Sooner Sports Notes: February 18

NORMAN, Okla. -- Sooner Sports Notes provide fans with a quick overview of all teams in action for Oklahoma. View a recap of last week, notes and a look ahead for the Crimson and Cream in this weekly feature.

Men's Basketball

• Last Week: Jeff Capel's Sooners earned a pair of victories, downing Iowa State, 76-64, at home and winning at Texas Tech, 66-64. Tony Crocker paced OU against the Cyclones with 22 points, tying for his second highest career total, and a career-high-tying nine rebounds. Blake Griffin and Austin Johnson each added 13 points, and Longar Longar returned to action after missing two games with a broken bone in his leg. Against Texas Tech, David Godbold sank a 28-foot game-winning shot with 1.4 seconds left to give the Red Raiders' their first loss in Lubbock this season (they were 11-0 entering the day). Johnson made a career-high six 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 20 points while Griffin pulled down a career-high 17 boards.

• This Week: OU hosts Baylor (17-7, 5-5) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CST before traveling to Austin, Texas, to take on No. 11 Texas (21-4, 8-2) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

• Notes: Oklahoma's win at Texas Tech clinched the program's 27th consecutive winning season, good for the longest current streak among Big 12 schools ... OU is 32-5 all-time against Baylor and has won 27 straight against the Bears ... In his eight full Big 12 games, freshman Blake Griffin is averaging 16.4 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists ... Over the last two games, Austin Johnson is averaging 16.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals while going 8-for-17 (.471) from 3-point range ... Blake Griffin (eight times) or Taylor Griffin (six times) has led OU in rebounding in 14 of the last 15 contests ... Heading into the week, Oklahoma's six remaining opponents have a combined Big 12 record of 30-32 (.484).

• Promotions: Tickets for Tuesday's Baylor game are as inexpensive as $10. Also, Family Packs are available for the game. For $10, fans receive a game ticket, hot dog, soft drink and a coupon for a free T-shirt from OU Authentic.

Women's Basketball

• Last Week: No. 10 Oklahoma (18-5, 8-3) split contests last week, winning at home against Texas A&M Tuesday, Feb. 12, and falling at No. 8 Baylor Sunday, Feb. 17. The Sooners defeated the Aggies 68-56 before losing to the Lady Bears 79-59.

• This Week: Oklahoma travels to Kansas State Wednesday, Feb. 20, to face the Big 12's top team before hosting the Bedlam rematch Saturday, Feb. 23, against Oklahoma State.

• Notes: The Bedlam game at the Lloyd Noble Center is sold out; however, restricted admission tickets will be on sale when doors open at 11:30 a.m. ... A Lloyd Noble Center record 12,186 came to OU's "Pack the Place Pink Night" in support of breast cancer awareness and the WBCA's "Think Pink" week, helping the Sooners rally to defeat Texas A&M ... Courtney Paris led the Sooners in scoring and rebounding last week, totaling 20 points and 11 rebounds versus Texas A&M before counting 21 and 15, respectively, against Baylor.

Baseball

• Last Week: The OU baseball team held its annual Media Day in preparation for the 2008 season.

• This Week: The Sooners open the 2008 season at No. 1 UCLA (Baseball America) on Friday, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. (CT). The game is the first of three against the Bruins. OU and UCLA are slated for a 5 p.m. start time on Saturday and will conclude the series on Sunday at 3 p.m. All three games over the weekend can be heard on KOKC 1520 AM.

• Notes: OU and UCLA last met during the 2005 season on March 4 in the Kia Classic in Fullerton, Calif. OU won that meeting, 7-2, and trails the all-time series 4-3 ... The last time the Sooners faced a team ranked No. 1 in the country was in 2006. OU faced No. 1 Rice in the 2006 Houston Super Regional and lost the best of three series, 2-1. The Sooners also hosted the No. 1 Owls in the 2006 regular season and were victorious, 15-3, at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Softball

• Last Week: The No. 9 Oklahoma softball team was perfect last week as it went 6-0 and it improved its overall record to 9-2. The Sooners hosted St. Gregory's in their home opener last Tuesday as OU starter Lauren Eckermann tossed a perfect game and led the Sooners to a 10-0 run-rule victory. Following its home opener, the squad traveled to Las Vegas for the UNLV Louisville Slugger Desert Classic last weekend. The Sooners opened with an 8-5 victory over BYU and followed that with a 5-1 win over Cal State Northridge on Friday. In Saturday's action, the Sooners edged South Carolina, 2-1, and downed Illinois, 3-1. OU stayed perfect in tournament action with a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Cal Poly on Sunday.

• This Week: The Sooners will hit the road again this week for the Palm Springs Classic (Feb. 22-24) in Palm Springs, Calif. Oklahoma will open on Friday with a 2:30 p.m. (CT) against No. 13 Stanford followed by a 7:30 p.m., meeting against Pacific. On Saturday, OU will face Oregon at 12:30 p.m. and San Diego State at 5 p.m. The Sooners will round out tournament action on Sunday with an 11 a.m. contest against No. 21 Georgia.

• Notes: Lauren Eckermann's perfect game against St. Gregory's marked the first perfect game by an OU pitcher since Jennifer Stewart did it against UT-Arlington on Feb. 8, 2002 ... It marked the first perfect game and fourth no-hitter of Eckermann's career as she threw three no-hitters in 2007 ... Preseason All-American Samantha Ricketts delivered the game-winning RBI single in OU's final game against Cal Poly ... Traci Dickenson was OU's top offensive performer in the UNLV Tournament as she hit .500 with five RBI and a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .688 on-base percentage ... Junior pitcher D.J. Mathis is perfect on the season as she owns a 6-0 record and a 0.89 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 39.1 innings pitched.

Wrestling

• Last Week: Oklahoma (13-5, 0-4 in Big 12), up one spot in the latest poll to No. 17, bounced back strong Friday night in the first annual "Beauty and the Beast" event at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman against Cal Poly. The Sooners, who shared the floor with the OU women's gymnastics team, topped the Mustangs, 32-9.

• This Week: The second round of Bedlam hits the Howard McCasland Field House in Norman on Thursday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. The Sooners and No. 3 Oklahoma State met earlier this season, with the Cowboys besting OU by a 21-9 final tally.

• Notes: Freshman Joey Fio was honored last week as the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week, the first weekly honor of his career ... The honor came after the Sandpoint, Idaho, native picked up two Big 12 wins last weekend, including a defeat of No. 4 and defending national champion Paul Donahoe of Nebraska ... It marked the first time this season a freshman received the award ... Senior Joel Flaggert (20-3, 197 pounds) and junior Will Rowe (20-6, 149 pounds) picked up their 20th victories on the season with wins over the Mustangs ... Thursday versus the Cowboys will mark the third time this season the Sooners have been featured on television (Cox Channel 7) ... The previous match with OSU (Dec. 2), along with the Wisconsin dual at the Ford Center on Feb. 20, were also broadcasted.

• Promotions: Tickets are still available to Thursday's Bedlam match by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (405) 325-2424 or 800-456-GoOU ... Reserved tickets for the dual are $15, while general admission is $10. Group rates are also available ... Fans attending Thursday's match will receive free pom-poms courtesy of the marketing department.

Men's Gymnastics

• Last Week: The fourth-ranked Oklahoma men's gymnastics team posted its best score of the season, and Sooner gymnasts swept all six event titles en route to a 357.750-338.050 road victory over No. 10 Iowa Saturday afternoon at UI Field House in Iowa City, Iowa. The Sooners' team total was the fourth-highest score registered by any team in NCAA competition this season.

• This Week: Oklahoma travels to Oakland, Calif., on Feb. 23 for the Pacific Coast Classic. Considered the nation's premier invitational event, the Pacific Coast field includes six of the top 10 teams in the latest GymInfo rankings.

• Notes: Oklahoma gymnasts set or tied 17 individual season highs against the Hawkeyes, including team season marks by junior Russell Czeschin on floor exercise (15.450) and senior Jonathan Horton on high bar (15.450) ... OU's team total of 63.800 on vault was the highest score registered on the event by any NCAA team in 2008 ... Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons claimed individual titles on rings (15.600) and p-bars (15.100) ... Jonathan Horton won the high bar (15.450) and shared the pommel horse crown with Corey English (14.000) ... Steven Legendre was the vault champion with a 16.100.

Women's Gymnastics

• Last Week: Kiara Redmond-Sturms became the first woman in OU gymnastics history to post two perfect 10.00s in a career as the eighth-ranked Oklahoma gymnastics squad beat Big 12 foe Iowa State 196.375-193.675 in the inaugural Beauty and the Beast night on Friday at the Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooner women (13-0) swept all four event titles on the night and also took home individual event honors on all four apparatuses. Redmond-Sturms won her sixth all-around title in seven events (39.500), capped off by the event win on vault (10.00). Hollie Vise won the first bars title of her career after a 9.875, while tying Haley DeProspero for the event title on beam. Rounding out the OU sweep were Ashley Jackson and Jackie Flanery who posted matching 9.875s on the floor.

• This Week: OU returns to action on Feb. 22 when it travels to Columbia, Mo., to take on Big 12 rival Missouri at 6:30 p.m. Live scoring will be available at SoonerSports.com.

• Notes: Redmond-Sturms' perfect mark was the ninth in school history. It was just the second perfect score in the NCAA this season and first in the Big 12. The Los Angeles, Calif., native recorded both of her perfect marks on vault, scoring the 10.00 against TWU as a junior ... Oklahoma has won 26 of its last 27 regular-season matchup's dating back to Jan. 19, 2007. Winners of all regular season meets on the year, the Sooners last regular season defeat was to Stanford on March 9, 2007 in Palo Alto, Calif.

Track & Field

• Last Week: Oklahoma triple jumper Shardae Boutte became the latest Sooner to put his name atop the OU record books in the second and final day of competition at the 2008 Tyson Invitational in the Randal Tyson Track Complex. Boutte's jump of 54 feet and one inch (16.48 meters) bested the previous OU record of 53-1.50 (16.19) set by Jerome Douglas in 1997. Boutte's jump also marked the second time of the season that the senior eclipsed the NCAA automatic qualifying mark. The triple jump mark became the fifth OU program record to fall during the 2008 indoor season. Coming into the weekend Rob Sorrell, Sheldon Leith, Mikaela Johansson and the men's distance medley relay had all claimed program records.

• This Week: Oklahoma returns home to Norman for its next action, the 2008 Sooner Indoor Open, Saturday, Feb. 23, at the Mosier Indoor Facility. The meet marks the team's final tune-up before the 2008 Big 12 Indoor Championships, Feb. 29 - March 1, in Lincoln, Neb.

• Notes: Marcus Pugh recorded an NCAA provisional mark of 21.12 in the 200-meter dash prelims, good for fourth. Pugh did not compete in the event's final ... Jacob Boone came in third in the men's 800-meter championship finals with a time of 1:52.63, good for eighth all-time at OU ... Kevin Snyder finished second in the open high jump with a top mark of 6-10.75 (2.10) ... Tydree Lewis finished fifth in the triple jump, but more importantly recorded an NCAA provisional mark of 52-7.25 (16.03) ... Latoya Greaves finished fifth in the consolation finals of the women's 60-meter hurdles with an NCAA provisional qualifying time and personal best of 8.27. The time ranks second at OU behind Alisha Peel's 8.19 in 2001.

Men's Tennis

• Last Week: No. 33 Oklahoma (4-2) lost 4-3 to the Arkansas Razorbacks (6-3) on Sunday at Willow Creek Golf and Country Club in Oklahoma City.

• This Week: Off. Next, the Sooners travel up Interstate-44 on Thursday, Feb. 28, as Tulsa plays host at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

• Notes: Federico Chavarria and Andrei Daescu entered the weekend ranked No. 32 nationally in doubles action and picked up a victory to improve to 5-1 ... Ionut Beleleu and Ryan Thomas moved picked up their second consecutive doubles victory and are now 3-2 on the season ... Beleleu snapped a three match losing streak with his second victory on the season at No. 2 singles ... Chavarria picked up his third consecutive singles victory to move to 5-1 on the season.

Women's Tennis

• Last Week: The Oklahoma women's tennis team fell to 4-2 Friday with a loss to the 34th-ranked Wichita State Shockers.

• This Week: The women's tennis team opens its streak of six consecutive home matches Saturday, Feb. 23, when it plays host to non-conference rival Alabama at the Greens Golf and Country Club in Oklahoma City. Matches are scheduled to begin at noon (CT).

• Notes: Freshman Ana-Maria Constantinescu continued to roll against Wichita State, defeating 77th-ranked Stephanie Dalmacio 6-4, 6-4. The freshman is undefeated at the No. 1 singles position in the regular season.

Women's Golf

• Last Week: The women's golf team begins its spring season Feb. 18-19 at the Central District Invitational in Parrish, Fla. The tournament begins Monday at the 6,089-yard, par-72 River Wilderness Golf and Country Club.

• Notes: The Sooners, ranked 34th nationally by the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index and 32nd in the Golfstat rankings, won two of their four events in the fall season.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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