No. 17/18 Oklahoma Opens Season with Winthrop

WINTHROP

^17/18 OKLAHOMA

November 13 | 7 p.m. | Norman

FRIDAY'S GAME BASICS

No. 17/18 Oklahoma women's basketball begins the 2015-16 season when it hosts Winthrop on Friday at 7 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center. OU, which is starting its 20th season under head coach Sherri Coale, finished 21-12 last year and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners won its only exhibition game of the season last Wednesday with an 111-73 victory over Southwestern Oklahoma State. Winthrop is coming off a 17-13 season and finished third in the Big South Conference under head coach Kevin Cook.

ON THE AIR

Friday's contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network with Chris Plank calling the action on KOKC 1520-AM. The game will be televised by Sooner Sports TV (Fox College Sports Central) with Bob Carpenter and Brenda VanLengen announcing.

TICKETS

Tickets are available starting at $8 at the OU Athletics Ticket Office (800-456-4668) and online here. Lloyd Noble Center's north and east ticket windows will open at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. OU students will be admitted free with a valid school I.D.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

• OU has won 16 out of its last 17 home openers at the Lloyd Noble Center dating back to the 1999-00 season. The Sooners are 31-7 all-time in home openers and 16-3 under head coach Sherri Coale. OU's all-time record in season openers is 32-15.

• In its only exhibition game of the season, Oklahoma's defense forced 28 turnovers and 15 steals against Southwestern Oklahoma State. The Sooners also held the Bulldogs to just 8-of-29 (.276) from 3-point range.

• The Sooners are ranked No. 17 in the AP and No. 18 in the USA Today Coaches top 25 preseason polls. OU has appeared in the top 25 of both preseason polls to begin the year 15 times in the last 16 seasons.

• Oklahoma finished the 2014-15 season with a 21-12 overall record (13-5 Big 12; second place) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament (No. 5 seed) for the 16th consecutive year. The Sooners return four starters from last year's squad including Big 12 Freshman of the Year Gabbi Ortiz and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Peyton Little.

• OU returns 11 letterwinners from last season's team that ranked 26th in the nation in scoring (74.7 points per game). The Sooners also welcome back four of their top five scorers: Peyton Little (12.6 ppg), Kaylon Williams (12.2 ppg), Gioya Carter (9.9 ppg) and Gabbi Ortiz (8.2 ppg).

PREVIEWING WINTHROP

• Located in Rock Hill, S.C., Winthrop is a school of 6,000 students that competes in the Big South Conference. The Eagles finished 17-13 last season and posted a 13-7 record in conference play to finish third. Winthrop was picked third out of 11 teams in this year's Big South preseason coaches poll.

• Winthrop returns three starters from last year in junior center Schaquilla Nunn (13.7 ppg, 11.1 rpg) along with sophomore guards Erica Williams (16.4 ppg, 8.7 rpg) and Aliyah Kilpatrick (12.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg). Nunn ranked ninth in the country last season with 3.6 blocked shots per game and was 22nd in the nation with 15 double doubles.

• Kevin Cook is in his fourth season at Winthrop and has led the Eagles to three straight winning seasons, the longest streak in school history. Prior to coaching at Winthrop, Cook served as the head coach at Galludet University in Washington, D.C., the nation's only university for all-deaf students. He also coached 10 years in the WNBA as an assistant with the Houston Comets, helping the franchise to four league championships and nine playoff appearances. Cook is a 1983 graduate of Urbana University.

Sophomore guard LaNesia Williams led the Sooners with six steals in their exhibition win over SWOSU.

EXHIBITION RECAP: SOUTHWESTERN OKLA. STATE

• Oklahoma outscored Southwestern Oklahoma State 30-14 in the second quarter to cruise to an 111-73 exhibition win on Nov. 4 at Lloyd Noble Center. It was the second time the Sooners have scored 100 points in their last three games. OU also scored 111 points in its first round win over Quinnipiac (March 21) in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

• Junior Peyton Little led the team with a game-high 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting along with three assists in 22 minutes. The junior scored 17 of her 25 points in the first two quarters, hitting 4-of-5 from the free throw line.

• Junior Maddie Manning played a team-high 27 minutes, finishing with 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Sophomore center Vionise Pierre-Louis scored 15 points off the bench on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor and registered six rebounds.

• Four other Sooners finished in double figures: freshman Ijeoma Odimgbe (13 points), junior T'ona Edwards (11 points), senior Kaylon Williams (11 points) and sophomore LaNesia Williams (10 points).

• OU fired 99 shots against SWOSU, which would have set the team record for single-game field goal attempts. The Sooners' 96 attempts versus Midwestern (Jan. 16, 1984) and UT-Pan American (Nov. 25, 1988) are tied for the most in a single game in program history.

UP NEXT

The Sooners return to action on Monday, Nov. 16 when they take on the North Texas Mean Green at the Lloyd Noble Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised by Sooner Sports TV on Fox College Sports Central.

For more information on Oklahoma women's basketball, follow the Sooners on Twitter (@OU_WBBall) or like Oklahoma Sooners Women's Basketball on Facebook.