Big 12 Champs Roll into Manhattan

NORMAN, Okla. -- Riding an 11-game win streak, the Big 12 Champion Oklahoma women's basketball team (23-4, 13-0 Big 12) travels to Kansas State (17-7, 7-6) on Tuesday.

The game will tip off at 7 p.m. on Fox Sports Southwest (Cox channel 37) with Ben Boyle on play-by-play and Patti Phillips on color commentary. The contest is also available on KOKC (1520 AM) with Brian Brinkley (play-by-play) and Tara DeGiusti (color commentary).

After the clinching the Big 12 Regular Season Championship with a 73-54 win over No. 21 Texas A&M last Saturday, the Sooners have set their sights on becoming the first team to go undefeated in conference play. OU has not lost since Jan. 9 against then-No. 10 Ohio State, which ranks as the longest winning streak (11) since a 17-gamer in 2000-01.

A win on Tuesday will also tie OU's longest in-season league winning streak, 14, which was set in 2000-01.

The Big 12 road has been kind to OU, who is shooting 51.1 percent from the floor, 43.2 from 3-point range and scoring 79.2 points per game on the road. Those totals trump OU's home numbers of 45.3 FG percentage, 25.6 three-point percentage and 76 points per game.

Game Notes | Sooner Basketball Gameday Central

Another streak of note is of the individual variety and involves Courtney Paris, who is after her 20th consecutive double-double. She has already collected a Big 12 and OU record 24 double-doubles in 27 games this year. Also of note is Leah Rush, who has scored in double figures in four straight games and has been especially proficient in the final five minutes of those games.

After the trip to K-State, OU will host Nebraska in a regional broadcast on ESPN2. The Senior Day game will tip off at 1 p.m. from the Lloyd Noble Center. A limited number of tickets remain for the home season finale. Fans are encouraged to call (800) 456-GoOU to secure remaining tickets.

Setting The Scene
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2006
Location: Manhattan, Kan.
Tipoff: 7 p.m. CST
Venue: Bramlage Coliseum (13,340)
TV: Fox Sports Southwest, Fox Sports Midwest, Fox College Sports
Webcast: None
Radio: KOKC (1520 AM)
Radio Talent: Brian Brinkley (Play-by-Play) & Tara DeGiusti
Tickets: (800) 331-CATS

Sign Of The Times - Eight
OU is one of eight teams win an undefeated conference record in Division I women's basketball. The others are Hartford (America East), Rutgers (Big East), Old Dominion (Colonial), Dartmouth (Ivy), Bowling Green (MAC), Coppin State (MEAC) and UT-Chattanooga (Southern). Five of the last eight national champions have gone undefeated in league play.

Player To Watch
Wooden and Naismith awards candidate Courtney Paris will attempt to extend her double-double streak to 20 games on Tuesday night. The freshman phenom has already accumulated 24 double dips this season and has not been denied one since Dec. 3, 2005 against Oral Roberts. In fact Paris' streak of 19 straight is a higher season total than any player in the country. Her closest competition resides at Tulsa in Jillian Robbins, who has 17 double-doubles.

Texas A&M Leftovers
(AP) - Ninth-ranked Oklahoma clinched its first Big 12 Conference regular-season title in four years and extended its winning streak to 11 games, beating No. 21 Texas A&M 73-54 Saturday night.

Courtney Paris had 15 points and 14 rebounds for Oklahoma (23-4, 13-0), which is seeking to become the first Big 12 team to go undefeated in conference play. The Sooners' remaining schedule includes road games at Kansas State and Texas Tech sandwiched around a home game against Nebraska.

The conference title is the fifth for the Sooners, who also won the Big 8 in 1986 and the Big 12 in 2000, 01 and 02 - the last when they finished as the national runner-up. Oklahoma's winning streak is its longest since winning 10 straight before losing to Connecticut in the 2002 national championship game.

Oklahoma's postgame celebration was somewhat subdued, although the Sooners did gather at midcourt, wave to the crowd and hold up their index fingers during a singing of their alma mater.

Texas A&M (19-7, 8-5), ranked for the first time since the end of the 1996 season when it was in the Southwest Conference, lost its second straight game. The Aggies have lost 11 straight games at Oklahoma's Lloyd Noble Center.

Oklahoma never trailed, but Texas A&M pulled even at 37-all with 15:37 left. Britney Brown then keyed the Sooners' 11-4 run with two 3-pointers and an assist on a bucket by Paris.

The Sooners eventually pushed their lead to 12 points before Texas A&M rallied to within 59-52 with 3:43 left. However, Oklahoma scored the next nine points to seal the win. The margin of victory was the Sooners' largest lead.

Postgame Notes
The official attendance of 11,689 was the third largest in OU history and the second largest this season.
Under head coach Sherri Coale, the Sooners are 18-3 all-time versus Texas A&M and have defeated the Aggies in nine consecutive games.
Texas A&M used a 7-0 run in the second half starting at the 17:31 mark to tie the game for the first and only time at 15:30. The Sooners then hit four 3-pointers in a span of five minutes to give OU a lead they would not relinquish.
The Sooners continued their dominance in the paint after outscoring the Aggies 38-20 in points in the paint. OU holds a 984-560 advantage in terms of points in the paint so far this season.
Paris broke the OU single season rebounding record after recording rebound No. 404 of the season. She moves past Shirley Fisher who pulled down 399 boards during the 1983-84 season.
Paris has scored 573 points this season moving her into the No. 6 spot on the OU single-season points scored list. Molly McGuire holds the No. 5 spot with 576 points scored in the 1982-83 season.

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 94-63 (.599) Big 12 record under head coach Sherri Coale. The Sooners have won four regular season titles (2000, 2001, 2002, 2006) 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.

This season Oklahoma is 13-0 in conference, which is a Big 12 record for consecutive wins to start a season. OU's longest conference winning streak within a season is 14, set during the 2000-01 season. OU also won 18 from 2000-01 to 2001-02. Both streaks are Big 12 records. Overall, OU is 53-26 (.671) in Big 12 games played at the Lloyd Noble Center and 42-37 (.532) 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.

Kansas State Tidbits
After posting a 10-1 non-conference record, Kansas State has gone 7-6 in Big 12 play and is 17-7 overall. The Wildcats are tied for fourth in the Big 12 with Texas and Texas Tech and are fighting for an NCAA Tournament berth. The Wildcats have lost two straight and three of their last five.

K-State head coach Deb Patterson is in her 10th season and has a 192-110 record with KSU. This season Patterson is helming a team that does not start a senior and has four freshman on the roster.

Claire Coggins is leading KSU in scoring at 12.6 points per game but she did not start in the Wildcats overtime loss to Nebraska last weekend.

Junior guard Twiggy McIntyre stirs the Kansas State offense and is averaging 10.5 points per game. McIntyre (44) is one of three Wildcats that has knocked down 40 or more three-pointers this season. The other are Kimberly Dietz (47) and Coggins (50).

Kansas State is solid on both sides of the ball and ranks in the top-five in every team shooting and defensive percentage kept by the Big 12. As a team they are shooting 43.9 from the floor and 34.8 from behind the 3-point arch.

Chelsi Welch (13), Erin Higgins (12) and Laura Andrews (11) have averaged double-figure points against K-State during their careers. Andrews also set a career best with 11 boards against the Wildcats as a freshman.

OU can tie the all-time series on Tuesday. Currently KSU leads 23-22, but has lost two straight and eight of the last 10. OU lost in its most recent trip to Manhattan in 2004. That misstep was preceded by five straight wins in Manhattan. All-time OU is 9-10 in KSU territory. Last year OU defeated KSU 77-61 in Norman.

Pregame Layups
The 2005-06 team is on pace to be the greatest rebounding team in OU history ... The previous record for boards in a season is 1,443 set by the 1983-84 squad ... According to ESPN.com's Bracketology, OU is on pace to be a No. 3 seed, while CSTV.com's Bracketanica has OU as a No. 2 seed ... Junior Twiggy McIntyre (Sapulpa) and freshman Danielle Zanotti are Oklahoma natives ... Zanotti is averaging 2.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.

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 32-game season, which includes the remainder of the regular season, one Big 12 Championship game and one NCAA Tournament game, she is on pace to collect 480 rebounds, which would top the current record of 443 by Ida Johnson (Delta State, 1982). She is also on pace (682 points) for the fifth best scoring season by a rookie in NCAA history. She is on pace to collect 98 blocks, which is just three swats short of the NCAA freshman record.

A Step or Two Above
Courtney Paris has recorded a double-double in 19 consecutive games, which is a Big 12 and Oklahoma record. That total of 19 is higher than the individual total of any other player in Division I women's basketball. The next closest is Jillian Robbins of Tulsa, who has 17 this season. Paris has a total of 24 double-doubles in 27 games this season, which is also an OU and Big 12 single season record.

Rush Scores 1,000th Career Point
Junior Leah Rush became the 19th player in OU history and the ninth fastest to 1,000 points on Feb. 12 when she tallied 12 points against Baylor. Rush, who has averaged 11.4 points during her career, needed 88 games to reach the milestone. Currently, Rush has 1,027 points in her three-year career.

What Brown Can Do For OU
Junior point guard Britney Brown's improved play since the start of the Big 12 season has been a major factor in OU's surge to the Big 12 Regular Season Championship. Brown is averaging 8.3 points and 4.5 assists per game in Big 12 play. Both marks trump her non-conference averages (3.5 and 2.8) by hefty margins (4.8 in points, 1.7 in assists). The Norman native has taken advantage of opponents sagging defense by increasing her offensive output. She has scored nine or more points on eight occasions, with seven of those coming in Big 12 play. The eighth was against then-No. 10 Ohio State, which occurred after Big 12 play had begun.

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 a consistent scoring threat and a regular contributor during the Big 12 season, during which time she has averaged 11.5 points per game. She averaged 7.1 prior to the start of the Big 12.
Welch refound her stroke at the right time for OU. The Sooners were coming off a two-game losing streak, during which the missing piece was a secondary scorer alongside freshman phenom Courtney Paris. Coincidentally, the 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 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 and setting her career mark at 176. She has since increased the total to 197.

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 the remainder of this season and next year to build on the record.

Higgins is also fourth in career 3-point percentage at 37.2 (197-529). She recently set an OU record of 19 consecutive games with a three-pointer.

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 77-84 with a Big 12 leading 91.7 percentage, which was sixth best in the NCAA as of Feb. 13. Welch has also had a streak of 23 straight makes this season.

For her career, Welch is an 85.2 (202-237) 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 80.9 (224-277) percentage, which is currently the third best mark in OU history. Krista Sanchez and Erin Higgins also have career percentages of 70 percent or better.

Points in the Paint
Another sign of the changing signature of Oklahoma women's basketball is the domination of the paint. OU has held a 984-560 advantage in terms of points in the paint so far this season. On average, OU holds an advantage of 15.7 points in each game.

The Sooners have scored 47 (984- of-2,074) percent of their points in the paint this season, a figure that has a positive impact on OU's field goal percentage of .471, which leads the Big 12 and ranked 10th in the NCAA as of Feb. 13.

Paris Owns Big 12 Weekly Honor Mark
Courtney Paris has won six Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week awards and three Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the week award this season. The combined total of nine weekly awards is a single season conference record. The six rookie awards is also a record
Courtney Paris averaged 24.5 points and 15.5 rebounds in Oklahoma's wins over Kansas and No. 12 Baylor when she was awarded the honor on Feb. 13.

Paris was awarded the first two Big 12 Rookie of the Week awards for the 2005-06 season and then claimed another on Jan. 3, a fourth on Jan. 16 and a fifth on Jan. 23. She was also named Co-Big 12 Player of the Week on Jan. 3 and Feb. 6, while taking sole possession of the award on Jan. 30.

On Feb. 6, she shared the award with Missouri's LaToya Bond after averaging 22 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals in wins over Oklahoma State and Missouri.

On Jan. 30, Paris took the accolades after recording-setting performances helped Oklahoma remain undefeated in Big 12 play. In OU's two wins (Texas and Texas A&M) she averaged 25 points, 15 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 2.5 assists.

On Jan. 23, Paris earned the award after averaging 20 points, 15 rebounds and 5.5 blocks per game against Texas Tech and No. 8 Baylor.

On Jan. 16, Paris garnered the rookie honor after averaging 17.5 points, 15 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in games against Ohio State and Oklahoma State.

On Jan. 3 Paris was given rookie and player honors 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.

Board Work
Oklahoma is the top team in the Big 12 in terms of rebounding margin at +10.9 and ranked fourth nationally as of Feb. 13. OU is averaging 44.2 rebounds per game as compared to the opponents 33.3. In 27 games, OU has out-rebounded opponents by double figures on 17 occasions, including eight of 13 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.

Stingy Sooners
OU is holding opponents to a .382 shooting percentage this season, which is 89 points lower than OU's mark of .471. The Sooners have held 18 of their 27 opponents, including 10 of 13 in Big 12 play, under .400 from the field. The season best mark was .194 against SMU.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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