Sooners Celebrate Senior Day at LNC

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 9 Oklahoma women's basketball team (24-4, 14-0 Big 12) will look to extend its perfect conference season and complete an undefeated home Big 12 season at the expense of Nebraska (15-10, 7-7) on Senior Day this Sunday at 1 p.m., at the Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners will honor seniors Laura Andrews and Beky Preston following the game, in addition to cutting down the Lloyd Noble Center nets as part of an official celebration of their 2006 Big 12 Regular Season Championship.

The game has officially sold out. Restricted admission tickets will be available when the doors open at 11:30 a.m., an hour and one-half prior to the 1:00 p.m. tip time. Tickets will be sold at the North and East ticket windows for $8 dollars each. In addition, the first 600 fans, 12-and-under, into the arena will be given free OU Laura Andrews or Beky Preston jersey. Additionally, fans will be able to buy exclusive OU Big 12 Championship merchandise at stands throughout the arena.

Game Notes | Sooner Basketball Gameday Central

The game is being broadcast nationally by ESPN2 with Bob Wischusen on play-by-play and Anne Meyers on color commentary. Fans can also catch the game locally on KOKC (1520 AM) with Brian Brinkley (play-by-play) and Tara DeGiusti.

The Sooners are riding a 12-game winning streak into the home season finale. The streak is OU's longest since a string of 17 wins during the 2000-01 season. The Sooners have also won seven straight home games. Perhaps the most nationally recognized streak on the team is Courtney Paris' stretch of 20 consecutive double-doubles. The Wooden and Naismith candidate leads the nation in rebounding (15.0) and doubles-doubles (25), while ranking sixth nationally in scoring (21.3), field goal percentage (.614) and blocks per game (3.03).

OU, which clinched the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Championship, will conclude the regular season at Texas Tech on Wednesday March 1. The game is being simulcast by Sooners Sports Properties in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa markets.

Setting The Scene
Date: Sunday, Feb. 26, 2006
Location: Norman, Okla.
Tipoff: 1 p.m. CST
Venue: Lloyd Noble Center (12,000)
TV: ESPN2
TV Talent: Bob Wischusen (Play-by-Play) and Anne Meyers
Webcast: None
Radio: KOKC (1520 AM)
Radio Talent: Brian Brinkley (Play-by-Play) & Tara DeGiusti
Tickets: (800) 456-GoOU
Promotions: Postgame celebration of Senior Day and Big 12 Championship

Player To Watch
Beky Preston, along with Laura Andrews, will be honored as part of the Senior Day ceremonies following Sunday's game. The senior center has been routinely labeled the team's MVP' by head coach Sherri Coale and freshman phenom Courtney Paris. Her leadership and influence on the team, despite receiving the least playing time of her career, has been a crucial component in OU's rise to a top-10 ranking this season.

Sign of the Times - 84
Seniors Laura Andrews and Beky Preston have been a part of 84 wins during their four year careers. The Sooners have won 68 percent of their games during that time, reached three NCAA Tournaments and won one Big 12 Tournament title. Both players are slated to graduate next shool year, which Preston pursuing a business degree and Andrews entering nursing school

Kansas State Leftovers
(AP) - Courtney Paris extended her nation-leading string of double-doubles to 20, finishing with 22 points and 15 rebounds, and No. 9 Oklahoma used a late 16-4 run to beat Kansas State 78-64 on Tuesday night.

It was the freshman center's 25th double-double of the season, also a national high, and her rebounds highlighted the Sooners' 47-27 advantage on the boards.

Three other players also scored in double figures for Oklahoma (24-4, 14-0 Big 12), which had already clinched the regular-season conference championship. Chelsi Welch added 14 points, Kendra Moore had 13 - seven in the Sooners' decisive late surge - and Britney Brown finished with 11.

Kansas State (17-8, 7-7) lost its third consecutive conference game for the first time since dropping eight straight in 2001.

Oklahoma trailed 39-36 at halftime - the first time this season an unranked opponent led the Sooners at the break - but opened the second half with a 14-2 run for a 50-41 lead.

Claire Coggins scored seven points in Kansas State's answering run, including a 3-pointer for a 50-all tie with 13:41 to go. It was still tied, 60-all, when Kansas State's Marlies Gipson hit a runner off the glass with just over six minutes left.

Moore answered 7 seconds later with a pair of free throws, putting the Sooners up 62-60, and Kansas State managed just one more field goal down the stretch as Oklahoma steadily pulled away.

The Wildcats got to 63-62 on Jessica McFarland's free throws with just over 5 minutes to go, but Moore answered with two quick baskets for a 67-62 lead. Kansas State didn't score after Gipson's layup with just under 4 minutes left cut the Sooners' lead to 67-64.

Postgame Notes
OU outrebounded Kansas State 25-9 in the second half. OU had 22 boards comparted to K-State's 18 at half.
Leah Rush (9) and Chelsi Welch (7) each had season highs in rebounds.
Britney Brown tied a career high for the third time with eight assists.
OU tied up the all-time series with K-State at 23-23. The Sooners have won three straight and nine of the last 11, as well as six of the last seven in Manhattan. OU also evened up the all-time series in Manhattan at 10 apiece.
OU is shooting 43.6 percent (58-133) from three point range on the Big 12 road this season.
Paris moved past Molly McGuire (1979-80 & 1982083) twice on the OU single season scoring list to take sole possession of fourth place on the list. Paris has scored 595 points this season and is trailing No. 3 Stacey Dales, who had 611 points during the 2001-02 season.
Paris also moved to No. 2 in single season field goals made with 253. She passed McGuire's total (243) from 1979-80 again.

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 95-63 (.601) 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 14-0 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 this year and 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 43-37 (.538) in conference road contests.

Nebraska Tidbits
Off to a 15-10 start, Nebraska has won three straight conference games and is tied for fifth place in the Big 12 with a 7-7 record. The Huskers share the fifth spot with Kansas State and Texas. After Sunday, Nebraska closes the regular season with a trip to Missouri.

Head coach Connie Yori has been at the helm of the Nebraska program for four seasons 59-56. Yori has guided her team to the WNIT the last two seasons.

There figures to be some extra motivation from the Huskers on Sunday. Nebraska beat OU 70-51 in Lincoln last season and finished in a tie for sixth place in the Big 12 standings with the Sooners. Yet it was OU that earned the NCAA Tournament berth while the Huskers accepted a bid to the WNIT.

The Huskers are led by one of the most explosive players in the league in 2005 All-Big 12 performer Kiera Hardy. The junior guard is averaging 17.1 points a game and has knocked down the second most 3-pointers, 63, in the Big 12.

Second on the team in scoring is freshman post Kelsey Griffin, who has been overshadowed by OU's Courtney Paris. Griffin is putting together one of the best freshman in the seasons in the conference and is a favorite for the Coaches All-Big 12 Freshman Team.

In the Sooners loss to the Huskers last season they shot just 29.6 percent (21-71) from the field, including nine percent (2-22) from 3-point range.

OU and NU have split 44 all-time meetings. OU has won six of the last seven meetings and three straight in Norman. The Sooners are 14-5 against the Huskers in Norman.

Pregame Layups
Husker guard Heather Kephart is a native of Canute, Okla. ... According to ESPN.com's Bracketology and CSTV.com's Bracketanica, OU is on pace to be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and headed to Denver for the opening rounds ... OU is one of seven teams in Division I women's basketball with an undefeated conference record ... The only other team from a power' conference is Rutgers, who is 14-0 in Big East play ... Sherri Coale (197-112) needs three wins for the 200th of her career.

A Step or Two Above
Courtney Paris has recorded a double-double in 20 consecutive games, which is a Big 12 and Oklahoma record. That total of 20 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 25 double-doubles in 28 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 1,036 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 8.5 points and 4.7 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 nine occasions, with eight of those coming in Big 12 play. The other instance was against then-No. 10 Ohio State on Jan. 9, 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 11.7 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 198.

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 (198-532). 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 79-86 with a Big 12 leading 91.9 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 85.4 (204-239) 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 81.5 (232-285) 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.

Keep An Eye On...
Courtney Paris will likely set the NCAA freshman rebounding record in the next two games, but she has a chance at the bigger prize as well. The NCAA single season rebouding record is 534, a number that would take Paris eight games to reach at her current pace (15.0 RPG).

To enter the NCAA single season freshman scoring top-five, Paris (595 points) needs to reach 687 points and Tarchas Hollis of Grambling (1989). If OU play seven more games, she could reach the No. 2 spot which is 753 points.

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 97 blocks, which is just three swats short of the NCAA freshman record.

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 1,018-588 advantage in terms of points in the paint so far this season. On average, OU holds an advantage of 15.4 points in each game.

The Sooners have scored 47 (1018-of-2,152) percent of their points in the paint this season, a figure that has a positive impact on OU's field goal percentage of .472, which leads the Big 12 and ranked 10th in the NCAA as of Feb. 13.

Getting a Rush on the Competition
Leah Rush, who is shooting 34.7 percent from 3-point range, is deadly when she makes her first attempt of the game. She has done so in 16 contests and shoots 56 percent (25-45) when she hits her first from long range. OU is 15-1 in those contests with the lone loss coming to Illinois.

Sorry Pam Pennon
Sorry Pam Pennon (1995-96) but your name was just erased from the OU record books, at least in one category. Pennon had held the No. 10 spot in career 3-pointers (88) until Chelsi Welch knocked down three treys at Missouri on Feb. 4. Welch currently has 96 career 3's and is 32 shy of No. 9 Melissa Richie (1992-95). Laura Andrews and her 88 career makes is just behind Pennon and Welch at No. 12 on the career list.

Threes The Key?
Oklahoma is shooting 36.5 percent (152-417) from 3-point range in its 24 wins and 17.6 percent (12-68) in its four losses. OU is also shooting 43.2 percent (51-118) as team in Big 12 road games this season.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors