Completed Event: Women's Basketball at #23 Alabama on February 15, 2026 , Win , 79, to, 71
Final
Women's Basketball
79
at #23 Alabama
71
University of Oklahoma Athletics
OU vs. Notre Dame NCAA Preview
March 24, 2008 | Women's Basketball
| |||||||||||||||||||||
NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma City Region No. 4 seed Oklahoma (22-8) meets No. 5 seed Notre Dame (24-8) in the second round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship in West Lafayette, Ind.
The game will be carried on ESPN2 and will also be available online at ESPN360.com. Dave O'Brien, Krista Blunk and Kim Anthony have the call.
Listen on the radio to Brian Brinkley and Tara Pogue for the Sooner Sports Network (KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City) broadcast.
PREVIEWING THE NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH
No. 4 seed Oklahoma will be in its home state next week one way or another, but the Sooners would rather see the Ford Center form the court rather than the cheap seats. To do so, OU must win against No. 5 seed Notre Dame Tuesday, March 25.
Notre Dame's lineup features four guards -- Charel Allen, Ashley Barlow, Tulyah Gaines and Lindsay Schrader -- and one 6-4 center, Erica Williamson, who look to stop the Sooners.
Notre Dame has the nation's eighth-best scoring offense and 14th best assist-to-turnover ratio.
Allen is the team's leading scorer, averaging 14.4 points, and is just one of two players who have started all 32 games for the Irish.
Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw is in her 21st season as the Fighting Irish head coach and in her 26th season as an NCAA Division I head coach.
Her overall record is 561-228 (.711) and 473-187 (.717) at Notre Dame.
McGraw has guided Notre Dame to 15 NCAA Tournament appearances that include six Sweet 16s, two Final Fours and the 2001 National Championship.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
OKLAHOMA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Oklahoma is 17-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with a 8-2 record in the first round. The Sooners have a 6-1 record in the second round.
The Sooners have been to six Sweet 16s, including advancing the round round the past two seasons, and were national runners-up in 2002.
OU is 1-0 against Notre Dame and 3-0 in West Lafayette, Ind. -- first and second round victories in the 2000 NCAA Tournament and a first round victory in 2008.
The Sooners last played Notre Dame on Dec. 30, 1986, in Seattle, Washington and won 57-54.
Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw was hired at Notre Dame the following season.
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 (Ind.) | 33, Phylesha Whaley vs. BYU (3-18-00) |
| Most Rebounds (Ind.) | 20, Courtney Paris vs. Ole Miss (3-25-07) |
| Most Assists (Ind.) | 12, Stacey Dales vs. BYU (3-18-00) |
RECAPPING THE FIRST ROUND
Courtney Paris was heavily guarded, so Oklahoma depended on her twin sister and the rest of her teammates to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Ashley Paris scored 13 points, Courtney Paris managed 12 points and 12 rebounds and the Sooners beat 13th-seeded Illinois State 69-61 on Sunday in the first round of the Oklahoma City regional.
With the Redbirds sometimes assigning three players to guard Oklahoma's leading scorer, Courtney Paris' teammates picked up the slack. Danielle Robinson and Rose Hammond both scored 12 points, and Amanda Thompson had nine points, eight rebounds, five assists, four blocks and three steals for fourth-seeded Oklahoma (22-8).
After unsuccessfully trying to get Courtney Paris involved early, Coale decided to use the 6-foot-4 power forward as a decoy by pulling her away from the basket to create driving lanes. Courtney Paris only took five shots.
The Sooners hung on after watching a 17-point second-half lead get whittled to three points in the final minutes. A three-point play by Illinois State's Tiffany Hudson made it 61-57 with 2:43 to go, and Hudson made the second of two free throws to make it 61-58 with just over two minutes left.
Oklahoma guard Jenna Plumley hit four of four free throws in the final minute to keep the Sooners in control.
Oklahoma, which snapped a three-game losing streak, will play Notre Dame on Tuesday. The Fighting Irish beat Southern Methodist 75-62.
Kristi Cirone led Illinois State (26-7) with 22 points, and Shala Jackson added 17. The Redbirds had won four straight, including three to win the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
ASHLEY AND COURTNEY REACH THE CENTURY MARK
Though it has no seniors, Oklahoma isn't necessarily lacking in playing experience. When OU meets Notre Dame Tuesday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Ashley and Courtney Paris will be playing their 100th game as Sooners.
Ashley has made 45 starts in her career and averages 8.1 points and 7.1 rebounds. Courtney has made 98 starts, after sitting on last year's senior night, and scored in double figures in every game of her career.
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 two 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 578-420 (.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.(Entering the 2008 NCAA Tournament.)
| 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 |
99 GAMES, 96 DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Courtney Paris has collected 96 double-doubles in 99 career games. She has an active streak of 91 consecutive games with a double-double. The streak began with a 22-point, 24-rebound effort versus UCLA on Dec. 5, 2007, and will be 845 days old when OU meets Notre Dame on March 25, 2008.
59 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 59 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 (21-0) 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.
Jennie Baranczyk, Payton Verhulst, and Raegan Beers Postgame vs South Carolina
Saturday, March 28
Jennie Baranczyk, Sahara Williams, Aaliyah Chavez, and Raegan Beers Media Availability - 3/27/26
Friday, March 27
WBB Highlights: OU 77, Michigan State 71
Sunday, March 22
Jennie Baranczyk, Raegan Beers, and Payton Verhulst Postgame vs Michigan State
Sunday, March 22
