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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sooners Face 3 Teams in 3 Days in Las Vegas
December 14, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2011
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| Aaryn Ellenberg |
| Duel in the Desert: Oklahoma (4-3) vs. Ohio (5-5) | |
| Date & Tip Time | Sunday, Dec. 18, at 4:30 p.m. CT |
| Location | Las Vegas, Nev. | COX Pavilion |
| Tickets | $8 General Admission, $6 Senior Citizens UNLV Athletics Ticket Office |
| TV | None |
| Radio | Oklahoma City: KOKC 1520 AM | Live Audio Tulsa: KAKC 1300 AM |
| Webcast | None |
| Live Stats | SoonerSports.com GameTracker |
| Game Info | Game Notes (PDF) |
THE GAME PLAN
Oklahoma travels to Las Vegas, Nev., for the Basketball Travelers Duel in the Desert held at the COX Pavilion on the campus of UNLV. The Sooners will play three games in three days starting Sunday, Dec. 18 with Ohio and then will face Syracuse and Xavier. All tip-offs are 4:30 p.m. Central. The radio broadcast with Brian Brinkley airs on KOKC 1520 AM in the Oklahoma City metro area and KAKC 1300 AM in Tulsa. Live audio is also available on SoonerSports.com All-Access.
Sooners Season Tickets Available
• Season Tickets are available for as low as $114. Tickets may be purchased online at SoonerSports.com or by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-456-GoOU.
• Single-game tickets went on sale to the general public Nov. 1. Prices are $15 for reserved seating, $8 for general admission adults and $5 for general admission youths and senior citizens. OU students receive free admission when presenting a valid ID.
The Teams
• Oklahoma has played in Las Vegas only once before, 31 seasons ago when the Sooners defeated UNLV, 96-85, on Feb. 8, 1981.
• Oklahoma has never before faced Ohio, Syracuse or Xavier. None of the teams in the Duel in the Desert are ranked in either poll.
The Coaches
• Sherri Coale is 340-158 (.683) in her 16th season at Oklahoma. She has been the Big 12 Coach of the Year four times.
• Ohio head coach Semeka Randall is 35-67 (.343) in her fourth season with the Bobcats.
• Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman is 99-65 (.604) in his sixth season with the Orange.
• Xavier head coach Amy Waugh is 4-4 (.500) in her first season with the Musketeers.
Next Game
• Oklahoma hosts TCU at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman on Wednesday, Dec. 28. The game will be televised on the Sooner Sports Network.
 Ohio Projected Starters |
No. |
Name | Pos. |
Ht. |
Year |
2011-12 Statistics |
1 |
Kat Yelle | G |
5-7 |
Fr. |
4.3 ppg, 2.6 apg |
14 |
Shavon Robinson | G |
5-8 |
So. |
8.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg |
22 |
Tenishia Benson | G |
5-9 |
Sr. |
12.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg |
0 |
Alesia Howard | F |
5-11 |
Jr. |
7.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg |
34 |
Porsha Harris | F |
6-0 |
Jr. |
8.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg |
 Oklahoma Projected Starters |
No. |
Name | Pos. |
Ht. |
Year |
2011-12 Statistics |
10 |
Morgan Hook | G |
5-10 |
So. |
12.7 ppg, 4.1 apg |
3 |
Aaryn Ellenberg | G |
5-7 |
So. |
20.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg |
25 |
Whitney Hand | G |
6-1 |
RS-Jr. |
11.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg |
53 |
Joanna McFarland | F |
6-3 |
Jr. |
6.1 ppg, 8.9 rpg |
4 |
Nicole Griffin | C |
6-6 |
So. |
5.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg |
PREVIEWING OKLAHOMA
The Sooners were picked by the league's coaches to finish fourth in the Big 12 Conference this season. The media voted Oklahoma 15th in the Preseason Associated Press Poll and the Preseason USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll had Oklahoma at No. 16.
Oklahoma returns to the court following a third straight Sweet 16 appearance. OU returns nine letterwinners from that squad and introduces four freshmen.
The Sooners must replace one of its most successful senior classes after the graduation of two-time All-American point guard and eligibility exhausted for Carlee Roethlisberger and Lauren Willis. That trio claimed 54 wins inside the Lloyd Noble Center, the most by Oklahoma in a four-year span.
Redshirt junior Whitney Hand is finally back to 100 percent health after suffering an ACL tear in November 2009 and returning to action in January 2011.
Sophomore Aaryn Ellenberg, the team's top returning scorer, was true to self in the team's preseason scrimmage by leading the scoring with 22 points.
Unfortunately, senior Jasmine Hartman will not play in 2011-12 after tearing her ACL in a September workout and Lyndsey Cloman doing the same in OU's first exhibition game on Nov. 2.
Captains for 2011-12
Junior Lyndsey Cloman, redshirt junior Whitney Hand and senior Jasmine Hartman are co-captains of the Sooners this season. The captains were voted by their teammates.
All Home Games Televised
All 14 of OU's regular season home games plus the two exhibition contests will be televised either locally on the Sooner Sports Network or nationally on Fox Sports Net or ESPN2.
OU's games on the Sooner Sports Network are also webcast on SoonerSports.com All-Access subscription site (exhibitions free).
An additional eight road games are scheduled to be televised on various networks, giving OU a guaranteed slate of 24 television broadcasts in 2011-12.
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PREVIEWING DUEL IN THE DESERT
Oklahoma faces Ohio, Syracuse and Xavier in consecutive days -- the Sooners third straight season of playing in a three-opponent, three-day tournament. OU is 5-1 in the format, having lost only to Notre Dame, 81-71, in the championship game of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam in Nov. 2009.
OU matches up with Ohio (5-5) on Sunday, Dec. 18. The Bobcats are led by 5-9 senior guard Tenishia Benson, who averages 12.8 points and 7.8 rebounds.
Syracuse (7-3) is led by 6-4 junior center Kayla Alexander. Alexander has totaled 18.0 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.
Xavier's (3-5) Tyeasha Moss, a 5-9 senior guard, scores 12.5 points per game to lead the Musketeers and adds 4.3 rebounds per game.
The Sooners have played in Las Vegas just once before, a 96-85 win over UNLV on Feb. 8, 1981.
TWO SOONERS ON NAISMITH WATCH
Sophomore Aaryn Ellenberg and redshirt-junior Whitney Hand were among the 51 women's college basketball players on the Naismith Trophy Early-Season Watch List released Nov. 29.
Ellenberg has averaged 21.3 points through Oklahoma's six games this season and has been the team's leading scorer in each. Against Liberty, the 5-7 guard set an OU record by making a 3-pointer in a 23rd consecutive game.
Hand has totaled 10.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game as she recently crossed 700 career points.
Ellenberg Streaking From 3
Sophomore Aaryn Ellenberg broke an Oklahoma record versus Liberty on Nov. 25 by making a 3-pointer in 23 consecutive games, which she has since extended to 27 consecutive.
Ellenberg was already OU's single-season 3-pointers made record holder after hitting 94 as a freshman.
The sophomore has already scored 142 points this season, 78 (55 percent) of which have come from beyond the arc.
Shooters Rising Up Charts
Redshirt-junior Whitney Hand and sophomore Aaryn Ellenberg are closing on Oklahoma's top 10 career 3-pointers made records.
Hand has 118 career 3's made while Ellenberg sits at 120. Two former Sooners share 10th place on OU's career 3-pointers made list at 128.
700 Club
Redshirt-junior Whitney Hand crossed the 700-career-points milestone in her 66th game as a Sooner. Hand has scored 738 career points in 68 games (67 starts). At her career average of 10.9 points and at least 24 games remaining for the Sooners in 2011-12, Hand is on pace to reach 999 points by the end of her junior year.
Sophomore Aaryn Ellenberg joined Hand by breaking the 700-career-point milestone versus Milwaukee on Dec. 11.
POLL STREAK ENDS
Following a loss to Fresno State, the Sooners dropped from the polls for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
OU has been listed in a program record 118 consecutive AP polls (including preseason) over the last six-plus seasons, a streak among Big 12 teams topped only by Baylor. That streak began with a No. 25 ranking in the Preseason AP Poll in 2005-06, the freshman year of Ashley and Courtney Paris.
Three Consecutive Losses Rare
Oklahoma lost three consecutive games for the first time since the 2007-08 season when the Sooners dropped their final two regular season contests and then lost to Missouri in overtime in a first round game of the Big 12 Championship.
Oklahoma had not lost three consecutive regular season games since dropping to Baylor (Jan. 24), Missouri (Jan. 28) and Kansas State (Jan. 31) in the 2003-04 season. Those games were also the end of OU's last four-game losing streak.
CAMPBELL IS OU'S FINISHER
Freshman Sharane Campbell leads Oklahoma in points scored in the last five minutes of regulation, averaging 4.1, nearly three times more than any other Sooner. Campbell has 12 of her 28 points scored in the final five at the free throw line.
COALE APPROACHING 500 VICTORIES
Sherri Coale guided Norman High School to two state championships and a 147-40 record in seven years before becoming the Sooners' head coach.
In the collegiate ranks, Coale has 340 victories in 16 seasons, leaving her just 13 wins shy of 500 in her career as a head coach.
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