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University of Oklahoma Athletics
No. 21 OU Takes on SMU Friday Night
November 16, 2017 | Women's Basketball
SMU
21/21 Oklahoma
November 17 | 7 p.m. | Norman
FRIDAY'S GAME BASICS
The No. 21/21 Sooners return home Friday to face SMU inside Lloyd Noble Center with tip-off set for 7 p.m. CT. Friday's matchup marks the first meeting between the two teams since 2005.
ON THE AIR
Friday's game will be televised on Fox Sports Oklahoma + and Fox College Sports Atlantic with Chad McKee, Brenda VanLengen and Megan McDonald on the call. The contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network with Brian Brinkley and McKenna Treece calling the action.
TICKETS/PROMOTIONS
Tickets are available for $10 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
• Friday's matchup marks the 12th meeting between OU and SMU in series history and the first since Nov. 13, 2005 in Norman. OU has won four out of the last five matchups and is 3-2 all-time against the Mustangs in Norman.
• Heading into Friday's game, the Sooners rank fifth in the country in scoring offense at 102.0 points per game. OU's 102.0 points per game is also the best scoring average through two games to begin a season in school history, besting the previous mark of 101.5 by the 1988-89 team. Nationally, the Sooners are also 16th in field goal percentage (.521) and 26th in free throws made (44).
• Senior center Vionise Pierre-Louis has led OU in scoring and rebounding in both games to begin the season. Pierre-Louis recorded her 12th career double-double with 24 points and 16 rebounds at DePaul. She is the first OU player to record back-to-back doubles with at least 20 points scored in each game since Courtney Paris accomplished the feat to start the 2006-07 season. Pierre-Louis also leads the Big 12 and is fourth nationally with a .833 field goal percentage.
• Freshman guard Shaina Pellington was dynamic in OU's 111-108 loss at DePaul, recording 23 points, six rebounds and five assists off the bench. Pellington's 23 points are the most by an OU freshman in a single game since Derica Wyatt also scored 23 against UT-Arlington on Nov. 20, 2013. Pellington also made nine shots against the Blue Demons, the most by an OU freshman in one game since Aaryn Ellenberg finished 11-of-18 against Baylor on Feb. 27, 2011 in Norman.
• The Sooners entered the 2017-18 season ranked in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Poll. The Sooners check in at No. 21 in the USA Today Preseason Poll. OU moved up one spot to No. 21 in this week's Associated Press Poll. The Sooners have been ranked in the AP Poll for 40 consecutive weeks (tied for the 10th-longest active streak in the country).
POINTS, LOTS OF THEM
• Through the first two games of the season, OU is averaging 102.0 points per game and is shooting .521 from the field. OU's 102.0 points per game is the best scoring average through to two games to begin a season since the 1988-89 season (101.5).
• In Monday's game at DePaul, six different Sooners scored in double figures for the first time since Nov. 17, 2011, against Sacramento State. Vionise Pierre-Louis (24), Shaina Pellington (23), Maddie Manning (20), Gabbi Ortiz (15), Ana Llanusa (10) and LaNesia Williams (10) all scored in double figures at DePaul.
Vionise Pierre-Louis is one of three players nationally currently averaging at least 23.0 points and 14.0 rebounds per game.
GAME TWO RECAP: DEPAUL
• No. 21/21 Oklahoma fell in an overtime thriller on the road at DePaul, 111-108, at McGrath-Phillips Arena on Monday night. With the game tied at 108-108, DePaul's Amarah Coleman hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Blue Demons the three-point win. Despite OU outshooting DePaul, .542-.482, from the floor, the Blue Demons knocked down 19 3-pointers on 45 attempts (.422) from deep to escape with the win.
• Six Sooners scored in double figures led by Vionise Pierre-Louis, who recorded her second double-double of the season with 25 points and 16 rebounds. The senior has had back-to-back 20-point games to begin the year and her 16 rebounds also tied her career high.
• Freshman Shaina Pellington sparked OU's offense with 23 points, six rebounds and five assists off the bench. Pellington scored 15 of her 23 points after halftime and played 33 minutes. The freshman sent the game to overtime with a floater off the glass with 13 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Maddie Manning also finished with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists. The Ankeny, Iowa, native knocked down two 3-pointers and finished 10-of-13 at the free throw line. Gabbi Ortiz hit three 3-pointers and added 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in 45 minutes of action. LaNesia Williams and Ana Llanusa both scored 10 points apiece.
• The 219 combined points by both teams are the most ever in an OU game and the second-most ever in a single contest involving a Big 12 team.
ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF
• OU's freshman class of Ana Llanusa, Shaina Pellington and Mandy Simpson excelled in the Sooners' first two games.
• Pellington filled the stat sheet with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting, six rebounds and five assists in 33 minutes of action at DePaul. Pellington's 23 points are the most by an OU freshman in a single game since Derica Wyatt scored 23 against UT-Arlington in 2013. The Pickering, Ontario, native leads all freshman in the Big 12 in scoring at 15.5 points per game.
• Simpson scored 12 points, added five rebounds and logged three assists in her first career start versus Belmont, earning Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors on Monday. Llanusa is averaging 9.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per game. The freshman scored 10 points on 5-of-12 shooting at DePaul Monday.
PREVIEWING SMU
• SMU returns four starters, all seniors, from last year's squad that advanced to the third round of the WNIT. The Mustangs finished the 2016-17 season with a 19-15 overall record and tied for fifth in the American Athletic Conference. SMU is under the direction of second-year head coach Travis Mays, who previously served as the associate head coach at Texas from 2012-16.
• Senior guard McKenzie Adams leads the Mustangs in scoring through two games, averaging 26.5 points per contest. Adams was the only SMU player in double figures during the Mustangs 68-61 win over Nicholls State to open the season, but the senior finished with a career-high 38 points. Senior guard Kiara Perry recorded a team-high 23 points in SMU's loss to TCU and is averaging 13.5 points a contest.
UP NEXT
OU begins a three-game road swing as it travels to Colorado State Tuesday to face the Rams in Fort Collins, Colo. The Sooners won last year's meeting with Colorado State, 70-55, in Norman on Nov. 27, 2016.
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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