Women Debut at No. 4 in AP Poll

Nov. 1, 2008

NORMAN, Okla. -- The University of Oklahoma debuted at No. 4 in the Associated Press' Preseason Women's College Basketball Poll released Saturday.

The Sooners' ranking matches its second best start in the poll. OU was also preseason No. 4 during its national runner-up season in 2001-02 and was No. 3 to begin the 2006-07 season.

"Considering the parity around the country and the number of talented, young teams that went deep into the NCAA Tournament last year, we are humbled by this prediction," OU head coach Sherri Coale said.

"We realize how much work will be necessary to earn the right to stay there and embrace the challenges of the upcoming season."

Oklahoma is guaranteed to face at least six other teams ranked in the top 25, including preseason No. 1 Connecticut, which earned 44 of 45 possible first-place votes, and No. 9 California. OU could also face No. 6 North Carolina and No. 17 Arizona State in the Preseason WNIT.

Stanford, which received the other first-place vote, was No. 2 and Maryland fell at No. 3. Rutgers, North Carolina, Tennessee, Duke, California and Louisville finished the top 10.

OU, the preseason Big 12 favorite, was one of five conference teams to be ranked. Texas A&M followed at No. 11, with No. 13 Texas, No. 14 Oklahoma State and No. 19 Baylor completing the league's representatives in the poll.

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Upcoming Schedule
Oklahoma's regular season begins with its 1,000th game in program history when it hosts UC-Riverside in the first round of the Preseason WNIT on Nov. 15 at the Lloyd Noble Center.

The Sooners precede that with two exhibition games, Nov. 6 versus Western State College of Colorado and Nov. 11 against Oklahoma Christian. Both games tip at 7 p.m.

Fans interested in purchasing tickets should call the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (405) 325-GoOU or toll-free at (800) 456-GoOU. Tickets may also be purchased online by visiting the ticket office link on SoonerSports.com.

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AP Preseason Top 25 (Nov. 1, 2008)

No.	School	Record	Points	Prev
1.	Connecticut (44)	36-2	1124	1
2.	Stanford (1)	35-4	1018	4
3.	Maryland	33-4	1005	5
4.	Oklahoma	22-9	946	14
5.	Rutgers	27-7	914	7
6.	North Carolina	33-3	892	2
7.	Tennessee	36-2	857	3
8.	Duke	25-10	815	9
9.	California	27-7	769	10
10.	Louisville	26-10	726	19
11.	Texas A&M	29-8	624	8
12.	Vanderbilt	25-9	546	21
13.	Texas	22-13	501	NR
14.	Oklahoma State	27-8	442	13
15.	Virginia	24-10	437	24
16.	Notre Dame	25-9	374	15
17.	Arizona State	22-11	364	NR
18.	Ohio State	22-9	359	25
19.	Baylor	25-7	353	12
20.	Auburn	20-12	239	NR
21.	Florida State	19-14	204	NR
22.	Xavier	24-9	170	NR
23.	Purdue	19-15	148	NR
24.	LSU	31-6	133	6
25.	Old Dominion	31-5	124	11

Others Receiving Votes: Pittsburgh(0-0) 116; Michigan State(0-0) 67; Iowa State(0-0) 66; Marist(0-0) 58; Marquette(0-0) 56; Utah(0-0) 50; Georgia(0-0) 37; Kansas State(0-0) 25; Syracuse(0-0) 20; DePaul(0-0) 8; George Washington(0-0) 7; Illinois State(0-0) 7; Southern California(0-0) 5; West Virginia(0-0) 5; Arkansas(0-0) 3; Texas-El Paso(0-0) 2; Montana(0-0) 2; Georgia Tech(0-0) 2; Iowa(0-0) 1; Gonzaga(0-0) 1; Liberty(0-0) 1; South Dakota State(0-0) 1; Southern Methodist(0-0) 1

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