Sooners No. 14 in Coaches' Poll

Oct. 30, 2012

NORMAN, Okla. -- The University of Oklahoma was picked 14th in the preseason USA Today/ESPN Top 25 women's basketball poll released Tuesday.

The Sooners were No. 12 in the preseason Associated Press poll released Saturday.

Oklahoma returns seven players, including its starting five, from a squad that finished second in the Big 12 Conference and with 13th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. All-Big 12 First Team members Aaryn Ellenberg and Whitney Hand and the Big 12's Sixth Man Sharane Campbell lead a cast bolstered by the addition of three highly-rated newcomers.

The coaches' top five replicated the media's top five with Baylor the unanimous choice for No. 1 followed by Connecticut, Duke, Stanford and Maryland, respectively.

Notre Dame, Kentucky, Penn State, Louisville and Delaware complete the top 10.

Other OU opponents in the top 25 include No. 17 Vanderbilt, No. 22 West Virginia, No. 24 Oklahoma State and Kansas, which tied for 25th.

Oklahoma hosts Oklahoma Christian in the first of two exhibition games at the Lloyd Noble Center Thursday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m. The game will be televised by Sooner Sports TV on FCS Pacific (COX Ch. 273).

2012-13 Preseason USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll
Rk.	School	2012 Record	Points	Previous
1.	Baylor (31)	40-0	775	1
2.	Connecticut	33-5	736	4
3.	Duke	27-6	674	6
4.	Stanford	35-2	669	3
5.	Maryland	31-5	656	5
6.	Notre Dame	35-4	617	2
7.	Kentucky	28-7	599	8
8.	Penn State	26-7	521	9
9.	Louisville	23-10	460	16
10.	Delaware	31-2	411	14
11.	Georgia	22-9	409	20
12.	Texas A&M	24-11	361	12
13.	St. John's	24-10	315	15
14.	Oklahoma	21-13	308	NR
15.	California	25-10	294	NR
16.	Tennessee	27-9	284	7
17.	Vanderbilt	23-10	241	NR
18.	Purdue	25-9	240	18
19.	Nebraska	24-9	203	NR
20.	Georgia Tech	26-9	198	10
21.	Ohio State	25-7	185	22
22.	West Virginia	24-10	182	NR
23.	Miami (Fla.)	26-6	95	11
24.	Oklahoma State	22-12	94	NR
t25.	Kansas	21-13	89	25
t25.	Wis.-Green Bay	31-2	89	13

Others receiving votes (with 2011-12 record): DePaul (23-11) 68; South Carolina (25-10) 49; Gonzaga (28-6) 43; Georgetown (23-9) 38; Iowa State (18-13) 33; Rutgers (22-10) 33; Middle Tennessee (26-7) 28; Texas (18-14) 20; LSU (23-11) 11; UCLA (14-16) 11; Michigan (20-12) 7; Virginia (25-11) 7; St. Bonaventure (31-4) 6; Arkansas (24-9) 4; Iowa (19-12) 4; San Diego State (25-7) 3; Brigham Young (26-7) 2; Syracuse (22-15) 2; Marist (26-8).

The USA TODAY Sports/ESPN Board of Coaches is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. The board for the 2012-13 season: Joan Bonvicini, Seattle; Joanne Boyle, Virginia; Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, Texas Southern; Matt Corkery, American; June Daugherty, Washington State; Kathy Delaney-Smith, Harvard; Brooks Donald-Williams, McNeese State; Jose Fernandez, South Florida; Ronny Fisher, Presbyterian; Beckie Francis, Oakland (Mich.); Stephanie Glance, Illinois State; Sue Guevara, Central Michigan; Bonnie Henrickson, Kansas; Rick Insell, Middle Tennessee; Jim Jabir, Dayton; Karen Kemp, East Tennessee State; Krista Kilburn-Stevesky, Hofstra; Andy Landers, Georgia; Kevin McMillan, Tennessee-Martin; Suzy Merchant, Michigan State; Faith Mimnaugh, Cal Poly; Sherri Murrell, Portland State; John Olenowski, Manhattan; Kathy Olivier, UNLV; Jennifer Rizzotti, Hartford; Eric Simpson, Loyola (Ill.); David Six, Hampton; Charlotte Smith, Elon; Ed Swanson, Sacred Heart; Paul Thomas, Saint Mary's; Joi Williams, Central Florida.

Players Mentioned

Aaryn Ellenberg

Whitney Hand

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics