Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus North Carolina on November 2, 2026 at TBA
TBA
Women's Basketball
vs North Carolina
University of Oklahoma Athletics
OU vs. Illinois State NCAA Preview
March 20, 2008 | Women's Basketball
March 20, 2008
|
| |||||||||||||||||||
NORMAN, Okla. -- The University of Oklahoma would like to return to 'normal' this weekend, which is, coincidentally, from where their first-round opponent will be coming.
The No. 4-seed Oklahoma Sooners meet No. 13-seed Illinois State Sunday, March 23, at 11 a.m. Central on ESPN2, with the winner advancing to take on either Notre Dame or SMU the following Tuesday. The larger prize -- a potential regional semifinal matchup at the Ford Center with Tennessee -- awaits the victor of two games in West Lafayette, Ind.
Dave O'Brien (play-by-play), Krista Blunk (analyst) and Kim Anthony (sideline) will have the television call.
On the radio, tune to the Sooner Sports Network (KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa) and listen to Brian Brinkley and Tara Pogue call the action.
Subscribers to ESPN360.com can also watch the live webcast.
PREVIEWING THE ILLINOIS STATE REDBIRDS
The unranked Illinois State Redbirds are one of the nation's most efficient basketball teams, carrying the third-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the country into the postseason.
Illinois State's leading scorer Kristi Cirone boasts the best assist-to-turnover ratio of any player in the nation (3.00) and her teammates at guard, Tiffany Hudson and Maggie Crick, are 15th and 38th, respectively, in the category.
6-foot-5 Nicolle Lewis gives Illinois State a demanding post presence, but the team's success is formed around its perimeter offense. Over 40 percent of the Redbird's starting guards' field goal attempts are from beyond the arc.
Illinois State has the NCAA's sixth best scoring offense (77.4) and field goal percentage (46.8).
The Redbirds are coached by Robin Pingeton, in her fifth season, who was an assistant at Iowa State for three years prior to arrival at Illinois State.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
OKLAHOMA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Oklahoma is 16-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with a 7-2 record in the first round.
The Sooners have been to six Sweet 16s, advancing to the round the past two seasons, and were national runners-up in 2002.
OU is both 2-0 against Illinois State and 2-0 in West Lafayette, Ind. - it's first and second round victories in the 2000 NCAA Tournament.
Sherri Coale and ISU head coach Robin Pingeton have never faced each other as head coaches, but did meet several times while Pingeton was an assistant at Iowa State. The Cyclones were 3-1 against the Sooners in those meetings between 2001 and 2003.
SOONERS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTABLE FACTS
| First Game | March 16, 1986 (W, 86-67 vs. Vanderbilt) |
| Largest Victory | 35 points (90-55, March 16, 1995, vs. Loyola [Md.]) |
| Largest Defeat | 26 points (85-59, March 20, 1986, vs. Texas) |
| Most Points | 33, Phylesha Whaley vs. BYU (3-18-00) |
| Most Rebounds | 20, Courtney Paris vs. Ole Miss (3-25-07) |
| Most Assists | 12, Stacey Dales vs. BYU (3-18-00) |
AMAZING ATTENDANCE
Widely believed to be a contributing factor in Oklahoma's placement in the Oklahoma City Region has been its outstanding fan support over the past several years. The Sooners have one of the nation's best followings, proven this season by ranking No. 3 nationally in home attendance with an average of 10,254 in the seats at the Lloyd Noble Center.
Oklahoma has played in front of several record crowds, including...
• The NCAA Championship Game record attendance of 29,619 at the San Antonio Convention Center for the 2002 national title game.
• The Oklahoma state record for women's basketball attendance of 13,611 at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater during the January 2008 Bedlam game.
• The Big 12 Tournament Championship Game record of 12,413 from the 2007 title game at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City when OU defeated Iowa State.
• A program record three consecutive sellouts of the Lloyd Noble Center to finish the 2008 season.
APPROACHING 1,000
Oklahoma started its women's basketball program for the 1974-75 season and is approaching its 1,000th game. To date, the Sooners are three games shy of 1,000 in program history. Should OU make it to the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Regional Semifinal in Oklahoma City, that will mark the program's 1,000th game. OU's all-time record is 577-420 (.579).
PARIS MAKING HER CASE AS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Courtney Paris, the 2008 Big 12 Player of the Year, is the only player in the top 50 in more than three of the eight major statistical categories in which the NCAA ranks individual players (points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage).
Paris, who is ranked in four categories, is the nation's leading rebounder (15.1), No. 4 in blocks per game (5.3), No. 23 in field goal percentage (55.4) and No. 23 in points per game (18.7).
The Sooners' junior center is a finalist for the Naismith, Wooden and Wade awards and will be highly considered to repeat as the Associated Press' National Player of the Year.
DANCING WITH THE STARS
Among players on teams that earned one of the top four seeds for the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship, Courtney Paris is the leader in both points per game and rebounds per game for active players making at least their third NCAA Tournament appearance. Paris, who has averaged 25.2 points and 13.8 rebounds in six NCAA postseason contests, leads quite a star-studded cast in this year's Big Dance.
| Player, Team |
GP |
PPG |
RPG |
FG% |
| Courtney Paris, Oklahoma |
6 |
25.2 |
13.8 |
.624 |
| Candice Wiggins, Stanford |
10 |
21.6 |
5.6 |
.453 |
| Candace Parker, Tennessee |
10 |
20.4 |
8.6 |
.562 |
| Crystal Langhorne, Maryland |
11 |
16.9 |
8.4 |
.656 |
| Matee Ajavon, Rutgers |
11 |
16.2 |
3.5 |
.425 |
| Kristi Toliver, Maryland |
8 |
15.1 |
3.3 |
.400 |
| Erlana Larkins, North Carolina |
14 |
14.1 |
7.7 |
.577 |
| Renee Montgomery, UConn |
8 |
12.9 |
2.1 |
.426 |
| Sylvia Fowles, LSU |
15 |
12.5 |
10.5 |
.522 |
| Kia Vaughn, Rutgers |
9 |
11.6 |
8.6 |
.538 |
| Tina Charles, UConn |
4 |
11.5 |
6.0 |
.611 |
| Marissa Coleman, Maryland |
8 |
11.0 |
10.3 |
.400 |
| Essence Carson , Rutgers |
11 |
8.3 |
4.8 |
.321 |
98 GAMES, 95 DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Courtney Paris has collected 95 double-doubles in 98 career games. She has an active streak of 90 consecutive games with a double-double. The streak began with a 22-point, 24-rebound effort versus UCLA on Dec. 5, 2005, and will be 843 days old when OU meets Illinois State on March 23, 2008.
58 WEEKS ... AND COUNTING
With Oklahoma's placement in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls this week, the Sooners have appeared in both for 58 straight polls (including preseason polls).
OU's record for consecutive Top 25 poll appearances is 59 in the AP (from week 11 of the 1999-2000 season to week 11 of the 2002-03 season) and 60 in the Coaches (from week 11 of the 1999-2000 season to week 13 of the 2002-03 season).
Both stints including 26 consecutive weeks being ranked in the Top 10. OU also had a 19-week run in the Top 10 of the AP Poll and 20-week run in the Top 10 of the Coaches Poll over the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.
EIGHT IS GREAT
Oklahoma is undefeated (20-0) when attaining a lead of eight points or more. OU's win against Kansas State was its only this season when not gaining an eight-point lead at anytime during the contest.
Friday, June 26
Friday, June 19
Saturday, March 28
Friday, March 27
