Season Opener Set for Friday

Friday, November 8

Norman

8:00 PM

University of Oklahoma

Prairie View A&M

Photo by: Ty Russell

November 07, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Tickets FSOK OU Radio LNC Gameday Info Revamped Student Seating Preseason WNIT Central Game Notes

NORMAN – The Oklahoma women's basketball team opens the season Friday with Prairie View A&M in the first round of the 2019 Preseason WNIT. Tipoff at Lloyd Noble Center is set for 8 p.m. CT.

ON THE AIR

The matchup will tip at 7 p.m. CT and air on KREP 99.3 FM/1400 AM in Norman and KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City (Tune In Radio App) with Brian Brinkley announcing. Chad McKee and Brenda VanLengen have the call on Fox Sports Oklahoma. Fans with proper cable verification can also stream the game on the Fox Sports Go app.

TICKETS

Tickets for the exhibition start at $10 and can purchased at the OU Athletics Ticket Office (800-456-4668) and SoonerSports.com/Tickets. Lloyd Noble Center's north and east ticket windows will open at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.

GAMEDAY BASICS

The Sooners open the 2019-20 season Friday as they host Prairie View A&M at 8 p.m. CT in the first round of the Preseason WNIT tournament. The contest will be the ninth meeting between the programs. OU owns an unblemished record against the Panthers with an 8-0 mark in the all-time series. For of those wins have come in Norman.

OU is beginning its 24^th season under head coach Sherri Coale. The Sooners return nine players from last year's squad.

Friday's game will be televised on Fox Sports Oklahoma with Chad McKee and Bryndon Manser on the call. The contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network with Brian Brinkley calling the action.

Fans are encouraged to #ArriveSooner to avoid delays into the gates with enhanced screenings. OU's clear bag policy will also be in efffect. For more gameday tips at Lloyd Noble Center, visit the LNC's information page.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

• Oklahoma opens the regular season on Friday at 8 p.m. CT inside the Lloyd Noble Center as it hosts Prairie View A&M in the first round of the Preseason WNIT. The Sooners have won 20 of their last 21 home openers at Lloyd Noble Center dating back to the 1999-00 season. OU is 35-7 all-time in home openers.

• Friday's matchup marks the ninth meeting between the two teams in program history and the first since Nov. 8, 2010 when the Sooners topped Prairie View A&M 77-55 in Norman. Oklahoma is 8-0 all-time against the Panthers.

• OU returns nine players from the 2018-19 season, including key starters Tatum Veitenheimer, Ana Llanusa, Taylor Robertson, Madi Williams and Mandy Simpson. Williams and Robertson started in 29 of OU's 30 contests last season while Simpson started in 28. Robertson, who saw the most minutes of any Sooner (1013, 33.8 per game) led all Sooners in points scored (439) and made 105 3-pointers, which set an OU freshman record and rank second in program single-season history. On the defensive end, Williams led the squad in rebounds (241), tied Llanusa for most steals (38) and was second in blocks (16).

• Friday's game serves as a debut for the Sooners' three freshmen: guard Gabby Gregory (Tulsa, Okla.), forward/center Chloe Bloom (Sydney, Australia) and forward Liz Scott (Tomball, Texas). Junior transfer Kamryn Lemon, a guard out of Sumter, S.C., will also make her first appearance in the Crimson and Cream after spending the first two years of her career at Odessa Community College in Odessa, Texas.

• Members of OU's 2009 and 2010 Final Four teams will be in attendance Friday as the squads reunite in Norman. All players in attendance from the 2009 and 2010 teams, including two-time All-American Danielle Robinson, will sign autographs following the game.

WHAT'S BACK

OU returns nine letterwinners from last year's squad and bring back 82.2 percent of its scoring from last year's team - the highest percentage of any team in the Big 12 heading into the 2019-20 season. Key starters Tatum Veitenheimer, Taylor Robertson, Madi Williams, Ana Llanusa and Mandy Simpson are all back, and the Sooners will be one of two Big 12 teams (Texas Tech) that will return three players who averaged at least 10.0 points per game. Llanusa (18.3), (14.3) and Williams (11.6) all averaged scoring in double figures during the 2018-19 season.

Veitenheimer, Robertson and Williams all made immediate impact as freshmen in 2018-19. Robertson saw the most minutes of any Sooner (1013, 33.8 per game) and along with Williams, started 29 of 30 contests. Veitenheimer saw action in all 30 games last season with 16 starts and her 76 assists were the fifth-most by an OU freshman in a single season.

Robertson averaged 14.3 points per game during her freshman season, knocking down an OU freshman record 105 3-pointers and finishing with a .467 clip from beyond the arc. The Big 12 All-Freshman selection ranked second nationally in 3-point field goal percentage and finished fifth in Division I with 3.50 3-pointers made per game. Robertson's 105 3-pointers in 2018-19 marked the second-most made in one season by a Sooner. She also posted an .889 free throw percentage, the third-best mark in OU single-season history.

Llanusa enters the season as a Preseason All-Big 12 selection after averaging a team-high 18.3 points per game and shooting .382 from the field last year. Despite missing 10 contests due to injury, Llanusa averaged 19.1 points per game during Big 12 play last season, which ranked third in the league. Her conference-game scoring average is the sixth-best by a Sooner since OU joined the Big 12.

The Choctaw, Okla., native scored 30 points three times against Big 12 foes in 2018-19, including a career-high 35 points at Iowa State on Jan. 19. Llanusa set a school record with six straight 20-point scoring performances down the stretch in Big 12 play.

EXHIBITION RECAP

OU won its lone exhibition Monday as it downed Oklahoma City University 88-68 Monday night at Lloyd Noble Center.

Junior guard Llanusa ed all scorers with 27 points to go with four rebounds and four steals. Llanusa shot 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from 3-point range.

The sophomores put on a show as guard Robertson picked up where she left off in her rookie campaign by sinking six 3-pointers en route to 20 points and forward Madi Williams contributed 13 points with eight boards.

The Sooners never trailed in their season debut and shot 46.2% from the field and 48% (12-of-25) from long range. On the defensive end, OU forced 22 OCU turnovers.

THE PRESEASON WNIT

The 26^th edition of the Preseason WNIT includes a field of 16 teams with a three-game guarantee for all participating teams. 2019 marks the fifth time the Sooners have competed in the Preseason WNIT, advancing to the championship game in their last appearance during the 2013-14 season.

the Sooners will meet either UAB (26-7, WNIT Second Round) or South Alabama (25-11, WNIT Second Round) in a second-round contest on Nov. 10. The semifinals are scheduled for Nov. 14 with the Preseason WNIT Championship to be televised on CBS Sports Network on Nov. 17. All games will be played on campus sites.

In the unique format of the event, every team gets at least three games, thanks to two consolation rounds. In the winner's bracket, Round 1 will be held Nov. 8-9, Round 2 goes Nov. 10-11, the semifinals run Nov. 14, and the title game will be played at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 17 and be televised by CBS Sports Network. All games are held at the main or alternate facilities of host schools.

PREVIEWING PRAIRIE VIEW A&M

Prairie View A&M is in its second year under the direction of Sandy Pugh. In Pugh's debut year, the Panthers went 17-14 and finished third in the Southwestern Athletic Conference with a 13-5 mark against league opponents. The squad earned a berth in the WNIT Tournament.

Prairie View A&M returns Dominique Newman, who led the Panthers with an average of 8.3 points per game last season. The Panthers' 2019-20 roster includes six freshmen and a newcomer in grad transfer Tatyana Perez, who spent the first three seasons of her career at Tulsa.

The Panthers opened the season Monday with an 85-55 exhibition win over Texas A&M-Kingsville at home. Freshmen Diana Rosenthal and Kennedy Paul accounted for more than half of the team's points as Paul scored 25 and Rosenthal accounting for 24. Three more players scored in double figures with Perez tallying 17 and Berniesha Peters and Jadah Martin hipping in 13 points apiece.

QUICK HITS

The Sooners will be tested early and often during their 14-game non-conference schedule. OU's non-conference slate features at least seven matchups with teams that appeared in the postseason a year ago including three NCAA Tournament teams (Abilene Christian, Drake and UConn)
As a part of the Preseason WNIT, the Sooners will potentially host nine home non-conference games prior to the start of Big 12 play, including 2019 NCAA Tournament teams Abilene Christian and Drake.
OU is the only team in the Big 12 without a senior on its roster. The Sooners will be one of two league teams (Texas Tech) that will return three players who averaged at least 10.0 points per game. Llanusa (18.3), Robertson (14.3) and Williams (11.6) all averaged scoring in double figures during the 2018-19 season.
Assistant coach Stiles was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2016 in the same class as head coach Coale. Oklahoma joins Connecticut as the only Division I women's basketball programs with two WBHOF inductees on their coaching staff.

UP NEXT

The Sooners will play again Sunday at 2 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center.

Should the Sooners win Friday, they will host the winner of UAB and South Alabama in the Preseason WNIT second round. Should OU be among the eight Preseason WNIT teams that lose their first games, they will be re-grouped into "Consolation bracket quads," which will be two four-team pools. The teams may be re-shuffled from their original sides of the bracket, so they could play any other first-round loser in the tournament. One team in each pool is selected to host the other three teams. Each team will play two games for a total of three in the tournament.