University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sooner Sports Notes: February 25
February 25, 2008 | Athletics
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Men's Basketball |
• Last Week: Oklahoma splits its two games, winning 92-91 in overtime against Baylor on Tuesday before losing 62-45 at No. 7 Texas on Saturday. Against Baylor, the Sooners spotted the Bears a seven-point overtime lead before making a remarkable comeback. Down six with just under a minute left, Tony Crocker hit a pair of 3-pointers and was fouled on the second one. His free throw with 7.3 seconds left gave OU a four-point play and a one-point lead. The Sooners had to endure a pair of Baylor free throws with 1.0 second left - both misses - before celebrating the victory. Blake Griffin scored a career-high 29 points and grabbed 15 rebounds while Crocker finished with 20 points and Austin Johnson 19. At Texas, Griffin's 16 points and 16 boards weren't enough as OU suffered through its worst field goal performance of the season (.264).
• This Week: The Sooners play at Nebraska (16-9, 5-7) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CST (no television) before returning home to take on Texas A&M (20-7, 6-6) on Saturday at 1 p.m. (ESPN).
• Notes: OU sits in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Big 12 standings with Baylor, Texas A&M and Texas Tech (OU has a 4-1 record against those teams) ... The Sooners' four remaining league opponents have a combined 21-27 conference record (.434) ... Blake Griffin registered two double-doubles last week to push his season total to nine ... Griffin is averaging a double-double (16.0 points and 10.2 rebounds) in Big 12 games (that includes OU's game against Kansas when he only played five minutes before injuring his knee) ... Oklahoma is shooting .407 from 3-point range in its 18 wins but just .272 in its nine losses ... The Sooners have already won two more games this year than they did last year ... As of Monday, OU sports a No. 27 CollegeRPI.com rating and has played the nation's sixth most difficult schedule according to the site.
• Promotions: Saturday's home game against Texas A&M will mark "Cheer Like a Champion Day", as a white T-shirt will be placed in every Lloyd Noble Center seat. Also, OU's 1988 Final Four team will be honored on the court at halftime of Saturday's game. Tickets are available and start at $10.
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Women's Basketball |
• Last Week: No. 10/11 Oklahoma picked up two wins against ranked opponents to stay in the Big 12 title race. The Sooners rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat No. 15 Kansas State, 68-65, in Manhattan, Kan., Wednesday, Feb. 20, before getting redemption in the Bedlam Series with an 81-71 win at home over No. 17/16 Oklahoma State. Courtney Paris scored 19 of her 27 points against K-State in the second half as the Sooners shot 60 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes to finish victorious. Amanda Thompson scored a career high 23 points and added 13 rebounds for her second career double-double as she led OU past the Cowgirls Saturday, Feb. 23.
• This Week: Oklahoma travels to Texas Tech, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 7 p.m., and hosts Texas, Sunday, March 2, at 12:30 p.m.
• Notes: With her sixth point in Saturday's game, Paris, playing her 94th collegiate game, reached 2,000 career points faster than any player in Big 12 Conference or Oklahoma history ... Paris also recorded 11 offensive rebounds to overtake Baylor's Sophia Young (2003-06) as the Big 12 career leader in offensive rebounding. It was Paris' 32nd Big 12 record ... Oklahoma's Bedlam game Sunday produced the largest crowd, 12,205, to watch a women's basketball game at the Lloyd Noble Center ... The Sooners reached the 20-win benchmark for the third consecutive season.
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Baseball |
• Last Week: Oklahoma and No. 1 UCLA split a doubleheader on Saturday, with OU winning the nightcap, 3-2, in 12 innings. Earlier in the day, the Sooners dropped a heartbreaker, 7-5, to UCLA on a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth.
• This Week: The Sooners will host Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the 2008 home opener on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 3 p.m. The game will mark the first $.50 hot dog day of the season. OU will also host the Golden Lions on Feb. 27 at 3 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Both games will be broadcast live on Oklahoma All-Access. There will also be a live webcast of Tuesday's game available on All-Access.
• Notes: OU is 3-3 against teams ranked No. 1 in the last three seasons ... OU trails the all-time series with UCLA, 5-4 ... 14 OU newcomers made their debut on Saturday and eight started game one of the doubleheader ... Twelve of OU's 17 hits this season have come from newcomers and six of OU's eight runs have been driven in by new players ... four different OU pitchers struck out five or more batters on Saturday (Doyle - 7, Anderson - 5, Erben - 5 and Rocha - 5).
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Softball |
• Last Week: The No. 6 Oklahoma softball team notched a 3-2 record at the Palm Springs Classic last weekend. The Sooners dropped a close game to undefeated and No. 12 Stanford as OU fell 3-2 on Friday. The Sooners followed that performance with a 14-5 run-rule victory over Pacific on Friday night as the Sooners set a school-record with six home runs. In Saturday action, OU dropped a 1-0 loss to Oregon but rebounded with a 1-0 shutout of No. 25 San Diego State on Saturday notes. The Sooners closed out the tournament on a winning note as OU's D.J. Mathis threw a one-hitter and OU shut out No. 18 Georgia, 3-0.
• This Week: The Sooners will return home for a five-game home stand and will play nine of their next 10 games at the OU Softball Complex. Oklahoma will host in-state rival Tulsa on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the OU Softball Complex. OU will close out the week with the Residence Inn Invitational (3/1-2). The Sooners will play North Texas at 2:30 p.m. and Memphis at 4:45 p.m. on Saturday and will round out tournament action on Sunday with a 1:15 meeting against Memphis and a 3:30 p.m. contest against North Texas.
• Notes: Oklahoma set a school record against Pacific with six home runs in the run-rule win ... The previous record was five by the 2005 team against Texas A&M and the 1996 team against Tulsa ... Traci Dickenson, Savannah Long and Lindsey Vandever recorded two home runs each against Pacific as they each tied a school record for most home runs by an individual in a game ... Junior pitcher D.J. Mathis posted a 0.65 ERA and only allowed nine hits in 21.2 innings pitched while striking out 20 and allowing two earned runs ... Sophomore Lindsey Vandever led the offense at the Palm Springs Classic as the catcher hit .615 (8-for-13) with three home runs and seven RBI.
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Wrestling |
• Last Week: The No. 17 Oklahoma Sooners ended the Bedlam streak of 19 straight victories by Oklahoma State, beating the No. 3 Cowboys 18-15 in Norman on Thursday night. In front of a season high 1, 734 fans, OU toppled OSU for the first time since Nov. 28, 1995.
• This Week: Last Thursday's in-state rivalry match was the conclusion of the regular season for the Sooners (14-5 overall, 1-4 in Big 12). Oklahoma will begin preparing this week for the Big 12 Championships on March 8 in Stillwater, Okla.
• Notes: Junior Chris DeVilbiss made his dual debut against the Cowboys, replacing the injured redshirt freshman Jeff James .. .Oklahoma, now 14-5 on the year, has equaled the most regular season wins since the 2004-05 campaign ... Three Sooners went out on top in the series, as starters Max Dean, Joshua Weitzel and Joel Flaggert were recognized on senior night against the Cowboys ... The match versus OSU started at 184 pounds after Oklahoma State head coach John Smith chose to draw instead of starting at the tradition 125 pounds ... Senior Joshua Weitzel took full advantage opening for the Sooners, recording his sixth pin of the season, the most by any OU starter ... Three Sooners (Will Rowe, Joshua Weitzel and Joel Flaggert) each went 2-0 versus OSU this season ... Others recording victories in the upset were Joey Fio (125) and Chad Terry (157).
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Men's Gymnastics |
• Last Week: Jonathan Horton took the all-around title and third-ranked Oklahoma posted its highest score of the season (359.800), but couldn't topple No. 1 Stanford at the 2008 Pacific Coast Classic, Feb. 23 in Oakland, Calif. OU recorded program marks on pommel horse (56.850), rings (62.000) and vault (63.900), and Sooner gymnasts set or tied 13 individual season highs at the six-team invitational event. In addition to his all-around crown, Horton was the vault champion with a personal-best 16.200, while freshman Steven Legendre claimed the floor title with an OU-record 15.650.
• This Week: The Sooners are off this week before traveling to Columbus, Ohio, to face the seventh-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on March 8. Horton, however, will compete at the 2008 Tyson American Cup, March 1, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The international gymnastics event will be televised live on NBC at noon (CST) on Saturday. Horton is the two-time defending American Cup champion.
• Notes: Competing in the all-around for the first time in 2008, Horton scored a team season-best 91.150 to outpace California's Tim McNeill (88.500) and Kyson Bunthuwong (86.900). The win was Horton's third-straight PCC all-around crown ... One week after posting an NCAA-best 63.800 on vault in a win at Iowa, the Sooners outdid themselves, scoring a program-record 63.900 and sweeping the top six spots in the event standings ... In addition to Legendre's program-record score on floor, Horton set OU marks in the all-around (91.150) and on pommel horse (14.750) and rings (15.950) ... Horton was also named one of 11 semifinalists for the AAU James E. Sullivan Memorial Award, the "Oscar" of amateur sports honors. Fans can vote online or by text message until March 10. Fan voting counts for one-third of the final score.
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Women's Gymnastics |
• Last Week: It came down to the final gymnast, but the sixth-ranked OU women's gymnastics team (14-0) escaped Columbia, Mo., with a 196.075-195.750 victory over No. 13 Missouri on Friday inside the Hearnes Center on the MU campus. The Sooners won event titles on vault, bars and floor -- pushing their season total to 27 event honors. With the victory, the Sooners are the regular season Big 12 champs, sweeping all conference foes in 2008.
• This Week: Oklahoma returns home for a rematch with Texas Woman's University on Feb. 29 at 7 p.m. (CST) inside the Lloyd Noble Center. OU defeated the Pioneers by a score of 196.450-192.800 on January 19 in Denton, Texas.
• Notes: With Friday's victory, the Sooners are off to their best start to a season in program history. OU's win over the Tigers marked its 14th-straight victory in 2008, besting the start of the 1985 Oklahoma squad that went 13-0 before placing 10th at the NCAA Championships.
• Promotions: Billed as "Flip for a Cure" night, the meet is OU's breast cancer awareness event. OU gymnasts will wear pink leotards for the event and they encourage everyone in attendance to wear pink as well. The first 350 fans through the gates will receive their choice of a free pair of pink crocs or a free pink "Flip for a Cure" T-shirt while supplies last.
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Track & Field |
• Last Week: Four Sooners highlighted Saturday's competition at the 2008 Sooner Indoor Open held inside the Mosier Indoor Facility. Leslie Cole, Chip Heuser, Scottesha Miller and Kevin Snyder all claimed individual event titles one week before the Big 12 Championships.
• This Week: OU heads to Lincoln, Neb., for its next action, the 2008 Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Championships, Feb. 29-March 1. The Sooners will look to improve on their 2007 showing, when the men finished third and the women fourth.
• Notes: Miller picked up her second event title of the season, taking the women's 60-meter dash with a time of 7.47. Both of Miller's wins have come in the event, competing at home in the Mosier Indoor Facility ... Snyder continued his recent hot streak by finishing in a three-way tie for first in the high jump. Snyder tied Southwest Christian's Terraence Long and Langston's William Moses with a top jump of 6 feet and 10.25 inches (2.09 meters) ... Cole posted a time of 24.71 in the 200-meter dash to earn the event's title while pole vault Heuser picked up his first win of the year with a season-best vault of 17-1.00 (6.21). Freshman Sam Kranz finished third in the event with a mark of 16-1.25 (4.91) ... Latoya Heath finished second in the triple jump (40-7.75/12.39) while Miller finished third in the long jump with a mark of 19-0.50 (5.80) ... D'Andre Fisher ran a personal best of 8.08 to take second in the men's 60-meter hurdles ... Freshman Dominique Johnson posted a personal record of 22-5.25 (6.84) to take second in the men's long jump ... Zach Dawson was second in the men's 600-yard run with a time of 1:11.11 ... The woman's 600-yard run saw OU runners finish in three of the top four spots. Tijahnni Newton lead the way with a second-place time of 1:23.99. Amanda Mayfield (1:24.37) and Kristi Cook (1:24.52) finished third and fourth, respectively ... Mikaela Johansson took third in the weight throw with a throw of 53-11.25 (16.44) ... Katherine Johnson finished third in the high jump with a jump of 5-5.00 (1.65) ... Kyle Eckman finished third in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:55.39.
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Men's Golf |
• Last Week: The University of Oklahoma men's golf team jumped to third to close out the 13th annual UTSA Intercollegiate at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio, Texas, on Feb. 19. The Sooners jumped from fifth to third on day two and came within a stroke of eclipsing No. 17 Texas Tech, who finished second at 873 (+21).
• This Week: Oklahoma returns to the links on March 3 when the Sooners travel to Westlake Village, Calif., for the USC Collegiate Invitational. The Sooners tied for eighth in the event last season in a 15-team field that featured six teams ranked in Golf Weeks's top-15 rankings.
• Notes: The Sooners posted the lowest final round of any team in the top five with a third round team score of 286 (+2) at the 6,765-yard, par 71 layout, besting its second round score by 11 shots.
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Women's Golf |
• Last Week: The Sooners tied for 11th place in their spring season opener at the Central District Invitational in Parrish, Fla.
• This Week: OU heads to Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, for the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, Feb. 24-26.
• Notes: Junior Kendall Dye tied for 18th place with a three-round score of 229 (+13) at the Central District Invitational, her ninth career top-20 finish.
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Women's Tennis |
• Last Week: The University of Oklahoma women's tennis team defeated Alabama 4-3 Saturday, Feb. 23, at The Greens Golf and Country Club. The Sooners, who entered the match 0-3 all-time against the Crimson Tide, took an early lead earning the doubles point with a sweep at all three positions.
• This Week: OU will play host to Oral Roberts University Saturday, March 1 at the Headington Family Tennis Center.
• Notes: Freshman Ana-Maria Constantinescu and senior Chelsea Orr increased their series record to 6-0 at the No. 1 doubles position ... Constantinescu also remained perfect at the No. 1 singles position after defeating Alabama's Tiffany Welcher.
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Men's Tennis |
• Last Week: Off
• This Week: The Sooners travel up Interstate-44 on Thursday, Feb. 28, as Tulsa plays host at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
