Sooners Ranked No. 21 in USA Today Coaches Poll

NORMAN – The Oklahoma women's basketball team enters the 2017-18 season ranked No. 21 in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll, which was released Thursday.

The Sooners are one of four Big 12 teams that appear in the top 25. Fellow league foes Baylor (No. 3), Texas (No. 6) and West Virginia (No. 15) are ranked inside the top 25. Kansas State also received votes in the preseason poll.

OU will also face four top-25 teams during non-conference play: Connecticut (No. 1), Oregon (No. 11), DePaul (No. 20) and South Florida (No. 22). The Sooners will play three of the four non-conference matchups against preseason top-25 teams on the road or at a neutral site.

The ranking marks the 17th all-time appearance for the Sooners in the preseason coaches poll under head coach Sherri Coale. OU finished No. 21 in the poll to conclude the 2016-17 season.

The Sooners return three starters from last year's team that finished with a 23-10 overall record, advancing to the second round in OU's 18th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. OU's Maddie Manning and Vionise Pierre-Louis were recently recognized as 2017 Preseason All-Big 12 honorable mention selections.

OU opens the 2017-18 season on Nov. 3 with an exhibition matchup against Central Oklahoma at Lloyd Noble Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT. OU's regular-season opener is set for Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. CT against Belmont.

Season tickets and mini plans are available by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 456-4668 or by clicking here.

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

Rank	Team	Record	Points
1.	Connecticut (25)	36-1	789
2.	South Carolina (7)	33-4	719
3.	Baylor	33-4	687
4.	Mississippi State	34-5	678
5.	Notre Dame	33-4	648
6.	Texas	25-9	608
7.	UCLA	25-9	582
8.	Ohio State	28-7	575
9.	Stanford	32-6	548
10.	Louisville	29-8	504
11.	Oregon	23-14	479
12.	Duke	28-6	442
13.	Maryland	32-3	380
14.	Florida State	28-7	334
15.	West Virginia	24-11	272
16.	Missouri	22-11	249
17.	Oregon State	31-5	246
18.	Tennessee	20-12	229
19.	Marquette	25-8	218
20.	DePaul	27-8	156
21.	Oklahoma	23-10	151
22.	South Florida	24-9	109
23.	Michigan	28-9	100
24.	Miami (Fla.)	24-9	80
T25	California	20-14	79
T25.	Washington	29-6	79