Women's Hoops Visits Creighton Sunday

Dec. 18, 2009


	Nyeshia Stevenson

No. 15 Oklahoma (8-2) vs. Creighton (5-3)
Date & Tip Time	Sunday, Dec. 20, at 2:05 p.m. CT
Location	Omaha, Neb. \| D.J. Sokol Arena
TV	None
Radio	Sooner Radio Network KOKC AM 1520 in Oklahoma City
Webcast (Pay)	GoCreighton.com
Live Stats	SoonerSports.com GameTracker
Game Info	Game Notes (PDF)

GAME PREVIEW
No. 15 Oklahoma visits Creighton in Omaha, Neb., at D.J. Sokol Arena Sunday, Dec. 20, at 2 p.m.
• The OU radio broadcast of Brian Brinkley and Kendra Wecker can be heard over the air on KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City and online at SoonerSports.com through CBS College Sports All-Access.
• A pay webcast is available online at GoCreighton.com.

Creighton Projected Starters
No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Year	2009-10 Statistics
3	Kelsey Woodard	G	5-10	Jr.	12.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg
5	Chevelle Herring	G	5-4	Sr.	8.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg
11	Sam Schuett	F	6-0	Jr.	9.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg
21	Megan Neuvirth	F	5-11	Sr.	13.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg
44	Kellie Nelson	C	6-3	Jr.	8.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg

Oklahoma Projected Starters
No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Year	2009-10 Statistics
13	Danielle Robinson	G	5-9	Jr.	16.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 5.4 apg
1	Nyeshia Stevenson	G	5-10	Sr.	13.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.3 apg
10	Carlee Roethlisberger	F	6-1	So.	9.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg
21	Amanda Thompson	F	6-1	Sr.	10.4 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 2.4 steals
34	Abi Olajuwon	C	6-3	Sr.	12.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg

ABOUT THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma is ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' polls.
• Creighton is not ranked.
• Oklahoma is 8-2 after rallying to defeat Marist, 80-71, in overtime and Army, 59-46, last week in a trip to New York.
• Creighton is 5-3 after falling to Nebraska, 69-56, and Kansas, 77-56, last week.

The Series
• Creighton and Oklahoma are meeting for the third time. It is the first meeting between the two teams outside of Norman.

The Coaches
• Sherri Coale is 293-134 (.686) in her 14th season at Oklahoma. She has been the Big 12 Coach of the Year four times.
• Creighton head coach Jim Flanery is 136-95 (.589) in his eighth season. He has led his team to five WNIT postseason appearances and four 20-win seasons.

PREVIEWING OKLAHOMA
The Sooners were picked by the league's coaches to finish fifth in the strong Big 12 Conference this season.

The Sooners enter 2009-10 following one of its best seasons in history. Oklahoma notched a program record 32 wins, won its sixth Big 12 regular season title and made its second trip to the Final Four. OU returns eight letterwinners from the squad, including three starters. PreseasonAll-American Danielle Robinson and senior co-captain Amanda Thompson will lead the charge.

Sooner to Watch
	Nyeshia Stevenson \| Sr. \| Forward/Guard Stevenson has increased her scoring output from 10.8 points per game over the first five games of the season to 16.8 over the last five and has improved her 3-point shooting from 18.5 percent to 37.5. She recently matched a 28-year-old OU record by making nine 3-pointers in the overtime win at Marist.

PREVIEWING CREIGHTON
The Bluejays are the preseason favorites in the Missouri Valley Conference (34 of 40 first-place votes).

Creighton returns seven letterwinners and four starters from last year's team which finished 22-12, advancing to the WNIT for the fifth time in seven years.

The Jays return three of the top nine scorers in the MVC, including 2009-10 MVC Preseason Player of the Year, senior forward Megan Neuvirth. The reigning MVC Defensive Player of the Year, she set a school record with 325 rebounds last year and leads all active MVC players in career rebounds (763) and career steals (231) and tops the team with 14.7 points per game.

Senior point guard Chevelle Herring, a second-team all-MVC honoree last year, leads the team with 3.1 assists per game.

Junior guard Kelsey Woodard leads the MVC in three-point field goals and is 24-for-57 (.421) from beyond the arc.

Junior forward Sam Schuett has returned after a medical redshirt season in 2008-09, and is leading the team with 7.5 rebounds per game.

LIGHTING IT UP
Robinson OU's 23rd 1,000-Point Scorer
Danielle Robinson scored nine points to become Oklahoma's 23rd player to reach 1,000 in a career against Marist, Dec. 9. She now has 1,108 career points scored.

Courtney Paris achieved 1,000 career points in 46 career games and no other player since the year 2000 achieved the mark quicker than her.

The NCAA record is 37 games held by three players (Maree Jackson, LSU; Carol Menken, Oregon State; and Sandra Hodge, New Orleans).

Robinson Reaches 400 Career Assists
Danielle Robinson recorded her 400th career assist with her fifth and final one versus Marist.

Robinson is fourth on OU's career assist list and trails Sharee Mitchum (1992-95), who had 601, for third place.

Stacey Dales (764) and Dionnah Jackson (606) are first and second in the all-time rankings.

Nationally, Robinson ranks 35th in assists per game.

Stevenson Matches 3-Point Record
Nyeshia Stevenson's nine 3-pointers made versus Marist helped her establish a new career scoring high and also matched a 28-year-old Sooner record.

The only other Sooner to make as many 3-pointers in a game was Carin Stites, who did it twice -- vs. Arkansas on Nov. 27, 1990, and vs. UT-San Antonio on Jan. 21, 1991.

Career Week
Oklahoma's Danielle Robinson, Carlee Roethlisberger and Nyeshia Stevenson reset career single-game bests in scoring in the seven days between Dec. 3 and Dec. 9.

Robinson totaled 31 in an overtime thriller against Arkansas and Roethlisberger made five 3-pointers en route to 29 points in a rout of UT-Arlington. Wednesday night at Marist, Stevenson made nine 3-pointers and totaled 32 points.

Scoring Efficiency
Danielle Robinson leads the Sooners with 16.1 points per game, but it is senior center Abi Olajuwon who is the team's most efficient scorer.

Olajuwon's rate is 0.62 points per minute played, just higher than Robinson's 0.52.

Two for Twenty
Oklahoma's Carlee Roethlisberger (29 points) and Nyeshia Stevenson (21) each had season highs in the Dec. 3 win over UT-Arlington.

It was the first game in which at least two Sooners each scored 20 or more points since Courtney Paris scored 24 and Ashley Paris scored 20 against Arkansas State on Dec. 7, 2008.

Running and Gunning
Oklahoma's fast-paced offense can score points in a flurry. In nine games this season, OU has achieved 10 double-digit scoring runs.

Conversely, opponents have only two runs of 10 or more points against Oklahoma. Notre Dame managed a 20-0 run in the second half of its game with OU and Arkanas had a 10-0 run in the first half of its matchup.

ON THE DEFENSIVE
National Defense
Oklahoma's defense versus Army set the tone as the Sooners held the Black Knights to 25 percent (14 of 56) shooting and just 46 points.

The point total was the lowest for a Sooner opponent since OU held North Carolina Central to 25 points on Jan. 4, 2009. It was the lowest point total for a Sooner opponent on the road since OU defeated Lamar, 79-44, at Beaumont, Texas, on Nov. 29, 2006.

Big 12's Rebounding Leader
Amanda Thompson is the Big 12's leading rebounder, averaging 10.1. With 10.4 points per game, Thompson averages a double-double despite having just one in a game this season.

Block Party
Amanda Thompson is the only Sooner in history under 6-foot-2 to have 30 or more blocks in a season -- a feat she has achieved twice. Through nine games in her senior season, she already has 14, putting her on pace to reach 40 this year.

Amanda Thompson had 21 blocks as a freshman, 34 as a sophomore and 31 as a junior.

Willis Winding the Clock
Junior guard Lauren Willis, a former walk-on who earned a scholarship in the middle of last season, has played more minutes this season (117 in 10 games) than in the previous two combined (77 in 22 games).

Willis has served as a spark off the bench, helping replacing the injured Whitney Hand with crucial defensive plays.

NEXT UP
Oklahoma has returns home to face Cal State Fullerton Wednesday, Dec. 30, at 7 p.m.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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