No. 18 Sooners Go for Bedlam Sweep Saturday

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FEBRUARY 4 | 12 p.m. (CT) | STILLWATER, OKLA.

SATURDAY'S GAME BASICS

No. 18/22 Oklahoma (17-6, 8-3 Big 12) goes for its second Bedlam sweep in the last three years when it travels to face Oklahoma State (13-8, 3-7 Big 12) on Saturday at noon inside Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. The Sooners are coming off a 89-52 victory over Kansas on Wedneday in which they posted a season-high .592 field goal percentage. The Cowgirls, who are 9-3 at home this season, are coming off an 85-71 loss to No. 12 Texas on Wednesday night in Stillwater.

ON THE AIR

Saturday's game will be televised on the Fox Sports Network with Ron Thulin and Brenda VanLengen on the call. The game will also be streamed live on the WatchESPN app. The contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network with Brian Brinkley calling the action.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

• Saturday's matchup marks the 101st all-time meeting between Bedlam rivals Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The Sooners are 22-21 all-time and 13-7 in the Big 12 era when facing the Cowgirls in Stillwater. A win would give the Sooners their second season sweep over Oklahoma State in the last three seasons. OU lead the all-time series, 60-40.

• In the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 22 in Norman, OU used a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat the Oklahoma State, 68-62. Despite shooting just .350 from the field and .333 from the 3-point range as a team, Maddie Manning scored 11 of her team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter give OU the win. Manning's trey with 2:44 left gave OU a 62-60 lead as the Sooners finished 5-of-6 from the 3-point line in the final frame.

• Manning has been on a tear, scoring in double figures in eight of the team's 11 Big 12 games this season. The Ankeny, Iowa, native is averaging 17.8 points on .481 field goal and .579 3-point shooting, while recording 6.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists over the last four games. Manning is fourth in the Big 12 during conference play with a .440 3-point shooting percentage. The Sooners are also 6-0 this season when Manning leads the team in scoring.

• The Sooners have been efficient at the free throw line over the last five games, posting an .849 clip at the stripe. Freshman guard Chelsea Dungee leads the Sooners with a .947 mark (18-of-19), while Peyton Little is shooting .917 (11-of-12) from the foul line over the last five contests.

• OU enter Saturday's game fourth in the nation with 6.2 blocked shots per game after recording a season-high 13 rejections against Kansas on Wednesday. Freshman center Nancy Mulkey leads OU with 53 blocks (2.3 per game) this season. Mulkey's eight blocks against Kansas are the most by a Big 12 player in a league game this season.

GAME 23 RECAP: KANSAS

• No. 18/22 Oklahoma defeated Kansas, 89-52, on Wednesday for its eighth-straight home win at Lloyd Noble Center. OU shot a season-high 59.2 percent from the field to power the Sooners' offense to the 37-point win. Four Sooner starters scored in double figures, led by senior guard Maddie Manning with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting (3-of-3 from 3-point range). Manning added seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in her 29 minutes of action. Her eight made field goals tied a career high.

• Senior guard Peyton Little tallied 16 points with four boards. Junior guard Gabbi Ortiz and senior guard Gioya Carter scored 12 and 11 points, respectively. Freshman center Nancy Mulkey blocked a career-best eight shots to fuel the Sooner defense to a season-high 13 blocks. Mulkey's eight blocks were the fourth-most in Oklahoma history and the most since Nicole Griffin swatted nine shots in 2012 versus Texas.

• OU's 13 blocks are tied for the second-most by a Big 12 team this season and are also tied for 10th-most by a Division I team in a game this year. The 37-point win was Oklahoma's largest margin of victory against the Jayhawks and its biggest win in a Big 12 contest since Jan. 20, 2016 against Texas Tech (92-53).

PREVIEWING OKLAHOMA STATE

• Oklahoma State enters Saturday's contest with a 13-8 overall record and 3-7 mark in Big 12 play, after falling to No. 12 Texas, 85-71 on Wednesday night in Stillwater. The Cowgirls, who are 9-3 in home games this year, average 67.4 points per game (ranks ninth in the Big 12) on .423 field goal shooting (sixth), .317 3-point shooting (ninth) and .699 free throw shooting (fifth). Oklahoma State is holding opponents to 62.6 points per game, which ranks fifth in the league.

• Junior center Kaylee Jensen leads the Big 12 in scoring and rebounding this season with 19.1 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. She is also the only player in the conference to average a double-double this season and ranks first in rebounding and second in scoring against Big 12 opponents. Jensen is 17th in the nation with nine double-doubles this year, 18th in rebounds per game and 32nd in points per game.

• Sophomore guard Karli Wheeler and junior forward/center Mandy Coleman also average scoring in double figures at 12.0 points per game, respectively. Coleman is second on the team with 6.0 rebounds per game.

• Oklahoma State head coach Jim Littell is 122-62 in his six seasons with the Cowgirls. Littell was named the 2016 Big 12 Coach of the Year last season and is 5-7 against the Sooners as Oklahoma State's head coach.

Freshman Chelsea Dungee ranks sixth in the Big 12 with a .814 free throw percentage.

GET OFF MY BLOCK

• This season, the Sooners have continued to rank as one of the nation's best shot-blocking teams. OU is fourth in the country in total blocks (143) and eighth in blocks per game (6.2). Junior Vionise Pierre-Louis (43) and freshman Nancy Mulkey (53) have combined for 96 of OU's 143 blocks this season.

• The 96 blocks combined from Mulkey and Pierre-Louis are more than 287 D-I teams have recorded this season. That list also includes three Big 12 squads (Iowa State, Kansas and Oklahoma State).

• The Sooners' 143 blocks this season already rank as the fifth-most by a team in school history and the most by an OU team without Courtney Paris on the roster.

ORTIZ FOR THREE

• Gabbi Ortiz has commanded the Sooners' offense in Big 12 play, averaging 10.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists against league foes. OU's point guard ranks second in the league with a .465 (20-of-43) 3-point shooting percentage since the start of conference play. Over the last four games. the Racine, Wis., native has recorded a .476 (10-of-21) mark from 3-point range.

• In conference play, Ortiz is third in the Big 12 with a 2.8 assist-turnover ratio. The junior leads the Sooners and ranks ninth in the league with 3.3 assists per contest this year.

• Before the start of OU's conference slate, Ortiz ranked seventh on the team in scoring at 6.2 points per game, while averaging 3.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. She was just 9-of-42 (.214) from beyond the arc in non-conference action.

GETTING TO THE LINE

• Over the last five games, the Sooners have made it a habit of getting to the free throw line. OU has found success, knocking down 73-of-86 (.849) of its attempts from the line during the stretch. In its previous four games, OU was just 43-of-66 (.652) at the charity stripe. The Sooners are third in the Big 12 with a .721 in this season.

• Against Big 12 opponents, Dungee ranks second in the conference with a .926 free throw percentage. Junior center Vionise Pierre-Louis is tied for ninth in conference play with a .800 clip at the charity stripe.

UP NEXT

The Sooners return home on Tuesday night to face No. 22/23 West Virginia inside Lloyd Noble Center at 7 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Oklahoma. OU is 3-2 all-time against the Mountaineers in Norman.

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