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
Untitled Article
February 22, 2013 | Women's Basketball
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 Mired in back-to-back losses for the first time this season, the Sooners did what they have done all season when faced with adversity: regroup. An internal discussion discovered that, to a player, the Sooners were putting too much pressure on their individual efforts -- a strange circumstance of where trying too hard was detrimental to the team's cohesiveness on the court. "We talked to each other and realized that we all felt that way," senior forward Joanna McFarland said. "How we got here is that we trusted each other and fun together. That is what our focus was for K-State. What helped us get there was that we had fun, but we focused on the little things." A close home loss against Iowa State frustrated the Sooners, who followed the performance with disjointed play against Kansas. "We thought we were doing something good for the team but really we were just on our own islands," junior guard Morgan Hook said. "I think it does show the maturity level of the juniors and seniors we have. That we can just confront it and all of us knew the reason. It wasn't because we can't play basketball, it was all of us felt pressure." The reaction was instant. OU put together one of its best team efforts of the season en route to notching the program's 700th victory. The Sooners made 53 percent of their shots, the second-highest total this season, and held the Wildcats below 30 percent. "Every year is different, but this year we are a little more self-aware," McFarland said. "Because we saw it, we (said) 'OK, let's get rid of that,' instead of carrying it game after game."
The OU Athletics Department's budget has run in the black for 14 consecutive years, self-sufficiently without the use of taxpayer funds or student fees. This grand success lies heavily on the private contributions made by Sooner Club members. Sooner Club members make up the team behind the teams, and the OU women's basketball team treated some of the donors responsible for gifts towards the recent renovations their practice facility to a tour of the area. "Everything is purposeful," head coach Sherri Coale said. "It's business-like, but enjoyable in the locker room. It feels like family. The film room is my favorite space. You're surrounded by photos of those who laid the foundation of our program." Among those joining the Sooners for the presentation were Jane Bogan, John and Jane Crain, John and Sue Gibbs, Jon Rex and Ann Jones, Sandy Kinney, Ron Minnix, Steve Skidmore, and Jackie D. Willis. Before the season, OU made upgrades to its team locker room, coaches' locker rooms, film room and displays throughout the areas, giving the complex the sense of tradition and togetherness that are the staples of OU women's basketball.
Before Sherri Coale and Jan Ross were paired as coaches for the University of Oklahoma women's basketball team, they became best friends as players at Oklahoma Christian. Little did they know that the bond they forged as college teammates would spawn the coordination to beat a dreadful disease. Last April, when Ross was diagnosed with breast cancer, she and Coale tackled the fight similarly to how they led the Sooners on the court for the last 17 seasons. "It was like how we do 30 times a year: sit down a make a game plan," Ross said. Coale met with Ross and her sister, Julie, also a college teammate at OC, at her home shortly after the diagnosis and, together, they put together the plan for beating cancer. "We did just kind of what we did when we built this program," Coale said. "'Ok, here's the stuff we've got to do. Let's do it!' Then we would just focus on the first thing and check it off, the next thing and check it off. "There were, obviously, some dips along the way. But, for the most part, we would just wake up and tackle whatever we had that day and move on." A challenging step, however, was telling the team. "I'm optimistic," Ross acknowledged. "I knew it was going to be a fight. I know I'm pretty tough, so I knew I could handle it. But when you have to tell somebody, it's hard to tell somebody because you don't want them to worry." It was a role reversal for Ross, who is usually the one caring for others. "When she told us," Whitney Hand said, "it was just kind of the weight of the world came down at that moment. Everything that you fear for one of our favorite people in the world, it's suddenly really real. For a lot of us, we've experience it in our own families, but this is a family and it's like your mom telling you they have breast cancer." The game plan constructed for Ross not only allowed her to beat cancer, but stay around the team she loved to be around. In the summer, other staff members hit the recruiting trail, allowing Ross to stay in Norman and speed through chemotherapy. By August, she was cleared to go with the team on its 10-day tour of Australia. On days she felt too tired or weak, it was difficult to notice. "How great for them to have that example for the rest of their lives," Coale said. "It stinks for her that she had to go through it; but on her bucket list on things she would like to do in this world, giving them that example would be No. 1." |
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