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University of Oklahoma Athletics
OU Opens NCAA Tournament with Purdue
March 18, 2016 | Women's Basketball
24/23 OKLAHOMA
PURDUE
MARCH 19 | 12:30 P.m. CT | LEXINGTON, KY. | NCAA FIRST ROUND
CHAMPIONSHIP BASICS
Making its 19th NCAA Tournament appearance and 17th straight under head coach Sherri Coale, No. 24/23 Oklahoma (21-10 overall, 11-7 Big 12) enters Saturday's first-round game against Purdue (20-11 overall, 10-8 Big Ten) as the Lexington Regional's No. 6 seed. The contest will be played at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky., and will start at 12:30 p.m. CT. Purdue is the regional's No. 11 seed.
Should the Sooners advance, OU will play Monday against host Kentucky (No. 3 seed) or UNC Asheville (No. 14). Kentucky and UNC Asheville will play Saturday at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The Wildcats (23-7 overall, 10-6 SEC) are making their seventh straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and finished fourth in the SEC this season. UNC Asheville (26-6 overall, 16-4 Big South) earned an automatic bid by winning the Big South Conference tournament.
ON THE AIR
Saturday's game will be televised on ESPN2 with Cara Capuano and Carol Ross announcing. The contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network with Brian Brinkley calling the action.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
• Oklahoma boasts a 31-18 (.633) NCAA Tournament record and will be making its 19th all-time appearance as the Sooners open play with Purdue on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. CT in Lexington, Ky. OU, who is seeded No. 6 in the Lexington Regional, is 14-3 all-time in opening round games in the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners head into the tournament ranked in both the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls for the first time since the 2010-11 season.
• The Sooners have made the 17 straight NCAA Tournament under head coach Sherri Coale, the fifth-best active streak in Division I. The run is tied for ninth (Old Dominion, 1992-08) for the most consecutive tournament appearances in NCAA history.
• Oklahoma is 2-0 all-time against Purdue in the NCAA Tournament with its last victory coming in the 2009 Elite Eight in Oklahoma City, Okla. Led by Courtney Paris' 19 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks, the Sooners picked up a 74-68 win over the Boilermakers to advance to their second Final Four. OU also defeated Purdue, 76-74, in 2000 on the Boilermakers' home floor in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Kaylon Williams averaged 17.0 points per game in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
• After entering the postseason a year ago as the youngest team in the NCAA Tournament, Oklahoma brings a wealth of experience into its first-round matchup. Despite having only one senior on its roster, the Sooners' starting five has combined to make 297 career starts.
• OU holds a 5-3 record as No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Sweet 16 twice. OU entered the postseason as No. 6 seed in three straight NCAA Tournaments (2011-13). No. 6 seeds are 74-49 all-time in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
COALE AND THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• Oklahoma head coach Sherri Coale has led the Sooners to 17 straight NCAA Tournament appearances since 2000. She owns a 29-16 (.644) record and is 13-3 in opening-round games. Coale has guided the Sooners to three Final Fours and nine Sweet 16 appearances.
• Coale is one of eight active coaches to take their current program to three or more Final Fours. The others are: Geno Auriemma (Connecticut), Brenda Frese (Maryland), Muffet McGraw (Notre Dame), Kim Mulkey (Baylor), C. Vivian Stringer (Rutgers), Tara VanDerveer (Stanford), Jeff Walz (Louisville).
• She ranks eighth among active coaches with a .644 winning percentage, ninth with 29 victories and 10th with 45 games coached in the NCAA Tournament.
PREVIEWING PURDUE
• Purdue enters the NCAA Tournament with a 20-11 overall record. The Boilermakers finished sixth in the Big Ten standings with a 10-8 mark in conference play. At the Big Ten Tournament, Purdue defeated Penn State, 70-59, in the second round before falling to Michigan State, 65-64 in Indianapolis.
• The Boilermakers rank 12th in the Big 12 averaging 68.1 points per game on a .426 shooting percentage (10th), .340 3-point shooting percentage (seventh) and .748 free throw shooting. They allow opponents to 61.5 points per game, which ranks third in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers led the league by holding foes to a .285 clip from beyond the arc and were second with 5.0 blocks a contest.
• Senior guard April Wilson leads the team in scoring with 14.6 points per game and in assists with 5.7 a contest. Wilson, who earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors, ranks 23rd in Division I with 175 assists and averages 35.8 minutes a game. She was also named to the league's All-Defensive Team after recording 2.2 steals per game. Ashley Morrissette is second on the team with 13.1 points per game and has made a team-high 59 3-pointers this year. Junior guard Bridget Perry also averages scoring in doubles figures with 10.8 points a game. Perry leads Purdue with 5.9 rebounds per game.
• Head coach Sharon Versyp is Purdue's all-time leaders in wins with 214 victories. She has led the Boilermakers to eight NCAA Tournament appearances in her 10 seasons at the helm. Versyp played at Purdue from 1985-88.
SOONERS AGAINST THE NCAA FIELD
• Oklahoma has played 15 of its 31 games this season against a total of eight teams who are in the NCAA Tournament, and is 6-9 in those contests. OU has beaten six of those eight teams.
• The Sooners went 0-3 against No. 1 seed Baylor, 1-1 against No. 2 seed Texas, 0-1 against No. 4 seed Texas A&M, 1-1 against No. 6 seed West Virginia, 1-0 against No. 7 seed BYU, 1-2 against No. 7 seed Oklahoma State, 1-0 against No. 7 seed Washington and 1-1 against No. 9 seed Kansas State.
• Washington is the only team in the Lexington Regional that the Sooners have faced this season. The Sooners defeated the Huskies, 71-68 on the road in Seattle on Dec. 6. The earliest possible matchup for both teams would be in the Sweet 16.
OU VERSUS POSSIBLE LEXINGTON OPPONENTS
• OU is 3-0 all-time against Purdue with a 2-0 record against the Boilermakers in the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners won the first matchup in 2000 on Purdue's home floor, knocking the defending NCAA champions out of the postseason in the second round with a thrilling 76-74 comeback win. Down 17, Oklahoma put together a furious rally as LaNeishea Caufield scored 26 points to help the Sooners to the victory. Caufield gave the Sooners their first lead of the game with 1:03 to play in the second half. Stacey Dales scored 16 points for the Sooners and added four assists while Phylesha Whaley and Caton Hill added in 11 points.
• The Sooners posted a 80-75 win over Purdue in 2002 at the State Farm Tip-Off Classic in Durham, N.C. OU also defeated the Boilermakers, 74-68, in the Elite Eight to advance to their second Final Four in 2009. Courtney Paris finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks to lead the top-seeded Sooners.
• OU is 1-1 versus Kentucky, winning their lone matchup in the NCAA Tournament with a 88-68 victory in the 2010 Elite Eight in Kansas City. The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead, but the Sooners roared back behind 31 points from Nyeshia Stevenson. The victory punched OU's ticket to its second straight Final Four (third all-time). The Wildcats won the last meeting in 2014, outlasting the Sooners, 92-88, in overtime at the Paradise Jam Classic.
• Oklahoma has never faced UNC Asheville in women's basketball.
QUICK HITTERS
Derica Wyatt was 7-of-9 from 3-point range in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships.
• Oklahoma has won its 21 games by an average of 18.0 points (17 games by double digits). The Sooners are averaging a .448 field goal and a .351 3-point shooting percentage in its victotries this season.
• Oklahoma is one of 24 institutions to have its men's and women's basketball programs make the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners are one of 10 to have both teams seeded six or higher.
• The Sooners have never played in Lexington, Ky. OU is 2-0 all-time when playing in the state of Kentucky (both wins came in Bowling Green).
• OU's victory at Texas Tech on March 1 gave the Sooners their 20th victory of the season. The Sooners have 14 20-win seasons under Coale. OU's win over Iowa State on Feb. 27 marked the 10th time in the last 11 seasons that the Sooners have recorded at least 10 victories in Big 12 play.
• Oklahoma finished with a .600 3-point shooting percentage against Iowa State on Feb. 27, the highest clip by a Big 12 team in league play this year. It's the ninth-best mark by the Sooners in the Sherri Coale era. The Sooners have shot over .450 from beyond the arc three times in the last four games.
• Oklahoma is 13-2 this season when leading at halftime and 3-0 when tied at the break. The Sooners are 5-7 when trailing at the intermission this season. OU is 17-2 this season when outrebounding its opponent and is 20-2 when holding foes to under 70 points. The Sooners are 17-3 when scoring 70 or more points against a foe this year.
• OU has also held 23 of its 31 opponents to sub-45 percent field goal shooting (six times in the last 10 games). Only three opponents (Baylor, Kansas State and Texas) have finished with a .500 or better shooting percentage against Oklahoma. The Sooners have also limited 19 of its 31 foes to sub 33-percent 3-point shooting.
• The Sooners are 2-6 this season against AP top-25 teams and 1-3 versus AP top-10 teams.
• The Sooners are 29-16 (.645) at the NCAA Championships under Sherri Coale.
• Coale will be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame on June 11, 2016, in Knoxville, Tenn. Coale is OU's all-time leader in wins (441), leading the Sooners to three Final Fours and 17 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Oklahoma has 14 players on its roster from eight different states and Puerto Rico (Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and San Juan, Puerto Rico).
• 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.
For more information on Oklahoma women's basketball, follow the Sooners on Twitter (@OU_WBBall) or like Oklahoma Sooners Women's Basketball on Facebook.
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