is ranked seventh in the Big 12 in 3-point percentage at 39.3, is deadly when she makes her first attempt of the game. She has done so in 12 contests and shoots 54 percent (20-37) when she hits her first from long range. OU is 11-1 in those contests with the lone loss coming to Illinois.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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