No. 17/18 OU Back in Norman to Host UTSA

UTSA

^17/18 OKLAHOMA

DECEMBER 13 | 2 p.m. CT | NORMAN, OKLA.

Live Video

SUNDAY'S GAME BASICS

No. 17/18 Oklahoma (8-1) wraps up its home non-conference slate on Sunday as the Sooners host UTSA (2-3) inside Lloyd Noble Center. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. CT. The Sooners have won seven consecutive games after defeating in-state foe Tulsa, 75-62, on Wednesday at the Reynolds Center in their final road non-conference game of the regular season. OU jumped out to a 40-24 halftime lead as Kaylon Williams and Maddie Manning scored 21 and 19 points, respectively. UTSA is 2-3 this season and under the direction of third-year head coach Lubomyr Lichonczak.

ON THE AIR

Sunday's game will air on Fox Sports Oklahoma/Fox Sports Southwest/ Fox College Sports Central with Toby Rowland and Dan Hughes announcing. The contest will also air on the Sooner Radio Network with Brian Brinkley calling the action.

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 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. OU students will be admitted free with a valid school I.D.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

• The Sooners close out their home non-conference schedule by taking on UTSA Sunday at 2 p.m. CT. Oklahoma leads the all-time series with the Roadrunners, 5-0, and is 2-0 under head coach Sherri Coale. Sunday's game marks the first meeting between the two programs since Nov. 23, 1998 (OU won 80-40 in Norman).

• Kaylon Williams recorded her second double-double in the last three games with 21 points and 12 rebounds at Tulsa on Wednesday night. The redshirt senior forward is averaging 17.7 points and 11.7 rebounds per game over the last three contests. Williams leads the Sooners with 12 career double-doubles with three coming this season.

• Redshirt junior Maddie Manning finished with a career-high 19 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the floor in OU's 75-62 victory at Tulsa. Manning, who has scored in double-digits in back-to-back games for the first time since the 2012-13 season, tied a season-high with seven rebounds and led the Sooners with a 7 for 9 performance at the free throw line.

Maddie Manning

Redshirt junior guard Maddie Manning is averaging 9.7 points and 3.2 assists per game for the Sooners this season.

• Redshirt junior Peyton Little and junior guard Derica Wyatt have hit at least one 3-pointer in every game to start the season. The streak by both players is tied for the fourth-best start in school history to begin a year. Little's run dates back to last season and has knocked down one triple in her last 14 games, which is tied for the fifth-longest streak in school history.

• Oklahoma is off to its best start since the 2012-13 season, when the Sooners began the year with an 8-1 record. With a win, the Sooners can move to 9-1 for the first time since the 2010-11 season. OU has also started the year with a 3-0 record on the road. The last time the Sooners won three straight non-conference road games occurred during the 2007-08 season when OU defeated Illinois (77-67), Tulsa (67-47) and Michigan State (66-55).

GAME NINE RECAP: TULSA

• No. 17/18 Oklahoma women's basketball closed its road non-conference slate with a 75-62 victory over Tulsa at Donald W. Reynolds Center on Wednesday night for its seventh straight win. Three Sooners (8-1) scored in double-digits, led by redshirt senior forward Kaylon Williams' 21 points and 12 rebounds. Williams, who recorded her 12th career double-double in the win, knocked down nine shots on a career-high 17 field goal attempts in 22 minutes of action.

• Redshirt junior guard Maddie Manning finished with a career-high 19 points on 5 of 7 from the floor, chipping in a season-high seven rebounds against Tulsa (2-7). Manning has scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time since the 2012-13 season. Junior guard Derica Wyatt added in 10 points on 4 of 8 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers.

• The Sooners pulled down a season-high 54 rebounds, winning the battle on the glass by a margin of 16 boards. Four OU players finished with five or more rebounds led by K. Williams (12) and Manning (7). Junior guard T'ona Edwards tied a season-high with six rebounds, while sophomore guard LaNesia Williams collected a season-high five boards. OU outscored Tulsa, 34-18, in the paint and finished with 16 second chance points.

• OU stretched its lead to 61-38 with 9:53 remaining in the fourth quarter and finished the game 26 of 65 (.400) from the field. Tulsa outscored the Sooners, 24-14, in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit down to 13 to close the game.

PREVIEWING UTSA

• UTSA dropped to 2-3 this season with a 72-64 road loss to Texas State on Dec. 3. The Roadrunners, now 0-3 away from home, are averaging 66.6 points a game on .415 field goal, .323 3-point and .605 free throw shooting. Opponents are averaging 71.6 points per game against UTSA, while the Roadrunners are holding foes to 32.2 percent from behind the arc.

• Tesha Smith leads UTSA with 12.0 points per game and a .500 shooting percentage off the bench. Smith also leads the Roadrunners with 8.4 rebounds per game. Niaga Mitchell-Cole is second on the squad with 11.8 points per game and averages 5.0 rebounds per game. Cariie Heineman ranks fifth in the nation this season with .571 3-point shooting percentage (8 of 14). The Road

• Lubomyr Lichonczak is in his third season as UTSA's head coach and is 32-35 at the helm. He previously served as the associate head coach at UTSA for 10 seasons before taking over the program prior to the 2013-14 season. Lichonczak guided UTSA to a fourth-place finish in C-USA and a 16-15 mark last season.

NO MORE CHARITY

• One of the main points of emphasis for the Sooners this season has been eliminating fouls and keeping opponents away from the free throw line. Through eight games, OU's opponents are 79 of 130 (.608) from the free throw line during the 2015-16 season. At this point last year, OU's foes were 178 of 233 (.764) from the charity stripe.

• The Sooners have kept teams away from the free throw line early in the season by committing just 154 fouls (17.1 per game) through nine games this year. At this point a year ago, the Sooners had recorded 209 fouls (23.2 per game).

• OU is taking advantage of their opportunities at the free throw line with a .683 percentage (110 of 161). Peyton Little leads the Sooners and is seventh in the Big 12 with an .800 clip (20 of 25).

ON THE RISE

• All five of OU's top scorers this season including four starters (Little, Manning, K. Williams and Wyatt) are averaging career-highs in points per game through the first nine games.

Player	15-16 PPG	Prev. Career-High
Kaylon Williams	14.1 ppg	12.6 ppg (2014-15)
Peyton Little	13.8 ppg	12.2 ppg (2014-15)
Maddie Manning	9.7 ppg	6.2 ppg (2012-13)
Vionise Pierre-Louis	7.7 ppg	4.0 ppg (2014-15)
Derica Wyatt	7.2 ppg	3.0 ppg (2013-14)

QUICK HITTERS

Derica Wyatt has made one 3-pointer in all nine games this season.

• Peyton Little and Derica Wyatt have hit at least one 3-pointer in each game this year, tying for the fourth-best start to begin a season in OU history. Little's streak of 14 consecutive games with a triple dates back to last season and is currently tied for the fifth-most consecutive games with a made 3-pointer in program history (Aaryn Ellenberg, 2010-11; Rosalind Ross, 2001-12).

• Kaylon Williams' 15 rebounds against Little Rock marked the most rebounds by an OU player since Joanna McFarland logged 16 boards against UCLA in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament. She is fifth in the Big 12 with 45 defensive rebounds this season. Williams also ranks fifth in the Big 12 and 38th nationally with a .566 shooting percentage.

• Oklahoma is 24th in the NCAA with 150 assists and has recorded 20 or more assists three times in the last five games. The Sooners' 16.7 assists per game rank 40th in the nation heading into Sunday's game vs. UTSA.

• The Sooners have held eight of their nine opponents to sub-45 percent field goal shooting (five times in the last five six). OU has held seven of its nine foes to sub 33-percent 3-point shooting this season.

• Head coach Sherri Coale picked up her 200th non-conference victory on Dec. 6 in OU's 71-68 comeback victory at Washington (Dec. 2). Coale also won her 425th game at Oklahoma with the Sooners' 76-61 win over Boston College (Nov. 28)

• OU is 31-9 all-time against current members of Conference USA: Louisiana Tech (1-4), Middle Tennessee (2-0), North Texas (21-3), Old Dominion (0-1), Rice (2-0), UTSA (5-0) and UAB (0-1).

• Oklahoma earned its 750th all-time win on Dec. 2 with its 65-52 victory over Little Rock.

• The Sooners return the majority of their production in every statistical category for 2015-16. That includes 81 percent of the team's points and rebounds, along with 85 percent of its assists, 81 percent of its blocks and 78 percent of its steals. OU also brings back 80 percent of its made 3-point field goals and its free throw production. 11 letterwinners return from last season's squad that combined to play 5,377 minutes a year ago.

UP NEXT

The Sooners conclude their non-conference schedule on Dec. 20 by taking on Texas A&M in the Big 12/SEC Challenege at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City at 4 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on Fox Sports 1.

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