Sooners, Irish Rematch in Sweet 16 Sunday

March 25, 2010

No. 3 Oklahoma (25-10) vs. No. 2 Notre Dame (29-5)
Date & Tip Time	Sunday, March 28, 2010 \| 6:30 p.m.
Location	Kansas City, Mo. \| Sprint Center
Tickets	Ticketmaster.com All-Session: Adult $46 \| Youth (2-18) $20
TV	ESPN2HD
Webcast	ESPN360.com
Radio	Sooner Radio Network KOKC AM 1520 in Oklahoma City, KTBZ AM 1430 in Tulsa
Live Stats	SoonerSports.com GameTracker
Game Info	Game Notes (PDF)

GAME PREVIEW
Kansas City Region 3-seed Oklahoma gets a rematch with 2-seed Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 at the Sprint Center Sunday, March 28, at 6:30 p.m.
• The NCAA Championship Regional Semifinal will be televised on ESPN2HD with the final on ESPNHD. In Kansas City, the regionals will be called by Pam Ward (play-by-play) and Debbie Antonelli (analyst) with Heather Cox on the sideline.
• The OU radio broadcast with Brian Brinkley and Kendra Wecker can be heard on the Sooner Sports Network (KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City, KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa).

Send Off the Sooners | March 26
Fans, send off the Sooners to the Sweet 16 as they depart the Lloyd Noble Center this Friday! Bring your spirit and your Crimson and Cream and support the Sooners as they go to Kansas City and attempt to visit the Final Four for a second straight season. The team will depart from the southwest side of the Lloyd Noble Center at 4 p.m.

The Teams
• Third-seeded Oklahoma is ranked No. 12 by the Associated Press and No. 12 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll.
• No. 2 seed Notre Dame is seventh in both polls.
• Oklahoma is 25-10 overall and finished 11-5 in the Big 12. The Sooners advanced after defeating 11-seed UALR, 60-44, in the second round in Norman, Okla.
• Notre Dame is 29-5 overall and finished 12-4 in the Big East. The Fighting Irish advanced after defeating 10-seed Vermont, 84-66, in the second round in South Bend, Ind.

The NCAA Championship
• The appearance is Oklahoma's 13th overall and 11th consecutive in the NCAA Championship. The Sooners are 23-12 all-time in the NCAA tournament, losing last year to Louisville in the Final Four. Oklahoma advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1986, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2009. The Sooners played in the national championship in 2002, losing to Connecticut. Oklahoma is appearing in its eighth regional semifinal, and fourth in the past five years, where the Sooners have a 2-5 record.

The Coaches
• Sherri Coale is 311-142 (.687) in her 14th season at Oklahoma. Coale is 21-10 in the NCAA Championship.
• Muffet McGraw is 613-243 (.716) in her 27th season overall and 525-202 (.722) in her 22nd year at Notre Dame.

The Program
• OU's victory over Kansas (Jan. 23) was victory No. 300 for Sherri Coale. Coale is OU's all-time wins and winning percentage leader.
• OU's all-time program record is 635-435 (.593). OU is 146-76 (.658) all-time in Big 12 regular-season play.

Notre DameProjected Starters
No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Year	2009-10 Statistics
4	Skylar Diggins	G	5-9	Fr.	13.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg
20	Ashley Barlow	G	5-9	Sr.	10.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg
23	Melissa Lechlitner	G	5-7	Sr.	8.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg
24	Lindsay Schrader	G	6-0	So.	11.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg
52	Erica Williamson	C	6-4	Sr.	4.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg

Oklahoma Projected Starters
No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Year	2009-10 Statistics
1	Nyeshia Stevenson	F	5-10	Sr.	13.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg
13	Danielle Robinson	G	5-9	Jr.	16.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 5.2 apg
21	Amanda Thompson	F	6-1	Sr.	13.0 ppg, 10.5 rpg
34	Abi Olajuwon	C	6-3	Sr.	10.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg
45	Jasmine Hartman	G	5-11	So.	2.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg

PREVIEWING OKLAHOMA
The Sooners were picked by the league's coaches to finish fifth in the strong Big 12 Conference this season, but tied for second in the final standings.

Following a season when Oklahoma notched a program record 32 wins, won its sixth Big 12 regular season title and made its second trip to the Final Four, the Sooners had to make immediate solutions to losses of the Paris twins to graduation and star sophomore Whitney Hand to an ACL injury early in the playing season.

The Sooners are 25-10 overall and finished 11-5 in the Big 12 with the nation's toughest strength of schedule and No. 8 RPI.

Sooner to Watch
	Danielle Robinson \| Jr. \| Guard The most talked about matchup heading into the Sweet 16 maybe Danielle Robinson vs. Skylar Diggins. Robinson, a State Farm All-America and Wade Trophy finalist, had a then-career high 26 points in OU's first meeting with Notre Dame in November.

The Kansas City Regional
Oklahoma looks to avenge at least one loss from the regular season, and perhaps two, at the NCAA Championship Regional at the Sprint Center next week. The Sooners lost to Notre Dame, 81-71, in a Thanksgiving tournament game following the loss of Whitney Hand to an ACL injury.

Danielle Robinson took over, scoring a then-career high 26 points, but spent a crucial portion of the second half on the bench with four fouls.

OU's juniors and seniors were also there when Notre Dame outlasted Oklahoma in overtime to win a second round game in West Lafayette, Ind., in the 2008 NCAA Championship.

The Sooners also met Kansas City Region 1-seed Nebraska in February, holding a lead with 3:34 remaining, but let the Huskers away with an 18-2 run that closed the game.

OU has already played in Kansas City this year at the Big 12 Championship at Municipal Auditorium. The Sooners lost in the championship game to Texas A&M, 74-67.

How Sweet It Is
Oklahoma is making a habit of advancing to the Sweet 16, advancing to the round in four of the past five seasons. The lone exception -- 2008 when Notre Dame beat Oklahoma in overtime in the second round at West Lafayette, Ind.

Oklahoma is 2-5 all-time in the Sweet 16, advancing to the Elite Eight and Final Four in 2002 and 2009. The Sooners are 1-4 all-time against higher seeds (does not count OU's 1-1 record as a No. 1 seed vs. No. 1 seeds).

OU is 6-2 in rematch games this season with both losses coming to Texas A&M.

ROBINSON A STATE FARM WADE TROPHY AND ALL-AMERICA FINALIST
Danielle Robinson was one of 12 players named as a finalist for the State Farm Wade Trophy and one of 40 that will be part of the 10-member State Farm All-America Team. Its is the fifth consecutive season a Sooner has a been a finalist for the awards.

Robinson on Every Watch List
OU junior Danielle Robinson's big play has her in the national spotlight. She's in consideration for All-America honors as well as the Wade, Wooden and Lieberman awards.

Robinson compares favorably with the past six winners of the Nancy Lieberman Award, given to the nation's top point guard.

Year	Player	G	PPG	RPG	APG	FG%	FT%
2010	Danielle Robinson, OU	35	16.7	3.2	5.2	.472	.871
2009	Renee Montgomery, UConn	39	16.5	2.1	5.1	.448	.744
2008	Kristi Toliver, Maryland	37	17.1	3.4	7.4	.444	.860
2007	Lindsey Harding, Duke	34	13.6	4.0	3.9	.444	.748
2006	Ivory Latta, North Carolina	35	18.4	2.1	5.2	.455	.852
2005	Temeka Johnson, LSU	36	10.4	3.3	7.7	.479	.723
2004	Diana Taurasi, UConn	35	16.2	4.0	4.9	.456	.795

THREE SOONERS ALL-BIG 12
Oklahoma's Danielle Robinson, Nyeshia Stevenson and Amanda Thompson were named to the All-Big 12 Team in a vote by the league's coaches.

Robinson, a unanimous choice, and Thompson were voted to the 10-member first team. Stevenson was selected to the second team.

Robinson was also named to the All-Defensive Team for a second consecutive season.

All-Big 12 First Team
Brittney Griner, Baylor; Alison Lacey, Iowa State; Ashley Sweat, Kansas State; Kelsey Griffin, Nebraska; Cory Montgomery, Nebraska; Yvonne Turner, Nebraska; Danielle Robinson, Oklahoma; Amanda Thompson, Oklahoma; Andrea Riley, Oklahoma State; Tanisha Smith, Texas A&M.

All-Big 12 Second Team
Danielle McCray, Kansas; Nyeshia Stevenson, Oklahoma; Tegan Cunningham, Oklahoma State; Brittainey Raven, Texas; Danielle Adams, Texas A&M.

Two Collect Tournament Honors
Danielle Robinson, who averaged 21.0 points and 4.3 assists, and Amanda Thompson, who averaged 18.3 points and 15.0 rebounds, were named to the All-Big 12 Championship Team. The Sooners fell to Texas A&M, 74-67, in the final round.

Three Named Academic All-Big 12
Danielle Robinson (first team), Jasmine Hartman (second team) and Amanda Thompson (second team) were named to the 2010 Academic All-Big 12 Women's Basketball Team on March 4.

QUALITY SCHEDULING
Oklahoma has played the nation's toughest schedule. Oklahoma's 10 losses have come to teams currently ranked in the Top 25. Oklahoma is No. 8 in the RPI following the conclusion of the regular season. The Sooners are 2-5 versus the Top 10 and 8-10 versus the Top 25 this season and played six straight ranked teams before entering the NCAA Championship.

The Sooners have played nine games, including three against Baylor, against teams that advanced to this year's Sweet 16.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners, Irish Rematch in Sweet 16 Sunday

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